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Zen Master Nishijima
 Gudo Nishijima was born 1919 in Yokohama, Japan. In 1935, when he was 16 years old, he joined a sesshin led by Zen Master Kodo Sawaki. Since then, he has continued to practice zazen everyday.
Nishijima became a soldier 1943 and was sent to Manchuria. He survived the war and graduated 1946 with a major in law from Tokyo University. Nishijima combined family life and a career in the finance sector with zazen practice and Buddhist studies. He translated and lectured extensively on Zen Master Dogen's Shobogenzo. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk 1973, and in 1977 he received Dharma transmission (teacher certification) from Master Renpo Niwa, abbot of Eiheiji.
Nishijima opened a Zazen Dojo in Ichikawa and welcomed everyone, regardless of their nationality and religion. He retired 2005, but keeps guiding his zazen students all over the world. Nishijima gave teacher certification to Gustav Ericsson in 2004. | 
