Albert Low was the Teacher and Director of the Montreal Zen Centre until his death in January 2016, at the age of 87. The activities of the Centre are being continued in the respect and continuity of his teaching.

Albert Low was born in London, England, in 1928. In 1954, newly married, he emigrated to South Africa where he will remain for nine years. During his stay there, he obtained a university diploma in psychology and philosophy and undertook a business career as a professional in personnel resources. With his wife, Jean Austin, they had three children.

In 1963, unable to tolerate the political situation at that time (apartheid), he chose to emigrate to Canada where he arrived, unemployed, with his wife and three children. Two weeks after his arrival, he was named personnel executive in a large corporation in Ontario where he will remain until 1976. During this time and in addition to his professional occupations, he developed an original approach to creativity, work and business organization and management. He lectured extensively on these subjects and started writing. He published many of his findings and reflections in 1976 in a book entitled Zen and Creative Management.

In 1961, he discovered Hubert Benoit, the author of The Supreme Doctrine. Reading this work, he was immediately taken by the direction proposed by Benoit: “ I knew there and then that this was the way I was looking for ”. From that moment on, he began to meditate, but he will have to wait another five years before meeting a Zen master.

In 1966, at the age of 38, he met the Japanese master Haku’un Yasutani who happened to be traveling in Canada at that time: this meeting was decisive. Under the guidance of this teacher, he undertook a serious practice. His wife Jean who had accompanied him all his life in his spiritual pursuits, also undertook this practice.

From then on, the practice of Zen occupied the centre of his existence. He devoted most of his free time to meditation, to the study of Zen Buddhism and to writing. Following Yasutami’s return to Japan, it is with Philip Kapleau, the founder of the Rochester Zen Centre, that he will practice for twenty years.

In 1976, after having experienced a deep breakthrough, he retired from corporate life. He and his wife, Jean, sold their house and belongings in order to be able to go to Rochester to devote full time to the practice and dissemination of Zen. In 1979 Albert Low was asked by Philip Kapleau to assume the direction of the recently established Montreal Zen Centre.

He accepted the challenge with passion. He completed his formal training in 1986, and at that time received full transmission as a Zen teacher. The Montreal Centre became autonomous at that time and experienced significant growth. A new life began for him, entirely dedicated to the teaching of Zen and to writing, a direct extension of his teaching.

The Montreal Zen Center being a fully lay community, the presence of a man such as Albert Low as teacher and director, was invaluable. Having worked in the business world and had a family life while at the same time carrying on his Zen practice, Albert Low was able to understand and relate to the trials and tribulations that a lay person has when practicing Zen while supporting a family.

On May 30, 2003, Albert Low received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario based on his unique contribution to scholarship, teaching and community service. He was an authentic thinker and a prolific writer having authored eighteen publications, many of which have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish.

And since then...

The death of our master in January 2016 marked a decisive turning point in the history of the Montreal Zen Center.

With heavy hearts, the members of the community had to pause and decide which paths they would take in order to perpetuate the way opened by Mr. Low. It was a time of intense questioning.

For two years, the community strived to maintain all its usual activities, including zazen evenings, Sunday mornings, intensive days, and retreats, in addition to ensuring building maintenance and the daily management of the organization. However, it quickly became clear that we would not be able to maintain this pace and sustain such a workload for long.

Many people left the community at that time. The absence of our teacher and the grief weighed heavily on hearts and minds. We were forced to realize that we needed not only to restrict our activities, but also to receive help to redirect them. In March 2017, the Center's Board of Directors took the initiative to contact Jeff Shore.

Jeff is an American-born Zen teacher. He is the lay successor of Master Keido Fukushima, with whom he studied for over 25 years at the Tofukuji Temple in Kyoto.
For several years, he has led Zen retreats in America and Europe, leads an international community of practitioners - the Being Without Self community - and established a hermitage in Kyoto, where he still lives, the Rokoan, where his students can spend extended stays and practice Zen with him. Jeff Shore teaches that the path of Zen is the ordinary mind and that our life itself constitutes the deepest koan.

Today, our community owes him a deep spiritual friendship.

From 2018 to 2023, Jeff led four five-day retreats at the Montreal Zen Center, in addition to encouraging and supporting two longtime students of Mr. Low—Louis Bricault and Jean-Luc Foisy—to offer regular one-on-one sessions and words of guidance during intensive days and retreats. Louis and Jean-Luc practiced with Mr. Low for over 22 years and have been members of the Center since 1993.

Since the end of the COVID pandemic—during which our zazen evenings and retreats migrated online—we have resumed our activities at the Center.

And it is with joy that we now see a new generation of young practitioners attending our introductory workshops and embarking on the path of Zen. We remain committed to perpetuating our master's teachings and strive to welcome with kindness all those touched by the teachings of Zen.