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Merle Kodo Boyd

1944–2022

United States

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Biography

Merle Kodo Boyd (December 23, 1944 – February 20, 2022) was an American Zen Buddhist nun. She was the first African-American woman to receive Dharma transmission in Zen Buddhism, as a Dharma heir of Wendy Egyoku Nakao in the White Plum Asanga. Receiving transmission in March 2006, she founded and led the Lincroft Zen Sangha in New Jersey that is currently part of the Zen Peacemaker Circle established by Tetsugen Bernard Glassman and his wife Sandra Jishu Holmes.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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