Sante Poromaa

Sante Poromaa
TitleRoshi
Personal
Born1958
Kiruna, Sweden
ReligionZen Buddhism
NationalitySwedish
SchoolSōtō and Rinzai
LineageHarada-Yasutani
Senior posting
Based inZengården training temple
Stockholm Zen Center
PredecessorRoshi Bodhin Kjolhede
Websitewww.zentraining.org

Sante Poromaa Roshi is a Zen Buddhist teacher (Roshi) in the tradition of Philip Kapleau.[1][2] He was born in 1958 in Kiruna, Sweden.[3] Together with his co-teacher Kanja Odland Roshi, he has been described as the most senior Zen Buddhist teacher in Sweden.[1]

He commenced his Zen training in the early eighties as a student of Philip Kapleau. When Roshi Kapleau went into semi-retirement, he also became a student of Kapleau's successor, Roshi Bodhin Kjolhede.[2] Poromaa was ordained as a Zen priest in 1991. He finished his formal koan training in 1993. In 1998, he was authorized to teach by Roshi Kjolhede, and has been teaching full-time since then.[4] He is authorized as an independent teacher (Roshi) in the “Cloud-Water Sangha” lineage.[5]

Sante Poromaa Roshi and Kanja Odland Roshi jointly lead Zenbuddhistiska Samfundet with centres in Sweden, Finland, Germany and the UK as well as a full-time training temple in rural Sweden called Zengården. They have sanctioned five of their students as Zen teachers: Karl Kaliski Sensei,[6] Sangen Salo Sensei,[7] Dharman Ödman Sensei,[8] Mitra Virtaperko Sensei[9] och Kansan Zetterberg Sensei. Zenbuddhistiska Samfundet has approximately 500 members[10] and is a member organisation in the Swedish Buddhist Community,[11] which he was involved in founding in 1992.[12]

Poromaa offers regular sesshin (meditation retreats) at Zengården, in English.[13] He also gives public talks on Zen and contributes to Swedish public life through participation in panel discussions on current social, philosophical and religious issues.

Although an artist by training, Poromaa has had a lifelong interest in science. His investigations of the possibility of finding common ground between the Buddhist and scientific worldviews led to the publication in 2009 of his book “The Net of Indra – Rebirth in Science and Buddhism”.[14]

  1. ^ a b "Sante Poromaa, zenbuddist:". DN.se (in Swedish). 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  2. ^ a b Ford, 159
  3. ^ Poromaa, Sante (2019). It´s never too late - to give up. Stockholm: Zendo Publications. ISBN 978-91-983065-2-1.
  4. ^ "Zengården". www.zentraining.org. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  5. ^ "Cloud-Water Sangha - Rochester Zen Center". Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  6. ^ "Cloud Water Zen Centre / About us / Our Tradition". www.cloudwaterzen.org. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  7. ^ "Teacher Sangen Salo - Sanneji". 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  8. ^ "Göteborg Zen Center". www.goteborgzencenter.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  9. ^ "Uusi opettaja Tampereelle: Sensei Mitra Virtaperko! - Tampere Zen Center" (in Finnish). 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  10. ^ Johansson, Stina (2018-10-22). "Stilla dig till ro med zenmeditation". Yoga för dig (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  11. ^ "SBG medlemmar – Sveriges buddhistiska gemenskap" (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  12. ^ "SBS Historik". buddhism-sbs.se. Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  13. ^ Lagercrantz, Agneta (2004-11-04). "Vara i kroppen är vägen". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  14. ^ Poromaa, Sante (2009). The net of Indra: rebirth in science and Buddhism. Fellingsbro: Zendo. ISBN 978-91-977857-1-6.