Rev. Master Daizui was born in New Jersey in 1945. He received a B.A., magna cum laude, in psychology and anthropology in 1967 from Amherst College. He did graduate work at Stanford University (M.A. in education) and the University of Oregon, where he received an M.A. and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. He served as a Fellow in Medical Psychology at the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the University of California at Los Angeles during 1972-73, and is the author of several articles on psychological measurement.
Rev. Master Daizui became a Buddhist in 1968 under the guidance of Rev. J. Eugene Wagner of the American Buddhist Order, and he was ordained as a monk by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett in 1973 at Shasta Abbey. He was named as a Master of the OBC in 1978. He served as Rev. Master Jiyu’s chief assistant and one of her primary caregivers until her death in November of 1996. Following her death Rev. Master Daizui was elected as the second Head of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. He served in this capacity until his death from lymphatic cancer in April of 2003 at the age of 57.
He is the author of Buddhism from Within: An Intuitive Introduction to Buddhism, Shasta Abbey Press, 2003.