RIP Doug Greiner

Doug Greiner was an student of Shunryu Suzuki who came to Sokoji in the early sixties. He worked in the Nuclear Science Division of the Lawrence Livermore Lab. See his obit there.  He was quite close with Mel Weitsman who we see him on the right with Mel in this photo. (Thanks for photo Liz.)

Liz Horowitz wrote:

Doug died at home in early February of kidney cancer.  I went for a walk with him a month or two before that, and his condition was stable then.  I was shocked that he declined so fast after that.  I’ll forward you an email I sent to the Berkeley sangha after he died.

One of the things I loved about Doug Greiner was that besides being a Zen student for many decades, he was a nuclear physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab.  Doug was also a devoted family man.  And he loved the eastern Sierra and Mono Lake area.  I have fond memories of going on some wonderful hikes with him there. 

Mel and Doug were great friends, and they used to go for a walk every Tuesday morning after zazen.  For many years they went hiking up in the hills, and then as they both aged they did their walks down by the bay, and continued right up until not long before Mel died.  

Doug was such a dear friend.  I miss him and his lighthearted spirit.

Here are a couple photos.  One shows Doug as physicist, the other as Zen student.