Thomas Stephen “Mushin” Crisman (Steve)

Thomas Stephen “Mushin” Crisman (Steve) was born January 19, 1955 in Hastings, Nebraska to parents Tom & Dorothy. From a young age, Steve was interested in understanding how the world worked—he always traced his interest in becoming a doctor back to the day in his childhood when he became aware of his own blood after a trip to the dentist.

As a teen, Steve began to crave more than what he was finding in Hastings. At 16 he dropped out of high school and hitchhiked across the country to a Buddhist monastery in Pennsylvania. What followed in the next several years were a variety of mind-expanding experiences (spiritual and otherwise) which would set him on his lifelong path of meditation and breath awareness. When he was 19, he called hometown friend Paulette and asked if she wanted to meet him in Colorado. She said yes, and they were together for the next 49 years, up until he died.

Steve and Paulette lived in Fort Collins while Steve completed his bachelor’s degree at Colorado State University, and later moved to Boston so that he could attend Boston University Medical School in pursuit of an MD PhD. While earning a medical degree was a great achievement, an even greater joy came into Steve’s life during the Boston years: he and Paulette welcomed their first child, Cora.

Thinking they might want the support of family while raising a baby, Steve and Paulette moved to Omaha, Nebraska for Steve to complete his residency. They quickly realized the Nebraska life was not for them and settled in Denver, Colorado, where Steve began practicing cardiology. Baby Tessa followed shortly after, and within a few years, Steve and Paulette built their dream home in the woods outside of Idaho Springs. Steve, who had long been a lover of the natural world, developed a deep relationship with the forest, spending long afternoons wandering between trees to find wild mushrooms, choke cherries, and peace.

After many years of spiritual exploration, Steve chose to dedicate himself to the path of Zen Buddhism and took vows with Gerry Shishin Wick Roshi, becoming “Mushin” to his Buddhist community, a name which can be translated as boundless heart/boundless mind. He went on to practice at Boulder Zen Center and Crestone Mountain Zen Center, accepting Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi as another teacher in his life. Alongside his Buddhist practice, he studied calligraphy with Kazuaki Tanahashi for over 25 years.

Eventually, Steve grew tired of the bureaucracy involved in traditional medical practices and in 2012 opened his own concierge cardiology practice with the support of Paulette—“a practice with heart.” Steve (or Tom, as his patients knew him) was devoted to his patients; he didn’t just treat people’s heart disease, he connected with them as full humans.

Just one year later, Steve was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. He faced his diagnosis with clear vision and a determination to continue living his life to the fullest. He preferred to say he was on a journey with cancer, rather than in a fight or battle. His treatments took him across the US and even to Germany, and he made new friends wherever he went. Around this time he also began hosting weekly meditation at his office, stepping into a teacher role in his Buddhist practice.

In 2014, Steve was ordained as a Zen priest, solidifying his role as a teacher of the dharma. His weekly meditation group grew into The White Forest Sangha. In the last few years of his life, the Zen cases that he and his students considered each week grew into a collection of essays and eventually a book that also includes Steve’s Japanese calligraphy (the book is called Rotten Rope: Another Useless Zen Book). The Boulder Zen Center was generous enough to order a limited first edition printing of the book that arrived in the final weeks of Steve’s life—he got to hold a copy of his book before he died.

After 11 long years of various cancer treatments, Steve elected to enter hospice care at home in July 2024. He died early in the morning on August 20, with the light of the Sturgeon Full Moon shining over him and his beloved wife and daughters at his side. He is survived by wife Paulette Crisman, daughters Cora Crisman (Anders Jeffrey) and Tessa Crisman, sisters Sue Schuyler and Meredy Crisman, and many nieces and nephews including Emily Schuyler (Luis Molina), Adam Schuyler (Lauren DeSantis Schuyler), and Amelia Ogden (Anthony Ogden), along with countless friends, family members, and sangha members whose lives he touched.

Throughout his life, Steve was vibrant and passionate. He loved to care for others through his knowledge of medicine, to help others master their fear by mastering their breath, to turn strangers into friends, to cook for friends and family, to make art, and to laugh. Up until his last days of life he appreciated the inherent duality of the world, finding moments of beauty and joy even as his body gave out. He is already deeply missed.

A private memorial will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in memory of TS Mushin Crisman to Crestone Mountain Zen Center, the National Mycological Association, or the White Forest Sangha.