Zen in the United States

See also:Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

Zenwas introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. After World War II, interest from non-Asian Americans grew rapidly. This resulted in the commencement of an indigenous American Zen tradition which also influences the larger western (Zen) world.

History

Late 19th century – The Parliament of Religions

In 1893, theWorld Parliament of Religionswas held inChicago.It was a landmark event for the introduction of Asian religions to a western audience. Although most of the delegates to the Parliament were Christians of various denominations, the Buddhist nations of China, Japan,Thailand,and Sri Lanka sent representatives.

In the January 1844, issue ofThe Dialmagazine, the publication of theNew England Transcendentalist Club,Henry David Thoreau,one of the great originals of the American Renaissance and author ofWalden,introduced a translation of the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the core and heart of all Buddhist teachings, to the American public.

Japanese Rinzai was represented bySoyen Shaku,the teacher ofD.T. Suzuki.Other Buddhist delegates included Zenshiro Noguchi, a Japanese translator;Anagarika Dharmapala,a Sri Lankan associate ofH. S. Olcottand the founder ofMaha Bodhi Society;and Chandradat Chudhadharn, a brother of KingChulalongkornof Thailand.Paul Carusalso attended as an observer. The Parliament provided the first major public forum from which Buddhists could address the Western public;Dharmapalawas particularly effective because he spoke fluent English.

Early 20th century – early Zen teachers

(Rinzai) Zen Buddhism was the first imported Buddhist trend to put down roots in North America. ThoughSoyen Shaku,Nyogen SenzakiandSokei-an,were among the first to reach a western audience, the single most important influence wasD.T. Suzuki,who popularized Zen with his extensive writings. Early converts includedRuth Fuller Sasaki.

Soyen Shaku

In 1893,Soyen Shakuwas invited to speak at theWorld Parliament of Religionsheld inChicago.He made the trip to what was then considered the "barbaric" United States, although his associates "discouraged him from attending".

In 1905, a wealthy American couple invited Shaku to stay in the United States. For nine months he lived near San Francisco, where he established a smallzendoin the home of Alexander and Ida Russell and gave regularzazenlessons. Shaku became the first Zen Buddhist priest to teach inNorth America.

Nyogen Senzaki

Shaku was soon followed byNyogen Senzaki,a young monk from his home temple inJapan.Senzaki briefly worked for the Russells and then as a hotel porter, manager and eventually, owner.James Fordsays Senzaki referred to himself as a "mushroom": no deep root, no branches, no flowers and "probably no seeds". In 1922 Senzaki rented a hall and gave a talk in English on a paper by Shaku; his periodic talks at different locations became known as the "floating zendo". A teacher ofRobert Aitken,Senzaki established an itinerant sitting hall fromSan FranciscotoLos Angeles,where he taught until his death in 1958.

Sokatsu Shaku and Sokei-an

Another Zen teacher namedSokatsu Shaku,one of Shaku's senior students, arrived in late 1906 and founded a Zen meditation center calledRyomokyo-kai.Although he stayed only a few years and had limited contact with the English-speaking public, one of his disciples,Shigetsu Sasaki,made a permanent home in America. Sasaki, better known under his monastic name Sokei-an, spent a few years wandering the west coast of the US. At one point he lived amongAmerican IndiansnearSeattle,and reachedNew York Cityin 1916. After completing his training and being ordained in 1928, he returned to New York to teach. In 1931, his small group incorporated as theBuddhist Society of America;it was later renamed the First Zen Institute of America. By the late 1930s, one of his most active supporters wasRuth Fuller Everett,an American socialite and the mother-in-law ofAlan Watts.Shortly before Sokei-an's death in 1945, he and Everett would wed, at which point she took the nameRuth Fuller Sasaki.

D.T. Suzuki

Main article:D.T. Suzuki

D.T. Suzuki, another Japanese associate of Shaku's, had a great literary impact. At the World Parliament of Religions in 1893, Paul Carus befriended Shaku and requested his help in translating and publishing Oriental spiritual literature in the West. Shaku instead recommended Suzuki, then a young scholar and his former disciple. Starting in 1897, Suzuki worked from Carus' home in Illinois; his first projects were translations of theTao Te ChingandAsvaghosa'sAwakening of Faith in the Mahayana.At the same time, Suzuki began writingOutlines of Mahayana Buddhism,which was published in 1907. Suzuki returned to Japan in 1909 and married Beatrice Erskine Lane, an American Theosophist and Radcliffe graduate, in 1911. Through English language essays and books, such asEssays in Zen Buddhism(1927), he became a visible expositor of Zen Buddhism and its unofficial ambassador to Western readers until his death in 1966. His 1949 book,An Introduction to Zen Buddhism,featured a thirty-page introduction byCarl Jung,an emblem of the deepening relationship between Buddhism and major Western thinkers.

Dwight Goddard

One American who attempted to establish an American Buddhist movement wasDwight Goddard(1861–1939). Goddard was a Christian missionary to China when he first came in contact with Buddhism. In 1928, he spent a year living in a Zen monastery in Japan. In 1934, he founded "The Followers of Buddha, an American Brotherhood," with the goal of applying the traditional monastic structure of Buddhism more strictly than Senzaki and Sokei-an had previously. The group was largely unsuccessful, as no Americans were recruited to join as monks and attempts failed to attract a ChineseChan(Zen) master to come to the United States. However, Goddard's efforts as an author and publisher bore considerable fruit: in 1930, he began publishingZEN: A Buddhist Magazine.In 1932, he collaborated withD. T. Suzukion a translation of theLankavatara Sutra.That same year, he published the first edition ofA Buddhist Bible,an anthology of Buddhist scriptures focusing on those used in Chinese and Japanese Zen.

1950s – Beat Zen

In the late 1940sand 1950s, writers associated with theBeat Generation,includingGary Snyder,Jack Kerouac,Allen Ginsberg,Philip Whalen,andKenneth Rexroth,took a serious interest in Zenwhich increased its visibility. In 1951,Daisetz Teitaro Suzukireturned to the United States to take a visiting professorship atColumbia University,where his open lectures attracted many members of the literary, artistic, and cultural elite. In 1958,Chicago Reviewpublished a special issue on Zen, featuring works by the beat poets alongside Zen writings in translation.

1960s – Growing popularity

In the 1960s, there was a growing interest in Zen. The Soto-priestsShunryu SuzukiandTaizan Maezumiwere especially influential in the spread of Zen. Suzuki'sSan Francisco Zen Centerand Maezumi'sZen Center of Los Angelesgrew into large centers, attracting huge numbers of practitioners.

1980s – Scandals

The 1980s saw a series of scandals involving Zen teachers whose charismatic authority had led to misconduct. In 1983, theSan Francisco Zen Centerexperienced a sex scandal resulting in the resignation of abbotRichard Baker.Taizan Maezumislept with several of his students at theZen Center of Los Angelesbefore dying of alcoholism.

Sandra Bell has analysed the scandals at Vajradhatu and the San Francisco Zen Center and concluded that these kinds of scandals are

... most likely to occur in organisations that are in transition between the pure forms ofcharismatic authoritythat brought them into being and more rational, corporate forms of organization ".

Robert Sharf also mentions charisma from which institutional power is derived, and the need to balance charismatic authority with institutional authority.Elaborate analyses of these scandals are made by Stuart Lachs, who mentions the uncritical acceptance ofreligious narratives,such as lineages anddharma transmission,which aid in giving uncritical charismatic powers to teachers and leaders.

The scandals eventually led to rules of conduct by theAmerican Zen Teachers Association,and the reorganising of Zen Centers,to spread the management of those centers over a wider group of people and diminish the role ofcharismatic authority.

Japanese Rinzai

Contemporary Rinzai teachers

Main article:Rinzai school

ContemporaryRinzaiZen teachers in United States have includedKyozan Joshu SasakiRoshi,Eido Tai ShimanoRoshi, andOmori SogenRoshi (d. 1994). Sasaki founded theMount Baldy Zen Centerand its branches after coming to Los Angeles from Japan in 1962. One of his students was the Canadian poet and musicianLeonard Cohen.Eido Roshi foundedDai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji,a training center inNew Yorkstate. Omori Roshi foundedDaihonzan Chozen-ji,the first Rinzai headquarters temple established outside Japan, in Honolulu; under his students Tenshin Tanouye Roshi and Dogen Hosokawa Roshi and their dharma heirs, several other training centers were established includingDaiyuzenjiinChicagoandKorinjiinWisconsin.

Japanese Soto

Main article:Sōtō

Soyu Matsuoka

Main article:Soyu Matsuoka

Soyu Matsuoka-roshi established the Chicago Buddhist Temple in 1949 (now the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago) and provided Sōtō Zen training and lectures in both America and Japan. Matsuoka-roshi also served as superintendent and abbot of the Long Beach Zen Buddhist Temple and Zen Center. Matsuoka-Roshi was born in Japan into a family of Zen priests dating back six hundred years. In the 1930s he was sent to America by Sōtōshū, theSōtōZen Buddhist authority in Japan, to establish the Sōtō Zen tradition in the United States. He founded Sōtō Zen temples in bothLos AngelesandSan Francisco.He also furthered his graduate work at Columbia with D.T. Suzuki. He relocated from Chicago to establish a temple at Long Beach in 1971 after leaving the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago to his dharma heir Kongo Richard Langlois, Roshi. He returned toChicagoin 1995, where he died in 1998.

Shunryu Suzuki

Main article:Shunryu Suzuki

SōtōZen Priest Shunryu Suzuki (no relation toD.T. Suzuki) arrived in San Francisco in 1959 to lead an established Japanese congregation. He soon attracted American students and "beatniks",who formed a core of students who would go on to create theSan Francisco Zen Centerand its eventual network of Zen centers across the country, including theTassajara Zen Mountain Center,the first Buddhist monastery in the Western world. His low-key teaching style was described in the popular bookZen Mind, Beginner's Mind,a compilation of his talks.

Sanbo Kyodan

Main article:Sanbo Kyodan

Sanbo Kyodanis a contemporary Japanese Zen lineage which had an impact in the West disproportionate to its size in Japan. It is rooted in the reformist teachings ofHarada Daiun Sogaku(1871–1961) and his discipleYasutani Hakuun(1885–1971), who argued that the existing Zen institutions of Japan (SōtōandRinzaisects) had become complacent and were generally unable to convey realDharma.Harada had studied with both Soto and Rinzai teachers, and Yasutani founded Sanbo Kyodan in 1954 to preserve what he saw as the vital core of teachings from both schools.

Philip Kapleau

Main article:Philip Kapleau

Sanbo Kyodan's first American member was Philip Kapleau, who first traveled to Japan in 1945 as a court reporter for the war crimes trials. In 1947, Kapleau visited D. T. Suzuki at Engaku-ji in Japan and in the early 1950s was a frequent attendee of Suzuki's Columbia lectures. In 1953, he returned to Japan, where he met withNakagawa Soen,a protégé ofNyogen Senzaki.At Nakagawa's recommendation, he began to study with Harada and later with Yasutani. In 1965, he published a book,The Three Pillars of Zen,which recorded a set of talks by Yasutani outlining his approach to practice, along with transcripts ofdokusaninterviews and some additional texts.

The book and Sanbo Kyodan's approach became popular in America and Europe. In 1965 Kapleau returned to America and, in 1966, established theRochester Zen CenterinRochester, New York,making him the first American-born Zen priest to found a training temple. In 1967, Kapleau had a falling-out with Yasutani over Kapleau's moves to Americanize his temple, after which it became independent of Sanbo Kyodan. This created questions regarding lineage since Kapleau never officially was granted transmission from Yasutani. The Rochester Zen Center is now part of a network of related centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and New Zealand, referred to collectively as the Cloud Water Sangha. One of Kapleau's early disciples wasToni Packer,who left Rochester in 1981 to found a nonsectarian meditation center, not specifically Buddhist or Zen.

Robert Aitken

Main article:Robert Baker Aitken

Robert Aitken (June 19, 1917 – August 5, 2010) was another American member of Sanbo Kyodan. He was introduced to Zen as a prisoner in Japan during World War II. After returning to the United States, he studied with Nyogen Senzaki inLos Angelesin the early 1950s. In 1959, while still a Zen student, he founded theDiamond Sangha,a zendo inHonolulu, Hawaii.Three years later the Diamond Sangha hosted the first US visit by Yasutani Hakuun, who visited the US six more times before 1969. Aitken traveled frequently to Japan and became a disciple ofYamada Koun,Yasutani's successor as head of the Sanbo Kyodan. Aitken and the Diamond Sangha first hosted Eido Tai Shimano's immigration to the U.S., encouraged by Soen Nakagawa. Aitken became a dharma heir of Yamada's, authored more than ten books, and developed the Diamond Sangha into an international network with temples in the United States, Argentina, Germany, and Australia. In 1995, he and his organization split with Sanbo Kyodan in response to reorganization of the latter following Yamada's death. The Diamond Sangha network includes a number of practice centers in the U.S. and abroad. The Diamond Sangha Teachers' Circle, an international group of Aitken Roshi's successors (1st and 2nd generation), meets every 18 months. ThePacific Zen Instituteled byJohn Tarrant,Aitken's first Dharma successor, continues as an independent Zen line.

White Plum Sangha

Main article:White Plum Sangha

Another Japanese Zen teacher wasTaizan Maezumi,who arrived as a young priest to serve at Zenshuji, the North AmericanSōtōsect headquarters in Los Angeles, in 1956. Like Shunryu Suzuki, he showed considerable interest in teaching Zen to Americans of various backgrounds and, by the mid-1960s, had formed a regular zazen group. In 1967, he and his supporters founded theZen Center of Los Angeles.He was later instrumental in establishing the Kuroda Institute and theSoto Zen Buddhist Association,the latter an organization of American teachers with ties to the Soto tradition. In addition to his membership in Soto, Maezumi was recognized as an heir by aRinzaiteacher and byYasutani Hakuunof the Sanbo Kyodan. Maezumi, in turn, had several American dharma heirs, such asBernie Glassman,John Daido Loori,Charlotte Joko Beck,andDennis Genpo Merzel.His successors and their network of centers became theWhite Plum Sangha.

Chinese Chán

Hsuan Huain 2010

Not all successful Zen teachers in the United States have been from Japanese traditions. Some were teachers of Chinese Zen (known asChán), Korean Zen (orSeon), and Vietnamese Zen (orThien).

Hsuan Hua

Main article:Hsuan Hua

The 480-acre (1.9 km²)City of Ten Thousand Buddhasfounded by Hsuan Hua inTalmage, Californiais geographically the largest Buddhist community in the western hemisphere.

The first Chinese Buddhist monk to teach Westerners in America wasHsuan Hua,a disciple of the 20th-century Chan master,Hsu Yun.In 1962, Hsuan Hua moved to San Francisco'sChinatown,where, in addition to Zen, he taught Chinese Pure Land,Tiantai,Vinaya,andVajrayanaBuddhism. Initially, his students were mostly ethnic Chinese, but he eventually attracted a range of followers. In 1970, Hsuan Hua founded Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco and in 1976 he established a retreat center, theCity Of Ten Thousand Buddhas,on a 237-acre (959,000 m²) property inTalmage, California.These monasteries closely adhere to thevinaya,the austere traditional Buddhist monastic code. Hsuan Hua also founded the Buddhist Text Translation Society, which translates scriptures into English.

Sheng-yen

Main article:Sheng-yen

Another Chinese Chán teacher with a Western following was Sheng-yen, trained in both theCaodongandLinjischools (equivalent to the Japanese Soto and Rinzai, respectively). He first visited the United States in 1978 under the sponsorship of theBuddhist Association of the United States,an organization of Chinese American Buddhists. In 1980, he founded the Chán Mediation Society inQueens, New York.In 1985, he founded the Chung-hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies in Taiwan, which sponsors Chinese Zen activities in the United States.

In 1992,Shi Yan Ming,a 34th Generation Shaolin monk of theCaodonglineage,came to America and founded the USA Shaolin Temple in New York City. Construction has recently begun on a full-size Shaolin temple inFleischmanns, New York.

Seung Sahnin 2002

Korean Seon

Seung Sahnwas an influential Korean Zen teacher in America. He was a temple abbot inSeouland after living inHong KongandJapan,he moved to the US in 1972, not speaking any English. On the flight to Los Angeles, a Korean American passenger offered him a job at a laundry inProvidence, Rhode Island,which became headquarters of Seung Sahn'sKwan Um School of Zen.Shortly after arriving in Providence, he attracted students and founded theProvidence Zen Center.The Kwan Um School has more than 100 Zen centers on six continents.

Kyong Ho

Another Korean Zen teacher,Samu Sunim,foundedToronto'sZen Buddhist Templein 1971. He is head of theBuddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom,which has temples inAnn Arbor,Chicago,Mexico City,andNew York City.

In the early 20th century, MasterKyong Ho(1849–1912), reenergized Korean Seon. At the end of World War II, his disciple, Master Mann Gong (1871–1946), proclaimed that lineage Dharma should be transmitted worldwide to encourage peace through enlightenment. Consequently, his Dharma successor, Hye Am(1884–1985) brought lineage Dharma to the United States. Hye Am's Dharma successor, Myo Vongfounded the Western Son Academy (1976), and his Korean disciple,PohwaSunim, founded World Zen Fellowship (1994) which includes various Zen centers in the United States, such as the Potomac Zen Sangha, the Patriarchal Zen Society and the Baltimore Zen Center.

Vietnamese Thiền

Deer Park Monastery

Vietnamese Zen teachers in America include ThichThien-Anand ThichNhat Hanh.ThichThien-Ancame to America in 1966 as a visiting professor atUCLAand taught traditional Thien meditation. ThichNhat Hanhwas a monk in Vietnam during theVietnam War.He was a peace activist nominated for theNobel Peace Prizein 1967 byMartin Luther King Jr.In 1966, he left Vietnam in exile and established thePlum Village MonasteryinFrance.He founded theOrder of Interbeingand wrote more than one hundred books about Buddhism, which made him a popular Buddhist author in the West. In his books and talks, Thich Nhat Hanh emphasizedmindfulness(sati) as the most important practice in daily life. His monastic students live and practice at three centers in the United States:Deer Park MonasteryinEscondido, California,Blue Cliff MonasteryinPine Bush, New York,and Magnolia Grove Monastery inBatesville, Mississippi.

See also

• Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States
• Buddhism in the United States
• Religion in the United States
• United States religious history
• Western Buddhism

Sources

• Bell, Sandra (2002),Scandals in emerging Western Buddhism. In: Westward Dharma: Buddhism beyond Asia. Pages 230-242(PDF),Berkeley: University of California Press
• Ford, James Ishmael (2006).Zen Master Who?.Wisdom Publications.ISBN0-86171-509-8.
• Goddard, Dwight (2009) [1932],A Buddhist Bible,BiblioBazaar, LLC,ISBN978-0-559-10995-9
• Lachs, Stuart (1999),Means of Authorization: Establishing Hierarchy in Ch'an /Zen Buddhism in America
• Lachs, Stuart (2002),Richard Baker and the Myth of the Zen Roshi
• Lachs, Stuart (2006),The Zen Master in America: Dressing the Donkey with Bells and Scarves
• Lachs, Stuart (2011),When the Saints Go Marching In: Modern Day Zen Hagiography(PDF)
• McMahan, David L. (2008),The Making of Buddhist Modernism,Oxford University Press,ISBN9780195183276
• Prebish, Charles S. (1999).Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism and America.University of California Press.ISBN0-520-21697-0.
• Sharf, Robert H. (1995),"Sanbokyodan. Zen and the Way of the New Religions"(PDF),Japanese Journal of Religious Studies,22(3–4)
• Vong, Myo (2008),Cookies of Zen,Seoul, South Korea: EunHaeng NaMu,ISBN978-89-5660-257-8
• Wright, Dale S. (2010),Humanizing the Image of a Zen master: Taizan Maezumi Roshi. In: Zen Masters, edited bySteven Heine and Dale S. Wright,Oxford: Oxford University Press

Further reading

• D.T. Suzuki,Essays in Zen Buddhism,First Series (1927), Second Series (1933), Third Series (1934)
• Paul Reps&Nyogen Senzaki,Zen Flesh, Zen Bones(1957)
• Alan Watts,The Way of Zen(1957)
• Philip Kapleau,The Three Pillars of Zen(1966)
• Shunryu Suzuki,Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind(1970)
• Vladimir, K.; Lachs, Stuart (2009),"The Aitken-Shimano Letters",thezensite

External links

• Zen Guide
• Zen Buddhism WWW Virtual Library
• Sweeping Zen: Who's who in Zen
• Glossary of Japanese Zen terms