Philip Kapleau was an American teacher of Zen Buddhism in the Harada–Yasutani tradition, which is rooted in Japanese Sōtō and incorporates Rinzai-school koan study. In 1966 he established Rochester Zen Center, which grew to become one of the most influential Zen communities in the West. His lineage includes teachers active in the USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the UK and New Zealand.
JikaiDainin Katagiri, was a Sōtō Zen priest and teacher, and the founding abbot of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served from 1972 until his death from cancer in 1990. He is also the founder of Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, Minnesota. Before becoming first abbot of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, Katagiri had worked at the Zenshuji Soto Zen Mission in Los Angeles and had also been of great service to Shunryu Suzuki at the San Francisco Zen Center, particularly from 1969 until Suzuki's death in 1971. Katagiri was important in helping bring Zen Buddhism from Japan to the United States during its formative years. He is also the credited author of several books compiled from his talks.
The term American Buddhism can be used to describe all Buddhist groups within the United States, including Asian-American Buddhists born into the faith, who comprise the largest percentage of Buddhists in the country.
Japanese Zen refers to the Japanese forms of Zen Buddhism, an originally Chinese Mahāyāna school of Buddhism that strongly emphasizes dhyāna, the meditative training of awareness and equanimity. This practice, according to Zen proponents, gives insight into one's true nature, or the emptiness of inherent existence, which opens the way to a liberated way of living.
Toni Packer was a teacher of “meditative inquiry”, and the founder of Springwater Center. Packer was a former student in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage of Zen Buddhism, and was previously in line to be the successor of Phillip Kapleau at the Rochester Zen Center.
Sevan Ross is a Zen Buddhist priest and teacher with training backgrounds in both the Sōtō and Rinzai traditions in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is the former abbot and spiritual director of the Chicago Zen Center in Evanston, IL.
The Rochester Zen Center (RZC) is a Sōtō and Rinzai Zen Buddhist sangha in the Kapleau lineage, located in Rochester, New York and established in 1966 by Philip Kapleau. It is one of the oldest Zen centers in the United States.
Hakuun Yasutani was a Sōtō priest and the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan, a lay Japanese Zen group. Through his students Philip Kapleau and Taizan Maezumi, Yasutani has been one of the principal forces in founding western (lay) Zen-practice.
A prostration is a gesture used in Buddhist practice to show reverence to the Triple Gem and other objects of veneration.
Bodhin Kjolhede is an American Sōtō/Rinzai Zen roshi and Abbot of the Rochester Zen Center (RZC), a position he assumed when Philip Kapleau retired from teaching in 1986. He founded the “Cloud-Water Sangha”, an international community of Zen centers led by teachers in his lineage.
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a book of teachings by Shunryu Suzuki, a compilation of talks given at his satellite Zen center in Los Altos, California. Published in 1970 by Weatherhill, the book contains transcriptions of Suzuki's talks recorded by his student Marian Derby. Trudy Dixon and Richard Baker edited the talks by selecting the most relevant ones and organizing them into chapters. Bodhin Kjolhede, abbot of the Rochester Zen Center, writes that, together with Philip Kapleau's The Three Pillars of Zen (1965), it is one of the two most influential books on Zen in the west.
Below is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate.
The Zen Center of Los Angeles (ZCLA), temple name Buddha Essence Temple, is a Zen center founded by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi in 1967 that practices in the White Plum lineage.
The Pacific Zen Institute (PZI), is a Zen Buddhist school centered in Santa Rosa, California, with affiliates in Oakland, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, and Waco, Kentucky. Its students live and practice throughout North America, South America, and Asia. Established in 1999, Pacific Zen's stated mission is to "create a culture of transformation through meditation, koans, conversation, and the arts." Its founding director, John Tarrant, was the first dharma heir to Robert Baker Aitken, in the line of the Sanbo Kyodan school of koan Zen.
The Toronto Zen Centre, is a Sanbo Kyodan Zen Buddhist practice center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is modeled after the Rochester Zen Center. They offer introductory workshops in Zen Buddhism. The Toronto Zen Centre offers a couple of unique Buddhist course in Loving Kindness Meditation and periodically offers Mastering Breath Awareness or an MBA.
Michael Danan Henry is an American Roshi in the Harada-Yasutani school of Zen Buddhism, a sect derived from both the Rinzai and Sōtō traditions of Japanese Zen, practicing in the Diamond Sangha lineage of Robert Baker Aitken. The founding teacher of the Zen Center of Denver, Henry received Dharma transmission from Philip Kapleau Roshi in 1989 and, after many years of subsequent training with Robert Aitken Roshi, was recognized as a Diamond Sangha teacher and master by Aitken. Danan Henry Roshi created and implemented the Monastery Without Walls training program; the Lotus in the Flame Lay Order; and the Every Minute Zen mindfulness training program as abbot and spiritual director of the Zen Center of Denver.
Daiyuzenji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple located on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.
Sante Poromaa Roshi is a Swedish Zen Buddhist teacher (Roshi) in the tradition of Philip Kapleau and Bodhin Kjolhede. He was born in 1958 in Kiruna, Sweden. Together with his co-teacher Kanja Odland Roshi, he leads Zenbuddhistiska Samfundet, one of the major traditions of Zen Buddhism in Sweden with centers in several European countries.
Kanja Odland is a Swedish Zen Buddhist teacher (Roshi) and priest in the tradition of Philip Kapleau and Bodhin Kjolhede. Together with her co-teacher Sante Poromaa Roshi, she leads Zenbuddhistiska Samfundet, one of the major traditions of Zen Buddhism in Sweden with centers in several European countries.
Zen was 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.
