Anne Hopkins Aitken

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Anne Arundel Hopkins Aitken
Diamond Sangha
Websiteanne.robertaitken.net

Anne Arundel Hopkins Aitken (February 8, 1911 – June 13, 1994) was an American

Harada-Yasutani lineage. She co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959 together with her husband, Robert Baker Aitken.[1]
She purchased both of its properties: the Koko An Zendo and Maui Zendo.[2] Honolulu Diamond Sangha has been considered "one of several pivotal Buddhist organizations critical to the development of Zen" in western countries.[3]: 23  Anne Aitken was also one of the original founders of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.[4][5]

Early life

Anne Hopkins was born on February 8, 1911, to in Cook County, Illinois. Her mother, Marian Stinchfield Hopkins, was born in Detroit, Michigan, and was 25 when Anne was born. Her father, Lambert Arundel Hopkins, born in New Mexico, was a 29-year-old "railroad supply man" when she was born.[6][7]

Named Anna Stinchfield Hopkins on her birth certificate, No.6407, Hopkins told her husband, Robert Baker Aitken, that her name was later changed (when she was old enough to remember the event, perhaps six to eight years-old) because Stinchfield did not provide positive numerology readings.[8]

Education

Hopkins spent the years 1929 to 1931 studying abroad as an undergraduate at

México, and much of South America[9]
Among other experiences, she had worked in a
Red Cross hospital.[10]
: 27 

In 1949, Hopkins became a teacher and assistant director at

Happy Valley School. There she met, hired, and in 1957 married, English teacher Robert Aitken.[3]: 27 [2]

Zen Buddhism

Zen Buddhism
Zen Buddhism

Her new husband introduced her to Zen Buddhism, and her long relationship with the Buddhist community began with their honeymoon to

Koun Yamada. She was given the Japanese Buddhist name An (Peace, peace of being at home) Tanshin (Single mind). She and her husband moved to Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, to be closer to her young stepson, Thomas L. Aitken.[11]

There they established the Koko An

Zendo, which led to the establishment of the Diamond Sangha, an international Zen Buddhist society, in 1959.[11][12][1][13] A second site, Maui Zendo in Haiku, Maui, was established by the Aitkens in 1969.[3]: 31  Both Koko An Zendo and Maui Zendo were purchased by Anne Aitken, using money from an inheritance.[2]

Her essay In Spite of Myself chronicled some of her early experiences, and the discouragement and disillusion that she experienced during the twelve years of practice that led to her realization of

kensho.[2][14]
Many of the changes that emphasized the full equality of women and made Zen practice and leadership more accessible to women can be attributed to her work within the Diamond Sangha.[15][16][17] She was neither a prolific writer nor a frequent speaker, but she is remembered fondly around the world for her dedication to the Dharma and support for the Sangha.[2] People recall how she touched them individually and made each one feel as if they were special to her.[2]

Aitken was living at the teacher's quarters of the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in

Pālolo, Hawaiʻi, when she became ill, displaying symptoms similar to the flu. Two days later, on June 13, 1994, at the age of 83, she died of a coronary heart attack, with her husband, stepson, and some close friends at her hospital bedside.[3]
: 32 

Gallery

Suggested readings

  • Aitken, Anne (1979). "In Spite of Myself". Kahawai. 1 (2 Spring): 2–9. Reprinted in Blind Donkey. 15 (1 Spring, 1995): 5-7, 12.
  • Aitken, Robert.1982. "Willy-Nilly Zen." pp. 115–132. In: Aitken, Robert (1982). Taking the path of Zen. San Francisco: North Point Press.
  • Tworkov, Helen (1989). Zen in America : profiles of five teachers : Robert Aitken, Jakusho Kwong, Bernard Glassman, Maurine Stuart, Richard Baker. San Francisco: North Point Press. pp. 23-62.
    ISBN 978-0-86547-354-6
    .

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1598842036
    . Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Ratliff, Kathy (2009). "Founding the Diamond Sangha Robert Aitken Roshi & Anne Hopkins Aiken" (PDF). Mind Moon Circle: Journal of the Sydney Zen Centre. No. Winter. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781438443775
    . Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  4. ISBN 978-0861711598
    . Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  5. ^ Miller, Andrea (December 1, 2008). "Profile: Buddhist Peace Fellowship". Lion's Roar. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Constance Hopkins Hellyer November 14, 1914 - July 27, 2012". Mountain View Funeral Home. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  7. ^ The Social Secretary of Detroit. Detroit (Mich.): Social Secretary. 1961. p. 122.
  8. ^ "An Tanshin (1911-1994)". Anne Arundel Hopkins Aitken. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  9. University of Hawaiʻi
    . Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  10. ISBN 978-0-86547-354-6
    .
  11. ^ a b "About Us". Honolulu Diamond Sangha. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  12. ^ Haar, Francis (2018). "Robert Aitken, Roshi". Lion's Roar. March: 35.
  13. ^ Woo, Elaine (August 10, 2010). "Robert Aitken dies at 93; American Zen master". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  14. ^ Aitken, Anne (1979). "In Spite of Myself". Kahawai. 1 (2 Spring): 2–9.
  15. ISBN 9788126132591
    .
  16. ^ "Aitken, Anne Tanshin Hopkins". Sweeping Zen. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  17. ISBN 0520213017
    . Retrieved 2 February 2018.

External links
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