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Chapin Mill Buddhist Retreat Center in Batavia, New York

Soen Sa Nim helped to ensure Zen's longevity in the country (each of whom are now deceased). Many of their successors either carry on their direct lineages or have gone on to establish schools of their own.

Early history

World Parliament of Religions

of 1893

In 1893, at the

Dharma heir, though his center is still running today. As the first koan master to make the United States his home, his contributions to the development and transplantation of Zen Buddhism from Japan to the United States cannot be emphasized enough. One of his students had been Alan Watts, who had briefly studied koans under him. Sokei-an later married Alan's mother-in-law, Ruth Fuller Sasaki.^[2]^[3]

The third student of Soyen Shaku, and arguably most influential in bringing Zen to America, was the Zen

Mahayana Buddhism in English. In 1927 his book Essays In Zen Buddhism: First Series was published, the first of many books and essays to come on the subject from him. Until his death in 1966, he traveled frequently throughout Europe and the United States to give lectures on Zen at libraries and universities. His writings and lectures in the United States influenced a generation of thinkers in the Zen arena in the lates 40s and early 1950s, including Alan Watts, Gary Snyder, Philip Kapleau, Erich Fromm, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and countless others. The power of Suzuki's pen was enormous. Perhaps equally as influential as Suzuki was the aforementioned Alan Watts.^[1]

The Beats

While American understanding of

D.T. Suzuki with introducing Zen to the American audience, Watts enjoyed a much larger readership than his counterpart. This was probably due in large part to his skill in presenting complex ideas to his readers in words which they could understand.^[4]

Gary Snyder later took his studies to

Chogyam Trungpa. Allan Watts and the Beats, while demonstrably influential in bringing Zen to America's consciousness, nevertheless had many misconceptions about the practice of Zen.^[5]

Pivotal years

In 1949 the

Soyu Matsuoka(松岡操雄) founded the Chicago Buddhist Temple, later leaving the temple in the care of Richard Langlois (one of the first truly American roshis). Matsuoka went on serve other Soto congregations, mostly in California.^[7]

Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi

(1931-1935)

During the late 1950s and early 1960s several pivotal

Kobun Chino, who also assisted Suzuki in San Francisco and led a satellite center in Los Altos, California.^[7]

Another important individual in the spread of Zen Buddhism in America was

censured. Kapleau, undeterred, continued to teach and grow his center?and his students gave him the moniker roshi anyway. While he had never officially recieved inka(印可) from his teacher, he was verified to have experienced satori(悟り) by Yasutani in 1963. Kapleau succumbed to Parkinson's disease in the garden of the Rochester Zen Center in 2004, surrounded by his students. The current Abbot, Bodhin Kjolhede, has been offered inka by several Soto teachers in America. At this time he has not accepted. If he accepts inka the Rochester lineage will have been brought together whole. Among the most prominent of Roshi Kapleau's heirs are Toni Packer, Peter Bodhin Kjolhede (current abbot of RZC) and Sunyana Graef?who guides the Vermont Zen Center near Burlington and Casa Zen in Costa Rica.^[10]

Meanwhile, as Katagiri was founding the

Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim. He founded the Providence Zen Center, which grew into the Kwan Um School of Zen

?the largest school of Zen represented in the United States.

Setbacks

Controversies

Zentatsu Richard Baker

Reb Anderson
Seung Sahn
Taizan Maezumi

Milestones

Female roles

According to author

Zen Buddhism in the United States presents unique challenges to women. Aside from serious issues regarding boundaries and equality, American women do not have many Asian female counterparts in Zen literature or teaching positions to exemplify.^[12]

The history of women participating in the development of Zen Buddhism in the United States dates back to the arrival of

San Francisco, California, were responsible for inviting Shaku to the United States and boarding him in 1905 so that he could teach them and their friends. Though Mrs. Russell was of European decent, she is nevertheless the first documented case of a woman undergoing formal koan study under a master in the United States. Ruth Fuller Everett, later Ruth Fuller Sasaki, played a decisive role in helping to bring Zen to America. The mother-in-law of Alan Watts, she was ordained by Sokei-an in 1928 and later married him in 1944. Following her husband's death she studied for many years at Daitoku-ji(大徳寺) in Japan, where she set up a subtemple for Western students to practice Zen and translated texts. In the late 1950s a woman named Elsie Mitchell co-founded the Cambridge Buddhist Association with her husband in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Having previously studied Soto Zen under Rindo Fujimoto in Japan, in 1960 she published and penned the introduction to his book on shikantaza(只管打坐) titled The Way of Zazen. It was the first book on the subject published in the English language.^[12]^[6]

Jiyu Kennett

Charlotte Joko Beck

Toni Packer
Soeng Hyang
Mary Farkas
Jan Chozen Bays
Pat Enkyo O'Hara
Martine Batchelor
Geri Larkin
Jiko Linda Cutts
Blanche Hartman
Roko Sherry Chayat Osho
Joan Halifax
Bon Yeon
Cheri Huber
Maurine Stuart
Sunyana Graef

Modern day

Jakusho Kwong
Joan Halifax
Upaya Zen Center
Sonoma Mountain Zen Center
John Daido Loori
Dennis Genpo Merzel
Kanzeon Zen Center
Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
Soeng Hyang
Toni Packer
Eido Tai Shimano(嶋野栄道)
Noah Levine
Brad Warner
Shodo Harada(原田正道)

Christian Zen

Maria Kannon Zen Center
Ruben Habito
Father Robert Kennedy

Schools

Names to work into this article

Soeng Hyang, Eido Tai Shimano(嶋野栄道), Sheng-yen, Robert Livingston (Zen teacher), Cheri Huber, John Tarrant, Judith Roitman, Peter Matthiessen, Albert Low, Ruben Habito, Kazuaki Tanahashi(棚橋一晃), John Daido Loori, Steve Hagen, Seirin Barbara Kohn

Places to work into this article

Upaya Zen Center, Yokoji Zen Mountain Center, Zen Studies Society, American Zen Teachers Association, Zen Mountain Monastery, New Orleans Zen Temple

Places to work into article or create

Schools/organizations to mention

Order of Interbeing, Kwan Um School of Zen, White Plum Asanga, Zen Peacemakers Order, Mountains and Rivers Order, Soto Zen Buddhist Association, Zen Community of Oregon, Dogen Sangha International, Everyday Zen Foundation, [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]], [[]],