Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

Soyen Shaku, America's first Zen teacher.

Below is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates that have "?" are approximations.

Events

Early history

• 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago
• 1905: Soyen Shaku returns to the United States and teaches for approximately one year in San Francisco
• 1906: Sokei-an arrives in San Francisco
• 1919: Soyen Shaku dies on October 29 in Japan
• 1922: Zenshuji Soto Mission is established in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles, California
• 1922: Nyogen Senzaki begins teaching in California with his "floating zendo"
• 1930: Sokei-an establishes the Buddhist Society of America (now First Zen Institute of America)
• 1945: Sokei-an dies
• 1949: Soyu Matsuoka establishes the Chicago Buddhist Temple (now the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago)
• 1949: Soen Nakagawa makes his first trip to the United States to meet with Nyogen Senzaki

1950s

• 1951: DT Suzuki begins teaching seminars on Japanese culture, aesthetics, and Zen at Columbia University in New York. Among the students are many influential artists and intellectuals, including Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, John Cage, and Allen Ginsberg.
• 1952: Philip Kapleau begins formal Zen training in Japan.
• 1956: Taizan Maezumi arrives in Los Angeles to serve at the Zenshuji Soto Mission
• 1956: The Zen Studies Society is established by Cornelius Crane
• 1957: Alan Watts' "The Way of Zen" is published, the book first popularizing zen with an American audience
• 1957: The Cambridge Buddhist Association is founded by John and Elsie Mitchell in Cambridge, Massachusetts
• 1958: Soen Nakagawa founds New York Zendo Shobo-Ji
• 1958: Nyogen Senzaki dies on May 7
• 1959: Shunryu Suzuki arrives in San Francisco to lead Sokoji
• 1959: Hsuan Hua arrives in the United States and establishes the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
• 1959: Robert Baker Aitken and Anne Hopkins Aitken found the Diamond Sangha in Honolulu, Hawaii

1960s

• 1962: Kyozan Joshu Sasaki arrives in California
• 1962: The San Francisco Zen Center is incorporated, led by Shunryu Suzuki
• 1964: Eido Tai Shimano becomes guiding teacher of the Zen Studies Society
• 1965: Philip Kapleau finishes The Three Pillars of Zen and returns to United States with permission from Haku'un Yasutani to teach Zen to Westerners.
• 1966: San Francisco Zen Center acquires Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
• 1966: Philip Kapleau establishes the Rochester Zen Center with the help of Chester Carlson (founder of Xerox), and Carlson's wife. Original Sangha consisted of 22 members.
• 1966: D.T. Suzuki dies on July 12 in Japan
• 1966: Yvonne Rand begins practicing at the San Francisco Zen Center
• 1967: The Zen Center of Los Angeles is founded by Taizan Maezumi and his students
• 1967: Kobun Chino Otogowa arrives in San Francisco to assist Shunryu Suzuki
• 1967: Sojun Mel Weitsman and Shunryu Suzuki co-found the Berkeley Zen Center
• 1968: Samu Sunim founds the Zen Lotus Society in New York (aka Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom)
• 1968: New York Zendo Shobo-Ji is founded by Soen Nakagawa in the Zen Studies Society of New York—it was his 7th trip to the USA
• 1969: Shunryu Suzuki gives Zentatsu Richard Baker Dharma transmission; begins transmission to Jakusho Kwong, but dies before completing process.

1970s

• 1970: Edward Espe Brown publishes the Tassajara Bread Book
• 1970: Shunryu Suzuki's book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is published by Weatherhill
• 1970: Shasta Abbey is established in Mount Shasta, California by Jiyu Kennett
• 1970: James Ishmael Ford received Dharma transmission from Houn Jiyu Kennett 2 May 1971
• 1971: Yamada Koun moves to Diamond Sangha in Hawaii to lead sesshin
• 1971: Kobun Chino Otogowa becomes abbot of Haiku Zen Center
• 1971: Kyozan Joshu Sasaki founds Mount Baldy Zen Center
• 1972: Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim arrives from Korea in Providence, Rhode Island and founds the Providence Zen Center
• 1972: Green Gulch Farm opens in Sausalito, CA as part of the San Francisco Zen Center
• 1972 First meeting of the Zen Center of Syracuse
• 1972 Toronto Zen Center is formed with help of Philip Kapleau
• 1972: Dainin Katagiri founds the Minnesota Zen Center
• 1972: Eido Tai Shimano receives Dharma transmission from Soen Nakagawa
• 1973: Haku'un Yasutani dies
• 1973: Kyozan Joshu Sasaki founds Bodhi Manda Zen Center
• 1973: Jakusho Kwong founds the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center
• 1973: The Cambridge Zen Center is founded as part of the Kwan Um School of Zen
• 1974: Robert Baker Aitken receives Dharma transmission from Yamada Koun (this possibly occurred in 1985, instead)
• 1974: The Chicago Zen Center is founded by Philip Kapleau
• 1975?: Taizan Maezumi founds the White Plum Asanga
• 1975: The Chogye International Zen Center is founded by the Kwan Um School of Zen in New York
• 1975: The Nebraska Zen Center is founded by Dainin Katagiri in Omaha, Nebraska, currently led by Rev. Nonin Chowaney
• 1976: Shohaku Okumura helps found Pioneer Valley Zendo in Charlemont, MA
• 1976: Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji opens in the Catskill Mountains of New York State
• 1976: Tetsugen Bernard Glassman becomes Taizan Maezumi's first Dharma successor
• 1976: The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is built, the largest and first Chinese Ch'an community in the United States
• 1977: Kyogen Carlson receives Dharma transmission from Jiyu Kennett
• 1977?: The Atlanta Soto Zen Center by Zenkai Taiun Michael Elliston is established
• 1978: The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is founded
• 1978: Genki Takabayashi becomes resident teacher at the Seattle Zen Center
• 1979: Maurine Stuart becomes President of the Cambridge Buddhist Association
• 1979: Omori Sogen Roshi of Tenryu-ji founds Daihonzan Chozen-ji in Honolulu, HI, the first Rinzai Zen headquarters temple established outside of Japan.

1980s

• 1980: Ch'an master Sheng-yen begins teaching in the United States
• 1980: Dennis Genpo Merzel becomes Taizan Maezumi's 2nd Dharma successor
• 1980: Hartford Street Zen Center is established
• 1980: Zen Mountain Monastery in founded in Mount Tremper, New York by Taizan Maezumi and John Daido Loori
• 1981: Toni Packer leaves Rochester Zen Center and founds her own non-Buddhist retreat
• 1981: Taizan Maezumi founds Yokoji Zen Mountain Center
• 1982: Maurine Stuart receives the informal title roshi from Soen Nakagawa in a private ceremony
• 1982: The Rinzai temple Daiyuzenji is founded in Chicago, Illinois as a betsuin (branch) of Daihonzan Chozen-ji by Tenshin Tanouye Roshi and Fumio Toyoda.
• 1983: Jan Chozen Bays receives Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi
• 1983?: Charlotte Joko Beck receives Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi
• 1983: The Kwan Um School of Zen is established by Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim
• 1983: Zentatsu Richard Baker confers Dharma transmission to Tenshin Reb Anderson
• 1983: Dai Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji is founded in Seattle, Washington by Genki Takabayashi
• 1983: Zentatsu Richard Baker resigns as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center amidst controversy
• 1983: Taizan Maezumi enters alcoholism treatment and is confronted about his sexual relationships with some students
• 1984: The Kanzeon Zen Center is founded by Dennis Genpo Merzel in Salt Lake City, Utah
• 1984: Wu Kwang receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1984: The New Orleans Zen Temple is founded by Robert Livingston in New Orleans, Louisiana
• 1984: Nonin Chowaney is ordained a priest by Dainin Katagiri
• 1984: Sojun Mel Weitsman receives Dharma transmission from Hoitsu Suzuki, son of Shunryu Suzuki
• 1986: Bodhin Kjolhede is installed as abbot of Rochester Zen Center as Philip Kapleau retires
• 1986: Furnace Mountain is founded in Clay City, Kentucky by Dae Gak and Seung Sahn as part of the Kwan Um School of Zen
• 1986: Toronto Zen Center is incorporated.
• 1986: Village Zendo is established in New York in the apartment of Pat Enkyo O'Hara
• 1987: Maitri Hospice begins caring for AIDS patients at the Hartford Street Zen Center (the first Buddhist hospice of its kind in the United States)
• 1987: Issho Fujita becomes abbot of Pioneer Valley Zendo in Charlemont, Massachusetts
• 1988: Blanche Hartman receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
• 1988: Yamada Koun gives Dharma transmission to Ruben Habito
• 1988: Zoketsu Norman Fischer receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
• 1988: Hsi Lai Temple is built, the largest Chinese Chan community in Southern California, a Triple Platform Monastic Ordination is convened
• 1988: The Kwan Um School of Zen is rocked by revelations that Seung Sahn had sexual relationships with students
• 1989: Issan Dorsey becomes abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center
• 1989?: The American Zen Teachers Association is founded
• 1989: Nonin Chowaney receives Dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri
• 1989: Yamada Koun dies

1990s

• 1990: Issan Dorsey dies of AIDS
• 1990: Maurine Stuart dies of cancer
• 1990: Gerry Shishin Wick receives Dharma transmission from Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi
• 1990: Joan Halifax receives Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh
• 1990: Dainin Katagiri dies
• 1990: The Upaya Zen Center is founded by Joan Halifax in Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 1991: The Maria Kannon Zen Center is founded by Ruben Habito in Dallas, Texas
• 1991: Poet Philip Whalen becomes the new abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center
• 1992: Mary Farkas of the First Zen Institute of America dies
• 1992: Caitriona Reed receives teaching authorization from Thich Nhat Hanh
• 1992: George Bowman receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1992: Soeng Hyang receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1992: Su Bong receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1993: Wu Bong receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1994: Dae Gak receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1994: Charles Tenshin Fletcher receives Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi in the White Plum Asanga
• 1994: Su Bong dies on October 11 of unknown causes at a retreat while conducting dokusan in Hong Kong
• 1994: Still Mind Zendo founded by Janet Jiryu Abels Sensei and Father Robert Kennedy in New York City
• 1994: Enkyo Pat O'Hara receives shiho from Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
• 1994: Taigen Dan Leighton founds Mountain Source Sangha
• 1995: Taizan Maezumi dies on May 15
• 1995: Charles Tenshin Fletcher appointed abbot of Yokoji Zen Mountain Center
• 1995: The Ordinary Mind School is founded by Charlotte Joko Beck
• 1995: Hsuan Hua dies on June 7 at age 77
• 1995: Taitaku Pat Phelan receives shiho from Sojun Mel Weitsman
• 1995: Zoketsu Norman Fischer becomes abbot of San Francisco Zen Center, and serves until 2000
• 1995: Shodo Harada establishes One Drop Zendo on Whidbey Island in Washington state.
• 1996: Blanche Hartman becomes co-abbot of San Francisco Zen Center
• 1996: The Zen Peacemaker Order is founded by Bernard Glassman and his wife, Sandra Jishu Holmes.
• 1996: The Sanshin Zen Community is founded by Shohaku Okumura in Bloomington, Indiana
• 1996: Jiyu Kennett dies on November 6
• 1996: Jiko Linda Cutts receives Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson
• 1996: The Hazy Moon Zen Center is founded by William Nyogen Yeo in Los Angeles, California
• 1996: Dae Kwang receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1996: Bonnie Myotai Treace receives Dharma transmission from John Daido Loori in the Mountains and Rivers Order
• 1996: Bernard Glassman gives Inka to Dennis Genpo Merzel
• 1996: Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association is established by Sheng-yen
• 1997: Dharma Drum Retreat Center is established in Pine Bush, New York by Sheng-yen and followers
• 1997: Shambhala Publications publishes The Compass of Zen by Seung Sahn
• 1996: Ji Bong receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 1997: Catholic priest Father Robert Kennedy receives inka from Bernard Glassman
• 1997: Soyu Matsuoka dies
• 1997: Geoffrey Shugen Arnold receives shiho from John Daido Loori
• 1998: Sherry Chayat receives inka from Eido Tai Shimano, becoming the first officially sanctioned female zen teacher in the Rinzai school in America
• 1998: Maylie Scott receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
• 1998: Hozan Alan Senauke receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
• 1999: Genjo Marinello becomes abbot of Chobo-ji
• 1999: Joan Halifax receives inka from Bernard Glassman
• 1999: John Tarrant establishes the Pacific Zen Institute
• 1999: Zen Center of Pittsburgh - Deep Spring Temple is founded by Nonin Chowaney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2000—present

• 2000: Deer Park Monastery is founded in Escondido, California as part of Thich Nhat Hanh's Order of Interbeing
• 2000: Groundbreaking at Chapin Mill, the rural Zen Retreat center part of the Rochester Zen Center, donated by Ralph Chapin
• 2000: White Plum Asanga acknowledges Gerry Shishin Wick as a roshi
• 2000: Taigen Daniel Leighton receives inka from Tenshin Reb Anderson.
• 2000: Bon Yeon receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
• 2001: Maylie Scott dies on May 10 at age 66
• 2002: Peter Schneider (zen priest) receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
• 2002: Philip Whalen, abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center, dies on June 26
• 2002: Great Vow Zen Monastery is founded by Jan Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays in Clatskanie, Oregon
• 2002: Kobun Chino Otagowa dies of drowning in Switzerland
• 2002: Seirin Barbara Kohn becomes head priest and guiding teacher of The Austin Zen Center in Austin, Texas
• 2003: Jy Din Shakya opens the Hsu Yun Temple in Honolulu before passing away on March 13
• 2003: Paul Haller becomes abbot of San Francisco Zen Center
• 2003: Brad Warner publishes the book Hardcore Zen
• 2004: Philip Kapleau dies on May 6 from complications of Parkinson's disease
• 2004: Seung Sahn dies on November 30
• 2004: Soeng Hyang succeeds Seung Sahn as Guiding teacher of the Kwan Um School of Zen
• 2004: Angie Boissevain receives Dharma transmission from Vanja Palmers, a Dharma heir of Kobun Chino Otagowa
• 2004: Enkyo Pat O'Hara receives inka from Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
• 2004: Golden Wind Zen Order is founded by Ji Bong in Long Beach, California
• 2005: Daiyuzenji (formerly a branch temple of Daihonzan Chozen-ji in Hawaii) is established as an independent Rinzai temple in Chicago by Dogen Hosokawa Roshi.
• 2006: Gerry Shishin Wick receives inka from Bernard Glassman
• 2006: Merle Kodo Boyd received Dharma transmission from Wendy Egyoku Nakao, becoming the first African-American woman to do so.
• 2006: The Nashville Mindfulness Center is founded by Tiếp Hiện in Nashville, Tennessee
• 2006: Dochong Paul Lynch receives Inka from Ji Bong
• 2007: Zendo is completed at the 135 acre Chapin Mill Zen Retreat center Batavia NY.
• 2008: Roko Sherry Chayat is formally recognized as a Roshi during a shitsugo ceremony. This is the first time this ceremony has been performed on American soil.
• 2008: Genjo Marinello receives Dharma transmission from Eido Tai Shimano on May 21
• 2008: Hsi Lai Temple hosts a Triple Platform Ordination Ceremony for three weeks to celebrate its 20th anniversary
• 2008: Dochong Paul Lynch founds the Five Mountain Zen Sangha in the Korean Linji & Japanese Harada/Yasutani Zen Lineage
• 2009: Sheng-yen dies on February 3 at age 80
• 2009: Ancient Dragon Zen Gate is founded by Taigen Daniel Leighton in Chicago.
• 2009: John Daido Loori dies in New York, age 78.

References

• Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen. Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0861715098. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70174891&referer=one_hit.