Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States

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

* 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 a 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 22 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 Otagowa 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

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
* 1971: Yamada Koun moves to Diamond Sangha in Hawaii to lead sesshin
* 1971: Kobun Chino Otagowa 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
* 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 Ch'an community in Southern California
* 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: Sherry Chayat receives inka from Eido Tai Shimano, becoming the first officially sanctioned female roshi in the Rinzai school in America
* 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 of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas dies
* 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: 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: Bon Yeon receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
* 2001: Maylie Scott dies on May 10 at age 66
* 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: Paul Haller becomes abbot of San Francisco Zen Center
* 2003: Brad Warner publishes the book Hardcore Zen
* 2004: Philip Kapleau dies on May 4 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
* 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
* 2007: Brad Warner publishes the book Sit Down and Shut Up
* 2007: Zendo is completed at the 135 acre Chapin Mill Zen Retreat center Batavia NY.
* 2008: Genjo Marinello receives Dharma transmission from Eido Tai Shimano on May 21

References

*cite book| last =Ford| first =James Ishmael| authorlink =James Ishmael Ford| coauthors =| title =Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen| publisher =Wisdom Publications| date =2006| location =| pages =| url =http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70174891&referer=one_hit| doi =| id = | isbn = 0861715098