Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen

by James Ishmael Ford, Barry Magid (Foreword by)

Zen Master Who? is the first-ever book to provide a history of Zen's arrival in North America, surveying the shifts and challenges to Zen as it finds its Western home. With the exception of parts of Rick Field's How the Swans Came to the Lake , there has been no previous attempt to write this chronicle.

James Ishmael Ford begins by tracing Zen's history in Asia, looking at some of Zen's most seminal figures--the Sixth Ancestor Huineng, Dogen Zenji (the founder of the Soto Zen school), Hakuin Ekaku (the great reformer of the Rinzai koan way), and many others--and then outlines the state of Zen in North America today. Clear-eyed and even-handed, Ford shows us the history and development of the institution of Zen--both its beauty and its warts.

Ford also outlines the many subtle differences in teachings, training, ordination, and transmission among schools and lineages. This book will aid those looking for a Zen center or a teacher, but who may not know where to start. Suggesting what might be possible, skillful, and fruitful in our communities, it will also be of use to those who lead the Zen centers of today and tomorrow.

Genres: Buddhism, Zen, Spirituality

280 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2006

Reviews

[John Matthew IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great history of Zen in America. The emphasis is on lineages as opposed to doctrine. So you learn who learned from whom and not so much what they believed.

Many books recommended.

Great starting point for someone starting out practicing Zen.

p. 10) The past is gone; the future is not yet come, but in this moment, right now, we can choose what happens.

p. 12) But there is no cosmic ledger keeping track of those good deeds or our many harm-causing ones.

p. 16) So on the Zen way, a teacher is essential--someone who has walked the path and can vouch personally for its efficacy, someone who has learned about the traps, pitfalls, and dead ends, someone who can urge us deeper and prod us from complacency.

p. 25) Rinzai School: koans
p. 26) Soto School: shikantaza = just sitting
Harada-Yasutani: combines both

p. 31) The Art of Just Sitting: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Shikantaza: a broad and deep anthology of ancient and modern teachings, edited by John Daido Loori

p. 33) Victor Sogen Hori: the premier writer on koan introspection in the English language

p. 36) DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK!

P. 40) Hakuin suggested there are five types of koan:
1) hosin
2) kikan
3) gosen
4) nanto
5) goi jujukin

p. 42) Classic Collections of Koans:
* Gateless Gate: associated with the historic Linji/Rinzai tradition
* Blue Cliff Record: associated with the historic Linji/Rinzai tradition
* Book of Equanimity: traditional Soto collections
* Record of Transmitting the Light: traditional Soto collections

p. 47-48) The Soto school in Japan has two main temples: Eiheiji, founded by Dogen, and Sojiji, founded by Keizan.

p. 48) Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of ZEN Master Hakuin (Shambhala Classics) by Norman Waddell (1-Aug-2010) Paperback: Excellent book

p. 50) Today all Japanese Rinzai lineages derive through [Hakuin], as does the reformed Soto kaon lineage called Harada-Yasutani. The koan system--as attributed to him and as developed to maturity with his school--is the Japanese legacy and standard for curriculum koan study.

p. 53) The overwhelming majority of Zen clerics in Japan are married.

p. 53) There is no mass or Western-style worship service in Japanese Buddhism.

p. 54) Soto School Scriptures for Daily Services and Practice

p. 64) D.T. Suzuki:
* the first scholarly interpreter of Zen Buddhism in the West.
* he never mentioned the Soto sect at all despite the fact it was by far the larger school of Japanese Zen.
* the debt that we Western followers of the Zen way owe to this single person is incalculable

p. 65) Alan Watts: Genuine Fake: A Biography of Alan Watts

p. 66) Thanks to D.T. Suzuki, "Zen" as shorthand for a universal mystical experience became almost normative for Western intellectuals.

p. 66) D.T. Suzuki is arguably the most influential early figure in the development of a Western Zen.

p. 70) The Zen Koan: Its History and Use in Rinzai Zen it remains the single most important English-language introduction to koan study in the Japanese manner.

p. 79) Soto Zen Buddhist Association: https://www.szba.org/

p. 87) Thich Nhat Hanh has become the most famous Zen master in the west.

p. 89) It is part of the Vietnamese tradition that their original school of Zen came not through China but India.

p. 89) Engaged Buddhism emphasizes one's responsibility within the web of human and natural relations.

p. 92) Even during the Vietnam War, he never took sides with the Communists or the Nationalists.

p. 94) Over the years Thich Nhat Hanh and his organization have been growing in separate directions from the other Zen teachers and their groups discussed in this book. Still, there can be no doubt that his vision of a socially engaged Buddhism--as well as his willingness to innovate, and to be vulnerable to criticism in order to follow a vision of the Dharma--might heal the world. Indeed, Thich Nhat Hanh has proven to be one of the most important Zen teachers to come West.

p. 98) Samu Sunim moved to Toronto: https://www.zenbuddhisttemple.org/tor...

p. 101) Kwan Um School: https://kwanumzen.org/

p. 115) The Essentials of Zen Buddhism

p. 120) The Zen Center of Syracuse is one of the oldest continuing Zen centers in North America: https://www.zencenterofsyracuse.org/

p. 122) Temples vs. Centers

p. 123) Anzan Hoshin guides the White Wind Zen Community in Ottawa: https://wwzc.org/

p. 132) San Francisco Zen Center: https://www.sfzc.org/

p. 152) Elaine MacInnes is now retired in Toronto and died in 2022: https://rbmcdaniel.ca/2022/11/30/sist...

p. 152) Roselyn Stone teaches in Toronto and Brisbane, Australia. I think she died in 2022.

p. 157) Sunyana Graef, Vermont Zen Center: https://www.vzc.org/teacher.html

p. 159) Toni Packer

p. 178) Taking the Path of Zen: a classic and seminal to many starting the Zen way

p. 178) The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics: still considered the best book on Buddhist ethics

p. 178) The Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader: One of the two most important anthologies of ancient Zen teachings currently available in English.

p. 189) Zen & the Art of Success by Frederick C. Crews: https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2002...

p. 191) Stuart Lachs

p. 196) The truth is Zen is embodied in a rich and compelling literary tradition.

p. 200) A Modern Buddhist Bible: Essential Readings from East and West

p.211) Zen Meditation in Plain English would be a very good way to start

p. 211) Taking the Path of Zen: also a very good way to start

Notes
p. 227) In This Very Moment: A Simple Guide to Zen Buddhism
p. 228) Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening Batchelor is the most important writer influencing my own thinking on the meeting of Buddhism and Western rationalism, and I owe him endless gratitude.
p. 230) A Study of Dogen: His Philosophy and Religion
p. 230) Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist
p. 231) One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories
p. 232) Being Peace
p. 232) Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
p. 232) Zen Keys: A Guide to Zen Practice: probably his most "Zen" book

[Dexter Villamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last time I resorted to this type of book was with Zizek's (which I barely remember when). This was a breath of fresh air. A book like this, I have to say, was a great and easy guide to Buddhism. The author successfully established a conversational approach to present Zen concepts: cobweb-free. Actual stories from real people made it easy for a reader to understand Zen. This piece was effective in exemplifying the least understood concepts. This deserves a three. I expect for fewer historical facts and unnecessary comments from the author.

[S̶e̶a̶n̶ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inexplicably silly title notwithstanding, this book offers a clear and thorough review of the complicated history and current emerging state of Zen Buddhism in the West, chiefly North America. The author, James Ishmael Ford, is both a Unitarian Universalist minister and a long-time Zen teacher associated with the Boundless Way sangha network, which with its blend of Korean Linji, Japanese Soto and Harada-Yasutani (itself a blend of Soto and Rinzai) lineage influences, is representative of the hybrid Zen trend that continues to proliferate in the West.

The book is divided into three sections. Part One provides the groundwork of Zen history in the East; Part Two discusses modern teachers and institutions formed in the West; and Part Three looks ahead to the future of Zen in the West. While it’s apparent that Ford’s primary interest and enthusiasm is centered on the possibilities found in the establishment and growth of a uniquely Western style of Zen, he also has a keen interest in and voluminous knowledge of Zen’s history and its various lineages of teachers. Unraveling the bewildering threads of Zen stretching from various countries in the East to North America is no small task, but Ford accomplishes it in admirable form, writing in an engaging style appropriate to what is obviously not intended to be an exhaustive presentation of an incredibly far-ranging subject.

It’s hard not to share Ford’s enthusiasm for the future of Zen in the West. Much of its worst growing pains in the U.S. certainly seem to have passed, and the directions that many of the modern Zen centers are taking seem to be well-considered ones. In particular, the efforts made toward standardization by groups like the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) and the American Zen Teachers Association, as well as the move by individual centers toward greater transparency and a public commitment to ethics should go far in establishing good faith among current and future Zen practitioners. Ford’s own Boundless Way sangha is an excellent example of this, and I highly recommend reviewing its website to see what this level of transparency can look like regarding issues such as ordination, Dharma transmission, and the significance of lay versus monastic training as manifested in the West. These issues are also discussed within the book at varying levels of depth.

Throughout the book, Ford mentions many other books that can fulfill a need for further reading, and includes an extensive notes section wherein he cites the specific resources he relied upon while writing the individual sections. These references are invaluable, as the relatively short length of the book limits the extent to which some topics can be covered. There is also a helpful glossary in the back of the book and an appendix on finding a Zen teacher (also available here on the SZBA website).

Highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in the history of Western Zen.

[Peter Allum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ford is a Zen priest and Unitarian Universalist minister.

This book is a valuable resource, tracing the main branches of Zen in the United States (the discussions of “Western Zen” generally imply Zen in the US). In addition to detailing the origins and development of the various schools, Ford discusses some of the special characteristics and challenges of Western Zen. There are also helpful concluding pages on how to choose a Zen teacher.

My Zen reviews, ranked