Rochester Zen Center
Encyclopedia
The Rochester Zen Center (RZC) is a Sōtō
Soto
Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...

 and Rinzai Zen Buddhist sangha
Sangha
Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...

 in the Sanbo Kyodan
Sanbo Kyodan
Sanbo Kyodan is a Zen sect derived from both the Rinzai and Soto traditions of Japanese Zen.-History:...

 lineage, located in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...

 and established in 1966 by Philip Kapleau
Philip Kapleau
Philip Kapleau was a teacher of Zen Buddhism in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition, a blending of Japanese Sōtō and Rinzai schools.-Early life:...

. It is one of the oldest Zen centers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The history of the Rochester Zen Center begins overseas with the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Trials at the close of World War II. Trying to come to grips with the appalling testimony he heard as a court reporter, thirty-three year old Philip Kapleau began a spiritual search that would lead him to a Japanese Zen Buddhist monastery in 1953. His experiences there became the basis of his classic book, The Three Pillars of Zen, still much in demand forty years after its initial publication. As of October 8, 2010, it was the ranked 7th in books on Zen Buddhism on Amazon.com.

One of the earliest readers of the book was a Batavia resident named Ralph Chapin
Ralph Chapin
Ralph Baldwin Chapin, , was born in Batavia, New York. He graduated from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1937 with a degree in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering. He also had business dealings in Hong Kong making flashlights. In 1945 Ralph returned to Batavia and joined the...

, who saw the galley proofs while visiting Japan and, intrigued, asked that ten copies be sent him when the book was published. When they arrived, he passed one on to his Rochester friends Chester Carlson
Chester Carlson
Chester Floyd Carlson was an American physicist, inventor, and patent attorney born in Seattle, Washington....

 (the inventor of xerography) and his wife Dorris. . The Center's first sesshin
Sesshin
A sesshin , literally "touching the heart-mind" , is a period of intensive meditation in a Zen monastery....

took place in October, and the first issue of its newsletter, Zen Bow, appeared in 1967.

Since its founding, the Rochester Zen Center has thrived, becoming one of the largest and most respected Buddhist centers in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. From those first twenty-two adventurous souls, membership has grown to more than six hundred strong, with sitting groups and affiliate centers in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and throughout the U.S. In 1981 Rochester Zen Center community split, when Toni Packer
Toni Packer
Toni Packer is the founder of Springwater Center, located in Springwater, in the finger lakes region of upstate New York, an hour south of Rochester. The center was founded in 1981 as the Genesee Valley Zen Center and has since been renamed...

 left the Center.

Through its daily meditation services, residential training programs, and introductory workshops, the Center has helped introduce Buddhism into the American mainstream, while simultaneously reshaping and integrating the forms of Zen into America's own unique culture.

The Rochester Zen Center has also contributed to the intellectual development of American Zen, not only through Philip Kapleau
Philip Kapleau
Philip Kapleau was a teacher of Zen Buddhism in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition, a blending of Japanese Sōtō and Rinzai schools.-Early life:...

's books, The Zen of Living and Dying, Zen Merging of East and West, To Cherish All Life, and the recent Awakening to Zen, but also through the writings of its members and its decennial anniversary conferences. In 1986, the 20th Anniversary Conference focused on "Buddhism and Nonviolence," and the 1996 Thirtieth Anniversary explored "Buddhism in America."

Since 1986 the head abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 at Rochester Zen Center has been Bodhin Kjolhede
Bodhin Kjolhede
Bodhin Kjolhede is a Sōtō/Rinzai Zen roshi and Abbot of the Rochester Zen Center , a position he assumed when Philip Kapleau retired from teaching in 1986. He was ordained as a priest in 1976 and received Dharma transmission in 1986...

, who was sanctioned to teach by Kapleau. The community offers intensive Zen sesshin retreats, introductory workshops and training programs throughout the year and is open to guests.

The Rochester Zen Center also has a 135 acre (0.5463261 km²) country retreat named Chapin Mill
Chapin Mill
Chapin Mill Buddhist Retreat Center is the Buddhist Retreat center of the Rochester Zen Center located at 8603 Seven Springs Rd, Batavia, NY, between Buffalo, NY and Rochester, NY. Ralph Chapin, a member and friend of the Center donated the property to the Center in 1996. The retreat center held a...

. Donated by Ralph Chapin, one of its founding members. Each year the center has several sesshin at Chapin Mill
Chapin Mill
Chapin Mill Buddhist Retreat Center is the Buddhist Retreat center of the Rochester Zen Center located at 8603 Seven Springs Rd, Batavia, NY, between Buffalo, NY and Rochester, NY. Ralph Chapin, a member and friend of the Center donated the property to the Center in 1996. The retreat center held a...

. The building of a new zendo
Zendo
or is a Japanese term translating roughly as "meditation hall". In Zen Buddhism, the zen-dō is a spiritual dōjō where zazen is practiced...

 is underway at Chapin Mill. All non licensed work is being done by Zen Center Members. In June 2007 the first full sesshin was held at the new zendo
Zendo
or is a Japanese term translating roughly as "meditation hall". In Zen Buddhism, the zen-dō is a spiritual dōjō where zazen is practiced...

.

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