Robert Aitken's Life And Cultural Differences
Anthony Milone
Dr. David Carpenter
10/13/14
Asian Spiritualities
Research Paper
Robert Aitken Robert Aiken was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1917, and was raised in Hawaii from the age of two. Robert Aitken, an influential American Zen master and writer who emphasized a path to enlightenment through social action, died of pneumonia in a Honolulu hospital. He was 93. He went to the University of Hawaii with a BA degree in English Literature and a MA degree in Japanese studies. Aitken was one of the first Americans to be fully sanctioned as a master of Zen Buddhism and trained several generations of Zen Buddhist teachers. Aitken was a great teacher and taught many students. At his Zen training centers you could spend about eight months …show more content…
In Hawai‘i he was instrumental in founding the Koko An Zendo, the Palolo Zen Center, the Maui Zendo, and the Garden Island Sangha. A number of other centers in Europe, North and South America, and Australasia are part of the Diamond Sangha network; Robert Aitken is co-founder of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (now with a local East Hawai‘i Chapter) and serves on its international board of advisors. He has been active in a number of peace’s, social justice, and ecological movements, and his writing reflects his concern that Buddhists be engaged in social applications of their …show more content…
According to John Tarrant" He was not the shiny, self-assured, clear creature that Zen masters were advertised to be. He was always feeling around for the meaning of events, and I found that to be one of his best features." John Tarrant became close with Robert Aitken in the 1970s until the 1990s when he was becoming a teacher. He says “In the internment camp a guard lent him a book called Zen in English Literature, by R.H. Blyth, an English translator in love with Japan. Aitken read the book over and over; it made him happy in dark circumstances, offering a link between his own tradition and the meaning of life.”( Tarrant). This was the main reason that Buddhist Zen Master Robert Aitken became who he is in the world today. Aitken played a great part in bringing Zen to the West.
Dr. David Carpenter
10/13/14
Asian Spiritualities
Research Paper
Robert Aitken Robert Aiken was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1917, and was raised in Hawaii from the age of two. Robert Aitken, an influential American Zen master and writer who emphasized a path to enlightenment through social action, died of pneumonia in a Honolulu hospital. He was 93. He went to the University of Hawaii with a BA degree in English Literature and a MA degree in Japanese studies. Aitken was one of the first Americans to be fully sanctioned as a master of Zen Buddhism and trained several generations of Zen Buddhist teachers. Aitken was a great teacher and taught many students. At his Zen training centers you could spend about eight months …show more content…
In Hawai‘i he was instrumental in founding the Koko An Zendo, the Palolo Zen Center, the Maui Zendo, and the Garden Island Sangha. A number of other centers in Europe, North and South America, and Australasia are part of the Diamond Sangha network; Robert Aitken is co-founder of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (now with a local East Hawai‘i Chapter) and serves on its international board of advisors. He has been active in a number of peace’s, social justice, and ecological movements, and his writing reflects his concern that Buddhists be engaged in social applications of their …show more content…
According to John Tarrant" He was not the shiny, self-assured, clear creature that Zen masters were advertised to be. He was always feeling around for the meaning of events, and I found that to be one of his best features." John Tarrant became close with Robert Aitken in the 1970s until the 1990s when he was becoming a teacher. He says “In the internment camp a guard lent him a book called Zen in English Literature, by R.H. Blyth, an English translator in love with Japan. Aitken read the book over and over; it made him happy in dark circumstances, offering a link between his own tradition and the meaning of life.”( Tarrant). This was the main reason that Buddhist Zen Master Robert Aitken became who he is in the world today. Aitken played a great part in bringing Zen to the West.