Philip Kapleau

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Philip Kapleau
Kapleau in front of a photo of Daiun Harada
Kapleau in front of a photo of Daiun Harada
Information
Born:  August 12, 1912(1912-08-12)
Place of birth:  Flag of the United States New Haven, Connecticut, United States
Died:  May 6, 2004
Nationality:  American
Denomination(s): Sanbo Kyodan
Title:  Roshi
Predecessor(s): Haku'un Yasutani
Successor(s): Sunyana Graef
Website

Portal:Buddhism

Philip Kapleau (1912 – 2004) was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in the United States and became a teacher of Zen Buddhism in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition, a blending of Japanese Soto and Rinzai schools. These distinctions are primarily ones of form, since adepts in all schools of Zen aspire to complete enlightenment, known in Sanskrit as "anuttara samyak sambodhi."

Contents

[edit] Early life

Kapleau was born on August 20, 1912, in New Haven, Connecticut. As a teenager he worked as a bookkeeper. He briefly studied law and later became an accomplished court reporter. In 1945 he served as chief Allied court reporter for the "Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal," which judged the leaders of Nazi Germany. This was the first of the series commonly known as the Nuremberg Trials. Kapleau later covered the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, commonly known as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. While in Japan he became intrigued by and drawn to Zen Buddhism. Specifically, he attended a number of informal lectures given by D.T. Suzuki in Kita Kamakura. After returning to America, he renewed his acquaintance with D.T. Suzuki who had left Kita Kamakura to lecture on Zen at Columbia University. But disaffected with a primarily intellectual treatment of Zen, he moved to Japan in 1953 to seek Zen's deeper truth.

[edit] Zen training

He trained briefly with Soen Nakagawa (1907-1984), then rigorously with Daiun Harada (1871-1961), at Hosshin-ji. Later he became a disciple of Haku'un Yasutani (1885-1973), himself a dharma heir of Harada. After 13 years' training, Kapleau was ordained by Haku'un Yasutani in 1965 and given permission to teach. Yet, he sometimes eschewed the moniker "teacher," preferring to see himself as a fellow student of the Way.[citation needed] In more subtle moments, he would even resist the label of "being" a Buddhist, in the spirit of Heraclitus: "Nothing is; everything becomes." Yasutani visited Kapleau in the 1960's and was very critical of Kapleau's teaching style and of the center in general. Eventually Yasutani told Kapleau that he was no longer a student of his. Philip Kapleau had only finished 2/3 of the Gateless Gate and Blue Cliff Record koans with Yasutani.[citation needed] This break denied the one thing to Kapleau that was needed to seal the line. He needed to have inka transmission from his teacher. For this reason Kapleau never lent himself to be called Roshi, instead for many years he simply went by sensei.

[edit] Work and teaching

Kapleau transcribed other Zen teachers' talks, interviewed lay students and monks, and recorded the practical details of Zen Buddhist practice. His book, The Three Pillars of Zen, was published in 1965, has been translated into 12 languages, and is still in print. It was one of the first English-language books to present Zen Buddhism not as philosophy, but as a pragmatic and salutary way of training and living.

[edit] Rochester Zen Center

Main entrance of Rochester Zen Center.
Main entrance of Rochester Zen Center.

During a book tour in 1965 he was invited to teach meditation at a small gathering in Rochester, New York. In 1966 he left Japan to create the Rochester Zen Center. In doing so, he became the first American to found and teach at a Zen training center.

For almost 40 years, Kapleau taught at the Center and in many other settings around the world, and provided dharma transmission to several disciples of both genders. He also introduced many modifications to the Japanese Zen tradition, such as chanting the Heart Sutra in the vernacular, English for example in the U.S., or Polish at the Center he founded in Katowice. He often emphasized that Zen Buddhism adapted so readily to new cultures especially because it was not dependent upon a dogmatic external form. At the same time he recognized that it was not always easy to discern the form from the essence, and one had to be careful not to "throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Kapleau was an articulate and passionate writer. His emphasis in writing and teaching was that insight and enlightenment are available to anyone, not just austere and isolated Zen monks. Also well-known for his views on vegetarianism, peace and compassion, he remains widely read, and is a notable influence on Zen Buddhism as it is practiced in the West. Today, his dharma heirs, descendants and former students teach at Zen Centers around the world.

He lived with Parkinson’s Disease for several years, and while his physical mobility was reduced, he enjoyed lively and trenchant interactions with a steady stream of visitors throughout his life. On May 6, 2004, he died peacefully in the backyard of the Rochester Zen Center, surrounded by many of his closest disciples and friends.

[edit] The Rochester Lineage

Although Philip Kapleau had not received formal Dharma transmission from his teacher he lacked the authority by Eastern Zen standards to pass on his line. Even with this issue it is without a doubt that Philip Kapleau's effect on Zen in the west is vast and immeasurable. Many students and Dharma heirs from Philip Kapleau are often times referred to as the "Rochester Lineage" being that Kapleau created his own lineage.

Currently several parallel line Zen masters have offered to heal the line by giving inka to Bodhin Kjolhede, the current abbot of the Rochester Zen Center.

[edit] Grist for the mill

A favorite saying of Philip Kapleau was "Grist for the mill" which means that all of our troubles and trials can be useful or contain some profit to us. In the spirit of this his gravestone is one of the mill-stones from Chapin Mill.

[edit] Students

Several of Roshi Kapleau's students were authorized by him to carry on his work as Zen Buddhist teachers in their own right. These include:

    • Frances Mitra Bishop,
    • Michael Danan Henry,
    • Dane Zenson Gifford, (no longer teaching)
    • Sunyana Graef,
    • Peter Bodhin Kjolhede, (now Roshi of Rochester Zen Center)
    • Sonja Sunya Kjolhede,
    • Albert Low
    • Toni Packer (now teaches independently)
    • Lawson David Sensei Sachter

[edit] Gallery

Frances Mitra Bishop

Kapleau in high school (holding the ball)

Kapleau's security photo for Nuremburg war trials

Kapleau at work during the Nuremberg trial. He is sitting two rows in front of the judges, and is the third person from the left.(looking down)

Philip Kapleau, his wife deLancey, and their daughter, Sudarshana.

Kapleau in zazen with daughter Sudarshana.

Peter Bodhin Kjolhede

Sunyana Graef

Toni Packer

Philip Kapleau in 2000

[edit] Citations

[edit] Selected works

  • (French) "Questions zen" (Paris: Threshold/Points Wisdoms, 1979) ISBN 2-02-014596-0
  • (German) "Die drei Pfeiler des Zen. Lehre, Ãœbung, Erleuchtung" (Frankfurt am Main: O. W. Barth, 2002) ISBN 3-502-64355-5
  • (Italian) "I Tre Pilastri dello Zen: Insegnamento pratica e illuminazione" (Roma: Ubaldini Editore, 1981)
  • (Spanish) "Los Tres Pilares Del Zen. Enseñanza Práctica Iluminación" (Mexico: Pax-Mexico, 2005) ISBN 968-860-707-X
  • (English Audio) Phoenix Audio, 1995: Downloadable: <audiobooksdownload.com> or <audible.com> (Abridged length: 2 hours & 51 min)
  • "The Wheel of Death: A collection of writings from Zen Buddhist and other sources on death, rebirth, dying" (editor) (London: George Allen & Unwin LTD, 1972) ISBN 0-04-294074-5
    • (U.S.) "The Wheel of Death: A collection of writings from Zen Buddhist and other sources on death, rebirth, dying" (editor) (New York: Harper & Row, 1974) ISBN 0-06-090377-5
  • "The Zen of Living and Dying: A Practical and Spiritual Guide" (Boston: Shambhala, 1998) ISBN 1-57062-198-5
  • (German) "Das Zen-Buch vom Leben und vom Sterben. Ein spiritueller Ratgeber" (Frankfurt am Main: O. W. Barth, 2001) ISBN 3-502-61057-6
  • (Chinese) [Chinese Title Unknown) (Twin Moon, 1998) ISBN 957-98414-8-9
  • "To Cherish All Life: A Buddhist Case for Vegetarianism" (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982) ISBN 0-940306-00-X
  • (Italian) "La nascita dello zen in Occidente" (Astrolabio: Roma, 1982)
  • (German) “Schluessel zum Zen. Der Weg zu einem achtsamen Leben” (Herder, Freiberg, 2000) ISBN 3-451-04570-2
  • "Zen: Merging of East and West" (New York: Anchor Books, 1989) ISBN 0-385-26104-7
  • "Zen Teaching, Zen Practice," edited by Kenneth Kraft, a festschrift honoring Kapleau (New York: Weatherhill, 2000) ISBN 0-8348-0440-9

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