Below is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States . Dates with "?" are approximate.
Early history
1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in Chicago
On November 18, 1903, Rev. Sokyo Ueoka, head minister of Tokujuan Soto Zen Temple in Honichi, Nuta Higashi Village. Toyota—gun (present day Mihara City), Hiroshima Prefecture. received an assignment to become a visiting minister to Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. Arriving in Honolulu on July 9, 1904 he built a temporary temple in the Aiea plantation. Upon the request of Japanese residents on Maui, he moved to Lower Paia on November 7, 1906 with his wife, Tomiyo, who joined him from Japan. Through the initiative of Sukesaburo Yamazaki, Kikujiro Soga, and Unosuke Ogawa, he leased a half-acre of land for 15 years from local Hawaiians. This site was adjacent to the present Paia Fire Station and behind the former County Courthouse. The construction of the temple began in March 1907 with a ceremony officiated by Rev. Ryoun Kan of Zenshuji Soto Zen Temple of Kauai. Rev. Kan is considered to be the honorary founder of Mantokuji with the title "Kanjyo Kaisan", while Rev. Sokyo Ueoka is the official founder or "Kaisan" of Mantokuji. The official title of the temple, given by the head temple in Japan, is “Machozan Mantokuji".
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 )
1932: Dwight Goddard authors A Buddhist Bible , an anthology focusing on Chinese and Japanese Zen scriptures
1938: Ruth Fuller Sasaki became a principal supporter of the Buddhist Society of America (later known as the First Zen Institute of America ),
1939 Zengaku Soyu Matsuoka arrives in 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
Hsuan Hua , America's first Chinese Chan teacher.
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: Shunryu Suzuki ordains Tenshin Reb Anderson
1970: Shasta Abbey is established in Mount Shasta, California by Jiyu Kennett
1970: James Ishmael Ford received Dharma transmission from Houn Jiyu Kennett 2 May 1971
1970: Santa Cruz Zen Center is founded by Kobun Chino Roshi .
1971 Shunryu Suzuki ordains Keido Les Kaye
1971: Shunryu Suzuki dies.
1971: Yamada Koun moves to Diamond Sangha in Hawaii to lead sesshin
1971: Kobun Chino Otogawa becomes abbot of Haiku Zen Center
1971: Kyozan Joshu Sasaki founds Mount Baldy Zen Center
1972: Seung Sahn arrives from Korea in Providence, Rhode Island and founds the Providence Zen Center
1972: Green Gulch Farm opens in Muir Beach, CA as part of the San Francisco Zen Center
1972 First meeting of the Zen Center of Syracuse founded by graduate students of Syracuse University
1972: Dainin Katagiri founds the Minnesota Zen Center
1972: Eido Tai Shimano receives Dharma transmission (Inka Shomei) from Soen Nakagawa at NY Zendo
1973: Haku'un Yasutani dies
1973: Kyozan Joshu Sasaki founds Bodhi Manda Zen Center
1973: Jakusho Kwong founds the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center
1973: Seikan Hasegawa founds Rock Creek Buddhist Temple of America, Inc., in Derwood, Maryland
1973: The Cambridge Zen Center is founded as part of the Kwan Um School of Zen
1973: The New Haven Zen Center is founded as part of the Kwan Um School of Zen
1974: Robert Pirsig publishes Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values .
1974: Robert Baker Aitken receives teaching permission from Yamada Koun
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 City
1975: Seikan Hasegawa's book, The Cave of Poison Grass, Essays on the Hannya Sutra is published by Great Ocean Publishers[3]
1976: Shohaku Okumura helps found 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 first and still largest Chinese Ch'an community in the United States
1976: Heng Sure is ordained by Hsuan Hua , becomes one of the first Western Chinese Ch'an monks
1977: Kyogen Carlson receives Dharma transmission from Jiyu Kennett
1977: Seikan Hasegawa's book, Essays on Marriage is published by Great Ocean Publishers
1977?: The Atlanta Soto Zen Center is founded by Zenkai Michael Elliston
1978: The Buddhist Peace Fellowship is founded
1978: Charlotte Joko Beck receives Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi
1978: Genki Takabayashi becomes resident teacher at the Seattle Zen Center
1979: Maurine Stuart becomes President of the Cambridge Buddhist Association
1979: Omori Sogen of Tenryu-ji founds Daihonzan Chozen-ji in Honolulu, the first Rinzai Zen temple headquarters established outside Japan.
1980s
1980: Ch'an master Sheng-yen begins teaching in the United States
1980: Dennis Genpo Merzel receives shiho (permission to teach) from Taizan Maezumi
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 informally receives the title roshi from Soen Nakagawa in a private ceremony
1982: The Rinzai temple that would become Daiyuzenji is founded in Chicago, Illinois as a betsuin (branch) of Daihonzan Chozen-ji by Tenshin Tanouye and Fumio Toyoda .
1983: Jan Chozen Bays receives Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi
1983: The Kwan Um School of Zen is established by Seung Sahn Soen Sa Nim
1983: Dai Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji is founded in Seattle, Washington by Genki Takabayashi
1983: Zentatsu Richard Baker confers Dharma transmission to Tenshin Reb Anderson
1983: Taizan Maezumi is confronted about his sexual relationships with some students and enters alcoholism treatment
1984: Zentatsu Richard Baker resigns as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center amidst controversy
1984: Katagiri Roshi , abbot of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, agrees to serve as interim abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center
1984: The Kanzeon Zen Center is founded by Dennis Genpo Merzel in Salt Lake City, Utah
1984: Soen Nakagawa dies at Ryutaku-Ji
1984: The New Orleans Zen Temple is founded by Robert Livingston in New Orleans, Louisiana
1984: Sojun Mel Weitsman receives Dharma transmission from Hoitsu Suzuki, son of Shunryu Suzuki
1985 Keido Les Kaye receives Dharma transmission from Hoitsu Suzuki
1985: Tenshin Reb Anderson succeeds Dainen Katagiri Roshi as abbot of San Francisco Zen Center
1985: Robert Baker Aitken receives Dharma transmission from Yamada Koun
1985: Tozen Akiyama founds the Milwaukee Zen Center, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and heads it until 2000.
1986: Bodhin Kjolhede is installed as abbot of Rochester Zen Center as Philip Kapleau retires
1986: Sojun Mel Weitsman joins Tenshin Reb Anderson as co-abbot of San Francisco Zen Center
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 City 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 Keido Les Kaye invited to be abbot of Kannon Do in Mountain View, CA
1988: Hsi Lai Temple is built, the largest Chinese Chan community in Southern California, a Triple Platform Monastic Ordination is convened
1988: The Kwan Um School of Zen is rocked by revelations that Seung Sahn had sexual relationships with three 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
1989: Danan Henry Roshi receives Dharma transmission from Philip Kapleau Roshi
1989: Zen Center of Denver founded with Danan Henry Roshi installed as abbot
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: Zenshin Philip Whalen becomes the new abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center
1991: The Mount Equity Zendo is founded by Dai-En Bennage in Pennsdale, Pennsylvania
1992: Mary Farkas of the First Zen Institute of America dies
1992: Caitriona Reed receives teaching authorization from Thich Nhat Hanh
1992: George Bowman , Soeng Hyang , and Su Bong receive Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
1992: Shi Yan Ming arrives in the United States
1993: Wu Bong , Wu Kwang , and Dae Gak receive Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
1994: Charles Tenshin Fletcher receives Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi
1994: Su Bong dies during a retreat in Hong Kong
1994: Still Mind Zendo founded by Janet Jiryu Abels 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
1994: Shi Yan Ming founds the USA Shaolin Temple
1995: Taizan Maezumi dies 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 dies June 7, age 77
1995: Taitaku Pat Phelan receives shiho from Sojun Mel Weitsman
1995: Anne Seisen Saunders receives shiho from Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
1995: Zoketsu Norman Fischer becomes abbot of San Francisco Zen Center , and serves until 2000
1995: Shodo Harada founds One Drop Zendo on Whidbey Island in Washington state .
1996: Blanche Hartman becomes co-abbot of San Francisco Zen Center
1996 Les Kaye's book, Zen at Work , published by Three Rivers Press
1996: The Zen Peacemaker Order is founded by Bernard Glassman and his wife, Sandra Jishu Holmes.
1996: Jisho Warner receives dharma transmission from Tozen Akiyama and founds Stone Creek Zen Center in Sebastopol, California.
1996: The Sanshin Zen Community is founded by Shohaku Okumura in Bloomington, Indiana
1996: Jiyu Kennett dies 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 confers Dharma Transmission 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
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: Sherry Chayat, born in Brooklyn, became the first American woman to receive transmission in the Rinzai school of Buddhism. She received transmission from Eido Tai Shimano .
1998: Maylie Scott receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
1998: Hozan Alan Senauke receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
1999: Genjo Marinello founds Chobo-ji
1999: Joan Halifax receives Dharma transmission from Bernard Glassman
1999: John Tarrant establishes the Pacific Zen Institute
1999: Seikan Hasegawa's book Mind to Mind is published by Great Ocean Publishers[4]
1999: Zen Center of Pittsburgh – Deep Spring Temple is founded by Nonin Chowaney in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2000—2009
Merle Kodo Boyd became the first African-American woman to receive Dharma transmission in Zen Buddhism in 2006.
2000: Deer Park Monastery is founded in Escondido, California as part of Thich Nhat Hanh 's Order of Interbeing
2000: Taigen Daniel Leighton receives Dharma transmission from Tenshin Reb Anderson .
2000: Bon Yeon receives Dharma transmission from Seung Sahn
2000: Sweetwater Zen Center established in National City, California
2001: Maylie Scott dies May 10, age 66
2002: Peter Schneider receives Dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman
2002: Zenshin Philip Whalen , abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center , dies on June 26
2002: Great Vow Zen Monastery founded by Jan Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays in Clatskanie, Oregon
2002: Kobun Chino Otogawa drowns in Switzerland
2002: Seirin Barbara Kohn becomes head priest and guiding teacher of Austin Zen Center in Austin, Texas
2002: Tim Burkett becomes Guiding Teacher of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center
2003: Jy Din Shakya opens the Hsu Yun Temple in Honolulu before dying on March 13
2003: Paul Haller becomes abbot of San Francisco Zen Center
2003: Brad Warner publishes the book Hardcore Zen
2003: Daniel Doen Silberberg receives Dharma transmission from Dennis Genpo Merzel
2004: Philip Kapleau dies on May 6 from complications of Parkinson's disease
2004: Seung Sahn dies on November 30 in South Korea
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 Otogawa
2004: Enkyo Pat O'Hara receives Dharma transmission from Tetsugen Bernard Glassman
2004: Golden Wind Zen Order is founded by Ji Bong in Long Beach, California
2005: Rinzai Daiyuzenji (formerly a branch temple of Daihonzan Chozen-ji in Hawaii) becomes independent
2005: Harvey Daiho Hilbert receives Dharma transmission from Hogaku Shozen McGuire and founds Order of Clear Mind Zen.
2006: Gerry Shishin Wick receives Dharma transmission from Bernard Glassman
2006: Merle Kodo Boyd becomes first African-American woman to receive Dharma transmission in Zen Buddhism, which she received from Wendy Egyoku Nakao .[5]
2006: The Nashville Mindfulness Center is founded by Tiếp Hiện
2007: Joko Dave Haselwood receives dharma transmission from Jisho Warner .
2007 Kannon Do completes construction and occupies larger center in Mountain View, CA
2007: Rochester Zen Center completes country zendo in Batavia New York called Chapin Mill Zen Retreat Center.
2007: New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care is founded by Robert Chodo Campbell and Koshin Paley Ellison in New York, NY .
2008: Roko Sherry Chayat is formally recognized as a "Zen master"
2008: Genjo Marinello receives Dharma transmission from Eido Tai Shimano
2008: Hsi Lai Temple celebrates 20th anniversary
2009: Sheng-yen dies on February 3 at age 80 in Taiwan
2009: Ancient Dragon Zen Gate is founded by Taigen Daniel Leighton in Chicago.
2009: John Daido Loori dies in New York at age 78 in Mount Tremper
2010–Present
Taitaku Pat Phelan is a Sōtō Zen priest and current abbot of Chapel Hill Zen Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
2010: Robert Aitken dies in Hawaii at age 93.
2010: Eko Little resigns as abbot of Shasta Abbey due to misconduct and subsequently disrobes[6]
2010: Eido Shimano resigns from the board of the Zen Studies Society due to misconduct in July; retires as abbot of the Zen Studies Society in December
2010: The Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) approves a document honoring the women ancestors in the Zen tradition at its biannual meeting on October 8, 2010. Female ancestors, dating back 2,500 years from India, China, and Japan, may now be included in the curriculum, ritual, and training offered to Western Zen students.[7]
2010: Karin Kempe, Ken Morgareidge, and Peggy Sheehan receive Dharma transmission and appointment of abbacy from Danan Henry Roshi who steps down as abbot of the Zen Center of Denver .
2011: Gyobutsuji Zen Monastery [(行仏寺 gyōbutsu-ji)], a Soto Zen monastery in the line of Shōhaku Okumura is dedicated near Kingston, Arkansas.
2011: Roko Sherry Chayat was installed as the second Abbot of Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji on New Year's Day.
2011: February, Dennis Genpo Merzel steps down as abbot of the Kanzeon Zen Center and resigns as elder of the White Plum Asanga due to sexual misconduct[8]
2011: Joko Beck dies
2012: Helen Cortes, Lee Ann Nail and Maria Reis-Habito received Dharma Transmission from Ruben Habito of Maria Kannon Zen Center.
2012: Dana Kojun Hull receives Dharma Transmission from Jan Chozen Bays and Hogen Bays at Great Vow Zen Monastery
2012: Seikan Hasegawa's book Essays for Buddhist Trainees is published by Great Ocean Publishers
2013: Korinji [祖的山光林禅寺], a Rinzai Zen monastery in the line of Tekio Sogen Roshi , is dedicated near Madison, Wisconsin.
2014: Kyozan Joshu Sasaki dies in Los Angeles at age 107.
2014: Kyogen Carlson dies in Portland at age 65
2014: Blue Cliff Zen Center is established in Eugene, Oregon , a Rinzai Zen Center in the line of Shinzan Miyamae Roshi .
2015: Harvey Daiho Hilbert retires as abbot of the Order of Clear Mind Zen and becomes abbot emeritus.
2015: Kathryn Shukke Shin Hilbert is installed as abbot of the Order of Clear Mind Zen.
2015: Joshin Brian Byrnes becomes vice-abbot of Upaya Institute and Zen Center .[9]
2016: Robert Livingston Roshi retires as abbot of New Orleans Zen Temple and becomes abbot emeritus. Richard Collins Roshi becomes abbot.[10]
2016: Rafe Martin receives Dharma transmission from Danan Henry Roshi in a ceremony at the Rochester Zen Center .
2016: Rebecca Li receives Dharma transmission from Simon Child.[11]
2016: Ron Hogen Green receives Dharma transmission from Geoffrey Shugen Arnold at Zen Mountain Monastery.[12]
2017: Jody Hojin Kimmel receives Dharma transmission from Geoffrey Shugen Arnold at Zen Mountain Monastery.[13]
2018: Vanessa Zuisei Goddard receives Dharma transmission from Geoffrey Shugen Arnold at Zen Mountain Monastery.[14]
2018: Harvey Daiho Hilbert was re-instated as Abbot of the Order of Clear Mind Zen.
2018: Joshin Brian Byrnes founds and becomes guiding teacher of Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community[15]
Kernan, Michael (March 19, 1974). "When East Meets West". The Washington Post .
Berkley, Jack (June 26, 1975). "A Priest in Pursuit of Zen". The Montgomery Journal .
von Sturmer, Richard (2000). "Mind to Mind". ZenBow . Numbers 2 & 3. XXII (Summer 2000): 25–27.