Robert Baker Dairyu Chotan Aitken Rōshi (June 19, 1917 – August 5, 2010) was a Zen teacher in the

Harada-Yasutani is a lay Zen sect derived from both the Soto (Caodong) and the Rinzai ( Linji) traditions. It was renamed Sanbo-Zen International in 2014. The term ''Sanbo Kyodan'' has often been used to refer to the Harada-Yasutani zen lineage. However, a n ...

lineage. He co-founded the Honolulu Diamond Sangha in 1959 together with his wife, Anne Hopkins Aitken. Aitken received

Dharma transmission In Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretically traced back to the Buddha himse ...

from Koun Yamada in 1985 but decided to live as a layperson. He was a socialist advocating

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals ...

for gays,

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

and Native Hawaiians throughout his life, and was one of the original founders of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.

Biography

Robert Baker Aitken and Anne Hopkins Aitken

Robert Aitken or Bob, as he liked to be called, was born to Robert Thomas Aitken and Gladys Page Baker in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

in 1917. He was raised in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

from the age of five. He was the son of a war enthusiast and was a rebel and loner in the 1930s and 40s before the war. Living in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

as a civilian working in construction—at the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

—he was detained by the Japanese and held in internment camps for the duration of the war. A guard at one of the internment camps let him borrow a copy of R.H. Blyth's book
Zen in English Literature and the Oriental Classics
'' In one of his books later on in his life, he described being so invested in the book that he managed to be joyful even in the terrible conditions. In another internment camp in Kobe, Japan in 1944 he met its author,

Reginald Horace Blyth Reginald Horace Blyth (3 December 1898–28 October 1964) was an English writer and devotee of Japanese culture. He is most famous for his writings on Zen and on haiku poetry. Early life Blyth was born in Essex, England, the son of a railway cl ...

, with whom he had frequent discussions on

Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), an ...

and

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

. At the conclusion of the war he returned to Hawaii and obtained a B.A. in English literature and an MA in Japanese from the University of Hawaii. He would write for two hours each morning and even read aloud his work to make sure it was his distinctive style. In the late 1940s, while going to classes briefly at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

, he met

Nyogen Senzaki Nyogen Senzaki (千崎如幻, 1876–1958) was a Rinzai Zen monk who was one of the 20th century's leading proponents of Zen Buddhism in the United States. Early life Details of Senzaki's early life are unclear. Town records in Fukaura, Aomor ...

. Originally in California hoping for an encounter with Krishnamurti, he began to study with Senzaki in Los Angeles. It was during this period that his commitment to leftist social issues - such as

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace camp ...

and

labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights infl ...

– became more vocal. As a result of his advocacy, he was investigated during this period by the FBI. Because he was against the war in Vietnam and against the arming the military, he decided to not pay his percent of taxes that went to the Defense Department of the U.S. In 1950 he went back to Japan, under a grant to study

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a '' kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a '' kigo'', or ...

and followed Senzaki's recommendation that he study Zen there. There he took part in his first sesshin at Engaku-ji, a temple in

Kamakura, Japan is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kama ...

. Soon after, he met Nakagawa Soen, who persuaded him to come for a stay at Ryutakuji for the next seven months. During this period Soen took over for the ailing abbot of the temple, Yamamoto Gempo. Aitken then came down with a case of dysentery, and returned home to Hawaii. He married his second wife Anne Hopkins in 1957 and made occasional trips back to Japan. In 1957 Aitken met Hakuun Yasutani and sat with him for the first time. In 1959 he and Anne began a meditation group in Honolulu at their residence, which became known as the Koko-an zendo. The community that gathered at this zendo were then named the Diamond Sangha by the two. The Diamond Sangha has affiliate zen centers in South America, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe and is known for making the rigors of traditional Zen accessible to lay practitioners. In 1960 Soen Nakagawa Roshi asked young monk

Eido Tai Shimano was a Rinzai Zen Buddhist roshi. He was the founding abbot of the New York Zendo Shobo-Ji in Manhattan and Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji monastery in the Catskill mountains of New York; he was forced to resign from that position of 40 years af ...

to travel to Honolulu to assist at the Diamond Sangha center. In 1961, Aitken made an extended stay in Japan to study under

Haku'un Yasutani was a Sōtō rōshi, the founder of the Sanbo Kyodan organization of Japanese Zen. Biography Ryōkō Yasutani (安谷量衡) was born in Japan in Shizuoka Prefecture. His family was very poor, and therefore he was adopted by another family. ...

, eventually ending his studies with Soen. He then worked in various capacities at the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii until 1969, when he and Anne moved to Maui, Hawaii to found the Maui Zendo in Haiku-Pauwela. Koun Yamada Rōshi was invited to lead the Diamond Sangha and he moved to Hawaii in 1971. In 1974 Aitken was given permission to teach by Koun Yamada, receiving full

from him in 1985. He also was a major inspiration for the ‘System Stinks’ movement, where they drew inspiration from his famous photograph protesting with a sign. In the picture the sign said 'The System Stinks' and was in protest of the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, while in his wheelchair. The photo was taken in Hawaii. Robert Aitken was a social activist through much of his adult life, beginning with protesting against

nuclear testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

during the 1940s. He was an outspoken critic of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and became a strong opponent of the nuclear arms race between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. He was among the earlier proponents of deep ecology in religious America, and was outspoken in his beliefs on the equality of men and women. In 1978 Aitken helped found the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, an organization that advocates

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...

globally. In the discussion that led to the founding of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, most of the other people had less experience than him when it came to political activism. This gave him the most influence on what the organization should be about. Many of the first 100 people who were sent invitations to join were recommendations from Robert Aitken. He was also the guest speaker at the first two institutes that the Buddhist Peace Fellowship held. He did have anarchist beliefs, which is why even when he helped found the organization, he didn't take any control due to distrusting all authority or control even when it was his own. Aitken Roshi died after a brief bout with pneumonia on August 5, 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was working on his fourteenth book before his passing. He retired in 1996 and spent some of his final years in Palolo, Hawaii where he could be looked after and interact with some of his students.

Bibliography

*''Zen Training. A Personal Account''; Honolulu: Old Island Books (1960). *''A Buddhist Reader''; Honolulu: Young Buddhist Association (1961). *''Hawaii Upward Bound Writing and Art 1966''; A Project of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Robert Aitken, Editor (1966). *''A Zen Wave: Basho's Haiku and Zen''; New York:

Weatherhill Shambhala Publications is an independent publishing company based in Boulder, Colorado. According to the company, it specializes in "books that present creative and conscious ways of transforming the individual, the society, and the planet". Ma ...

(1978). *''Taking the Path of Zen''; San Francisco:

North Point Press North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

(1982). . *''The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics''; San Francisco: North Point Press (1984). . *''The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-menkuan (Mumonkan)''; San Francisco: North Point Press (1990). . *''The Dragon who Never Sleeps: Verses for Zen Buddhist Practice''; Berkeley: Parallax Press (1992). . *''Encouraging Words: Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students''; San Francisco and New York:

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved 6/20/2007, from EBSCO Host Business Source ...

(1993). . *''The Ground We Share: Everyday Practice. Buddhist and Christian'' with David Steindl-Rast; Ligouri, Missouri:

Triumph Books Triumph Books is a Chicago-based sports book publisher. The company is well known for its "instant books", such as its illustrated tribute to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, which was released 10 days after his death in a crash in the 2001 Dayton ...

, (1994). . *''The Practice of Perfection: The Paramitas from a Zen Buddhist Perspective''; San Francisco and New York: Pantheon Books (1994). . *''Original Dwelling Place: Zen Buddhist Essays''; Washington, DC: Counterpoint Press (1996). . *''Zen Master Raven: Sayings and Doings of a Wise Bird''; Boston:

Tuttle Publishing Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.

(2002). *A Zen Master: Counterpoint 2008 ISBN 978-1-58243-536-7 *

Footnotes

References

External links

*
Robert Aitken's blog

* ttp://www.diamondsangha.org/ Honolulu Diamond Sangha
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Robert Baker 1917 births 2010 deaths American anti-war activists American pacifists American prisoners of war in World War II American Buddhists American scholars of Buddhism American spiritual writers American Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers Buddhist pacifists Converts to Buddhism Deaths from pneumonia in Hawaii Engaged Buddhists English-language haiku poets Non-interventionism People from Honolulu Sanbo Kyodan Buddhists University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Hawaiʻi alumni University of Hawaiʻi faculty World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Writers from Philadelphia Zen Buddhism writers

Biography

Bibliography

See also

Footnotes

References

External links