How Did Bodhidharma Come to the West?

Catalog description

There is a famous question asked in the Zen Buddhist tradition in China, Japan, and Korea: Why did Bodhidharma come to the West?" In this course, we shall explore not only the why but, perhaps most importantly, the "how." We explore the Zen monastic traditions of East Asia and trace their transmission to the West through a study of their teachers, practices, and texts, including the development of the unique pedagogy of kōan practice. From the arrival of Zen master Shaku Sōen Kogaku at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 to the establishment of centers of Zen monastic practice, we will look to the past, the present, and the future of Zen in the Western world.