Zen Center of Los Angeles

Zen Center of Los Angeles
Name	Zen Center of Los Angeles
Founded	1967
Founder	Taizan Maezumi
Location	Los Angeles, California

Zen Center of Los Angeles

The Zen Center of Los Angeles is a Soto and Rinzai-influenced Zen institution in Los Angeles, California founded in 1967 by Taizan Maezumi. It functions as a residential monastery, urban practice center, and teaching institution closely associated with broader networks such as the White Plum Asanga, while interacting with cultural institutions in Southern California, San Francisco, New York City, and international centers in Japan and Korea. The center has hosted retreats, sesshin, and public programs engaging practitioners connected to figures like Shunryu Suzuki, D.T. Suzuki, Philip Kapleau, and organizations including the San Francisco Zen Center, Mount Baldy Zen Center, and the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives.

History

The center emerged during the postwar expansion of Zen in the United States alongside establishments such as the San Francisco Zen Center, Dharma Sangha groups in New York City, and the growth of Buddhist communities linked to Japanese teachers like Hakuun Yasutani and international exchanges involving Suzuki Roshi. Early history intersects with developments in American Buddhism, the countercultural movements of the 1960s, and institutions such as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and academic centers at University of California, Los Angeles and University of Southern California. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the center navigated challenges and controversies common to Western Zen lineages, paralleling narratives seen at the San Francisco Zen Center and in accounts involving teachers like Phillip Kapleau and centers in Seattle and Chicago.

Founding and Lineage

Founded by Taizan Maezumi—who trained in the Soto and Rinzai traditions under teachers including Hakuun Yasutani and Japanese masters—the center became a hub of the White Plum Asanga lineage. Lineage connections extend to prominent figures and institutions such as Shunryu Suzuki, Soen Nakagawa, Yasutani Haku'un, the Rinzai school, the Soto school, and western successors who established practice centers across North America and Europe, including links to communities in San Francisco, New York City, Vermont, and wartime-era exchanges with religious figures from Japan.

Facilities and Buildings

The center's facilities include a zendo (meditation hall), residential quarters, and auxiliary spaces used for ceremonies, lectures, and community meals. Its built environment reflects urban monastery models similar to those at the San Francisco Zen Center, Mount Baldy Zen Center, and other American monasteries influenced by Japanese temple layouts such as Eihei-ji and Myoshin-ji monasteries. Facilities have supported sesshin patterned after practices taught by Taizan Maezumi and peer institutions like Zen Mountain Center and the Cambridge Zen Center.

Programs and Practice

Programs include daily zazen, formal sesshin, teisho, dharma talks, and training forms informed by both Soto shikantaza instruction and Rinzai koan study. The curriculum parallels methods used by teachers connected to D.T. Suzuki, Philip Kapleau, and Shunryu Suzuki, incorporating retreats similar to those at San Francisco Zen Center and koan curricula related to the White Plum Asanga. Public offerings have ranged from introductory meditation classes to advanced practice for sacerdotal training, attracting participants from institutions like UCLA, USC, and art communities tied to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and California Institute of the Arts.

Community and Membership

The resident sangha includes ordained priests, lay students, and visiting practitioners from networks such as the White Plum Asanga, San Francisco Zen Center, and international monasteries in Japan. Community life features work practice (samu), chanting services, and shared meals, paralleling organizational patterns at Zen Mountain Center and historic temples like Eihei-ji. Membership has included academics, artists, and professionals connected to cultural centers like the Getty Center and universities including UCLA, USC, and Cal State Los Angeles.

Notable Teachers and Residents

Beyond Taizan Maezumi, the center has been associated with teachers and residents influential in Western Zen such as successors within the White Plum Asanga and visiting teachers from lineages connected to Shunryu Suzuki, Soen Nakagawa, and Hakuun Yasutani. The community has intersected with figures active in American Buddhism discussions alongside names like Richard Baker (Roshi), Bernard Glassman, Joan Halifax, and contemporaries in the expansion of Zen institutions in North America and Europe.

Cultural and Social Impact

The center contributed to the diffusion of Zen practice into Los Angeles’s cultural fabric, influencing artists, writers, and professionals affiliated with venues like the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, and academic departments at UCLA and USC. Its presence reflects broader patterns in the transmission of Japanese Buddhist lineages to the United States, engaging debates and reforms echoed in histories of the San Francisco Zen Center, the formation of the White Plum Asanga, and the institutionalization of Zen across North America. The center's activities have been part of interfaith dialogues involving organizations such as the American Academy of Religion and civic cultural exchanges with consulates and cultural institutes from Japan.

Category:Zen centers in the United States Category:Buddhism in Los Angeles