Robert Baker Aitken
Robert Baker Aitken (born
1917 in
Philadelphia) is an
American teacher of
Zen Buddhism in the Harada-Yasutani (or
Sanbo Kyodan) tradition, a blending of
Soto and
Rinzai schools. He was a student of
Nyogen Senzaki,
Sōen Nakagawa, and
Haku'un Yasutani and was a disciple of
Koun Yamada.
The grandson of astronomer
Robert Grant Aitken, he attended the
University of Hawai'i before and after
World War II, earning degrees in
English and
Japanese Studies. During these studies, he worked closely with a number of academic teachers, including
D.T. Suzuki. His involvement in Zen academia would continue throughout his life.
While in a wartime Japanese prison camp (he had been captured as a civilian in
Guam), he met the British scholar
R. H. Blyth, who introduced him to
Zen Buddhism. In
1950, Aitken made the first in a series of ongoing trips to study Zen as a spiritual student, beginning with Sõen Nakagawa at
Ryutaku-ji monastery. Over the next twenty-four years, he would travel to Japan. to study with Zen masters, and to
Los Angeles to study with Nyogen Senzaki
In
1959 Robert Aitken and his wife
Anne Hopkins Aitken moved to Hawai'i to be near his young son
Thomas Laune Aitken. There they established a
Zen Center, the
Diamond Sangha , which had two
zendos in Hawai'i. Aitken was authorized to teach by Kõun Yamada in
1974. He was given full transmission by Yamada in
1985.
His most well-known book is
Taking the Path of Zen, published in
1982, a practical guide to zazen and Zen practice. He has since published numerous works, including several translations,
teishos and commentaries on
koans.
In
1984 he published
The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics, which was the first major book dealing with the application of the
Ten Cardinal Precepts for Western Zen adherents.
Aitken has been a noted
peace activist, demonstrating against
nuclear arms, the
Vietnam War and violence in general. He was a participant in founding the
Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the Hawai'i chapters of the
ACLU and
AFSC, and has always been an advocate of
interreligious dialogue. He is notable in his teachings and writings for his views on the moral implications of Zen.
Today, the Diamond Sangha has affiliate zen centers in
South America,
Australia, the
United States and
Europe, while Aitken continues to publish and enjoy his semi-retirement in
Honolulu.
*
*
Robert Aitken's official website*
Anne Hopkins Aitken*
Thomas Laune Aitken*
The Robert Baker Aitken Archives at the
University of Hawai'i*
Honolulu Diamond Sangha*
Buddhist Peace Fellowship*
Shoemaker & Hoard Publishers
