Michael_vx blog

Soyen Shaku (1860-1919), a senior teacher of the Rinzai school of Zen, is noted as the first Zen Buddhist priest to come to the United States. In 1893 Shaku was invited to the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Organized by John Henry Barrows and Paul Carus, the 1893 World Parliament of Religions was the first official gathering of representatives from both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. This gathering started interreligious dialogue worldwide and shines as a beacon of the possibilities when the world’s religious and spiritual traditions work together in their common humanity. Shaku’s associates and followers believed at the time that it was beneath a Zen priest to go to a country such as the U.S., which Japan saw at the time as barbaric. Despite opposition from associates and followers, Shaku accepted the invitation. Without this invitation having been accepted, we probably wouldn’t have received the wisdom of Zen in the United States until much l