American Zen Teachers Association
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - American Zen Teachers Association
OR:
American Zen Teachers Association on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The American Zen Teachers Association (AZTA) was founded in the late 1980s as the Second Generation Zen Teachers Group. It is a peer-group organization of ordained and lay
Zen Buddhist 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), and ...
teachers, all of whom have received either teaching authorization or
dharma transmission In Chan Buddhism, Chan and Zen Buddhism, dharma transmission is a custom in which a person is established as a "successor in an unbroken Lineage (Buddhism), lineage of teachers and disciples, a spiritual 'bloodline' (''kechimyaku'') theoretica ...
from the mostly
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
n Zen teachers who brought their practices to
America 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the second half of the twentieth century, or their heirs. The first meetings of the AZTA were attended by a dozen or so people, reflecting what would be a Western Zen phenomenon of roughly equal numbers of men and women. Today the AZTA has grown to over two hundred members. AZTA members serve Buddhist groups ranging from a dozen or so people who meet and practice in members’ homes or area churches to those serving three or four hundred members and who meet and practice in large
temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
s and monasteries.


See also

*
Soto Zen Buddhist Association The Soto Zen Buddhist Association was formed in 1996 by American and Japanese Zen teachers in response to a perceived need to draw the various autonomous lineages of the North American Sōtō stream of Zen together for mutual support as well as ...
*
Zen in the USA Zen was introduced in the United States at the end of the 19th century by Japanese teachers who went to America to serve groups of Japanese immigrants and become acquainted with the American culture. After World War II, interest from non-Asian A ...
*
Timeline of Zen Buddhism in the United States Below is a timeline of important events regarding Zen Buddhism in the United States. Dates with "?" are approximate. Events Early history * 1893: Soyen Shaku comes to the United States to lecture at the World Parliament of Religions held in C ...


External links


Main website
Buddhist organizations based in the United States Zen in the United States 1980s establishments in the United States Religious organizations established in the 1980s {{zen-stub