http://www.zbtc.org
“Zen Buddhists hold that all living beings are pure Buddha nature that seems to be obscured by the workings of the discursive mind, fueled by the pressures of modern life. Through daily practice of seated meditation, we allow the discursive mind to settle, and let this true nature be expressed in our daily life” (Home).
The Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago is located at 608 Dempster Street in Evanston, Illinois. It was originally located on Halsted Street in Chicago, where it was founded by Soyu Matsuoka Roshi in 1949. According to the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago’s website, the Temple has been at its present location since the 1980s (Home). It is the oldest, continually-operating Zen center in the Chicago area (Facebook). It currently shares the space with the Chinese Cultural Academy, which holds tai chi and karate classes.
The Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago is a “Soto Zen Temple dedicated to helping practitioners realize their true nature through Zazen, seated meditation” (Home). The Soto Zen tradition comes from Japan, where it was started by Dogen. Dogen, who lived from 1200 to 1253, taught “just sitting” meditation, or zazen, to monastic elites. He believed that you could experience Enlightenment every time that you meditate, and therefore Enlightenment means the practice of meditation. He introduced the idea of meditation in all activities, as the more you practice meditation, the more times you are enlightened. After Dogen’s death, Soto Zen Buddhism was later popularized for the masses under Keizan. It became Zen for the working person.
Zengaku Soyu Matsuoka Roshi was born near Hiroshima, Japan on November 25, 1912. His family had multiple Zen priests in its history, in fact, they had a tradition going back as far as six centuries. After college, Matsuoka Roshi went to the Sojiji Zen Monastery, where he studied for several years. Sojiji is one of the two main monasteries for the Japanese Soto Zen tradition (About). He came to the United States as an assistant minister at the Los Angeles Zen Buddhist Temple in 1939. From there, he became Superintendent of the San Francisco Zen Buddhist Temple. After California, Matsuoka Roshi moved to New York, where he attended graduate school at Columbia University, and studied under the famous Dr. Daisetsu Suzuki (About). Suzuki is known for starting a large movement of convert Zen Buddhism in the United States, as his goal was to introduce the “Zen experience” to Americans. Once done, Matsuoka Roshi moved to Chicago and founded the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago. While teaching in Chicago, he also traveled around the country, giving lectures to high schools and colleges. He also would return each year to Japan, where he would lecture about “Unknown America”, with the goal of fostering cultural understanding between the two countries. Then, in 1971, Matsuoka Roshi moved back to California, founding the Long Beach Zen Buddhist Temple. He died on November 20, 1997 (About).
Succeeding Matsuoka Roshi at the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago was Reverend Kongo Richard Langlois Roshi. Born January 25, 1935, Richard was an avid pianist and served in the U.S. Army from 1954-1956, when he started studying Yoga and meditation under Swami Vishwananda (About). He began studying under Matsuoka Roshi in 1960, becoming his disciple in 1963. The name Kongo was given to Richard by Matsuoka Roshi, as a reference to the Diamond Sutra. In 1967, Kongo Langlois was the first American to be ordained a Zen Buddhist priest, as he was one of the first Americans to teach zazen (About). In addition to Zen, Kongo Langlois also studied Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism under Professor Huo Chi-Kwang of the Chinese Cultural Academy (which shares the building with the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago). He took over as director of the Chinese Cultural Academy in 1988, and died from cancer 11 years later, on October 28, 1999 (About).
Currently, the Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago is led by the Reverends Tessen Stuart Ericksen and Kozan Jim Matson. Tessen leads the Wednesday evening zazen services, and Jim the Sunday afternoon services and monthly Introduction to Zen workshops (About).
The Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago is open to anyone, whether they be Buddhist or not. As stated on the website, “it is not necessary to be a Buddhist to practice meditation. We have a number of people who regularly attend our meditation services who are not Buddhists. Anyone is able to practice meditation, regardless of their personal belief system” (Services). Anyone from the greater Chicago area (and beyond) is welcome to attend Zazen services, or monthly sesshins that the Temple offers. All of these events are free to attend, however the Temple encourages donations, as this is their only source of funding (Services).
From the Temple’s website and Facebook page, it would appear that the constituency is one of converts. The attendees are lay people who solely practice meditation, and do not study Buddhists texts, unlike the early days of Soto Zen, where the emphasis was on the monastic elites. The fact that Matsuoka Roshi was a student of Suzuki also points to a convert Buddhist constituency, as Suzuki was known for convert Buddhism. However, because of its affiliation with the Chinese Cultural Academy, attendees are also able to learn about Chinese cultural traditions, such as Tai Chi Chuan (Chinese Cultural Academy).
Services are held three times a week, and last for two hours. Because the Temple is focused on zazen, most of the services are spent in zazen, however they also include chanting and walking meditation (Services).
Weekly Schedule
- Sunday mornings – 10:00am to 12:00 noon
- Sunday afternoons – 2:00pm to 4:00pm
- Wednesday evenings – 7:00pm to 9:00pm
(Services)
Services
- Chanting in English & Japanese – 10 minutes
- Zazen – 40 minutes
- Kinhin – 10 minutes
- Zazen – 40 minutes
- Chanting in Japanese – 10 minutes
(Services)
Sources
“About.” Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.zbtc.org/about
“Chinese Cultural Academy.” Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.zbtc.org/content/chinese-cultural-academy
“Home.” Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.zbtc.org/home
Kongo Roshi and Matsuoka Roshi. Digital image. Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago Facebook. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. <https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/1916227_172344418654_1885824_n.jpg?oh=4d39eab9fd998aaa60536abde9bd2fb4&o e=56E2FCA8>.
“Services.” Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.zbtc.org/content/zazen-services
ZBTCFront. Digital image. Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago, Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.zbtc.org/droopy/sites/default/files/ZBTCFront.jpg
Zen Buddhist Temple on Halsted St. Digital image. Zen Buddhist Temple of Chicago Facebook. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. <https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/1916227_172343763654_1716605_n.jpg?oh=70c60692715cd4885d5bf3586c172ea6& oe=56E077B3>.