Background
Aitken, Robert Baker was born on June 19, 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Robert Thomas and Gladys Baker Aitken.
(Encouraging Words is a collection of short talks and brie...)
Encouraging Words is a collection of short talks and brief essays that Aitken Rashi has offered his students at meditation retreats during the past two decades. They are arranged according to themes central to all spiritual seekers -- attention, emptiness, coming and going, diligence, death and the afterlife, the sacred self, and the moral path. Aitken provides guidance on pursuing religious practice in a lay context, "re-casting the Dharma to include women, jobs, and family." He also charts his own quest to develop a set of moral codes in keeping with Buddhism's basic precepts and honoring the enormous ethical challenges faced in the twentieth century.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679756523/?tag=2022091-20
( Having practiced zazen for more than half a century, Ro...)
Having practiced zazen for more than half a century, Robert Aitken sits today as the senior American Roshi, a teacher of broad reputation and consequence, who numbers as his own teachers and associates some of the legendary figures of Japanese and American Buddhism. His serendipitous beginning as a Buddhist resulted from being a civilian prisoner of the Japanese in the Second World War, where he found R. R. Blythe, the great haiku master, and D.T. Suzuki, the most important and popular chronicler of Zen in English, as fellow detainees. After the war he returned to Japan on several occasions to study in traditional monastic settings. He has been a leader of the contemporary move to establish Zen Buddhism in the West and was a founding member of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. With material never before collected in book form, The Morning Star includes writings from his first book, A Zen Wave, and from eight collections of essays and poems published over the last three decades. The introduction to this volume offers Robert Aitken’s latest presentation of Zen practice, addressing the Great Matter from a historical and personal perspective.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593760019/?tag=2022091-20
( For more than four decades, Robert Aitken Roshi has tau...)
For more than four decades, Robert Aitken Roshi has taught thousands of people the Buddhist practice of Zen meditation, and has led hundreds through their practice of the study of traditional koans. He has authored more than a dozen books; volumes of commentary on sacred texts; works on ethics, daily life, and social action; and one of the best-loved introductions to Zen Buddhism, Taking the Path of Zen. A founder of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, he has spent his life as a political activist, work he continues to this day. To culminate a long and remarkable life, 91-year-old Aitken Roshi offers a collection of 266 short texts in Miniatures of a Zen Master. Some are clearly parables; others are simple stories, quotations, memories, and commentaries. Resembling Benjamin Franklin's Almanac or the epigrams of Chamfort as much as it does work from ancient sages, this collection of "miniatures" distills a life devoted to teaching and awareness, of being present, showing up, and making a difference.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582435367/?tag=2022091-20
( There is a fine art to presenting complex ideas with si...)
There is a fine art to presenting complex ideas with simplicity and insight, in a manner that both guides and inspires. In Taking the Path of Zen Robert Aitken presents the practice, lifestyle, rationale, and ideology of Zen Buddhism with remarkable clarity. The foundation of Zen is the practice of zazen, or mediation, and Aitken Roshi insists that everything flows from the center. He discusses correct breathing, posture, routine, teacher-student relations, and koan study, as well as common problems and milestones encountered in the process. Throughout the book the author returns to zazen, offering further advice and more advanced techniques. The orientation extends to various religious attitudes and includes detailed discussions of the Three Treasures and the Ten Precepts of Zen Buddhism. Taking the Path of Zen will serve as orientation and guide for anyone who is drawn to the ways of Zen, from the simply curious to the serious Zen student.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0865470804/?tag=2022091-20
(In this collection of twenty-three essays, Robert Aitken ...)
In this collection of twenty-three essays, Robert Aitken retraces the origins of American Zen Buddhism and provides readings of influential texts. Reflecting on death, on marriage, and on Zen practice, Aitken always points out the path to pleasure in the everyday "dewdrop" world.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1887178163/?tag=2022091-20
(America's most senior Zen Roshi presents the "Transcenden...)
America's most senior Zen Roshi presents the "Transcendental Perfections": Giving, Morality, Patience, Zeal, Meditation, Wisdom, Compassion, Aspiration, Spiritual Power, and Knowledge. These 2,000-year-old ideas serve as both methods and goals to develop one's spiritual and moral life. Includes question and answer sections.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679435107/?tag=2022091-20
( In Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken provided a con...)
In Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken provided a concise guide to zazen (Zen meditation) and other aspects of the practice of Zen. In The Mind of Clover he addresses the world beyond the zazen cushions, illuminating issues of appropriate personal and social action through an exploration of the philosophical complexities of Zen ethics. Aitken's approach is clear and sure as he shows how our minds can be as nurturing as clover, which enriches the soil and benefits the environment as it grows. The opening chapters discuss the Ten Grave Precepts of Zen, which, Aitken points out, are "not commandments etched in stone but expressions of inspiration written in something more fluid than water." Aitken approaches these precepts, the core of Zen ethics, from several perspectives, offering many layers of interpretation. Like ripples in a pond, the circles of his interpretation increasingly widen, and he expands his focus to confront corporate theft and oppression, the role of women in Zen and society, abortion, nuclear war, pollution of the environment, and other concerns. The Mind of Clover champions the cause of personal responsibility in modern society, encouraging nonviolent activism based on clear convictions. It is a guide that engages, that invites us to realize our own potential for confident and responsible action.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0865471584/?tag=2022091-20
(Are Christianity and Buddhism just "two paths leading to ...)
Are Christianity and Buddhism just "two paths leading to the top of the same mountain" - or are they fundamentally irreconcilable? As Buddhism takes root in the West, this question arises with ever greater frequency, sparking intriguing discussions but eluding easy answers. These conversations between Robert Aitken Roshi and Brother David Steindl-Rast offer a fresh approach to the question, one that begins with the intimacy of everyday practice rather than with philosophical and theological concepts - and one that benefits from the respect and good-will the two friends bear for eachother's traditions, even as they challenge them.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1570622191/?tag=2022091-20
religious studies educator writer
Aitken, Robert Baker was born on June 19, 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Robert Thomas and Gladys Baker Aitken.
Bachelor, University Hawaii, 1947. Master of Arts, University Hawaii, 1950.
Executive secretary Moiliili and Wahiawa (Hawaii) Community Associations, 1948—1952. Teacher, administrator Happy Valley School, Ojai, California, 1955—1957. Owner Old Island Books, Honolulu, 1958—1961.
Counselor, administrator East-West Center, 1962—1966. Teacher Kapiolani Community College, 1966—1967. Leader, master Diamond Sangha, Honolulu and Peahi, 1959—1995, retired master Puna, 1996—2010.
Member archives preparation staff Hawaii Committee for the Humanities, University Hawaii Hamilton Library., 2003.
(Are Christianity and Buddhism just "two paths leading to ...)
( Having practiced zazen for more than half a century, Ro...)
( For more than four decades, Robert Aitken Roshi has tau...)
(America's most senior Zen Roshi presents the "Transcenden...)
(Encouraging Words is a collection of short talks and brie...)
(In this collection of twenty-three essays, Robert Aitken ...)
( In Taking the Path of Zen, Robert Aitken provided a con...)
( There is a fine art to presenting complex ideas with si...)
(Book by Robert Aitken)
Member American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, 1955—2010, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Nyack, New York, 1960—2010. Member international advisory committee Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Berkeley, California, 1985—2010. President Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Hilo, Hawaii, 2001—2010.
Member of International Network of Engaged Buddhists, Hawaii Association International Buddhists.
Married Mary Louise Laune Aitken, June 1947 (divorced August 1954). 1 child Thomas Laune. Married Anne Arundel Hopkins, February 23, 1957 (deceased June 13, 1994).