Philip Kapleau - Zen Training

Zen Training

He trained initially with Soen Nakagawa (1907–1984), then rigorously with Daiun Harada (1871–1961), at Hosshin-ji. Later he became a disciple of Haku'un Yasutani (1885–1973), himself a dharma heir of Harada. After 13 years' training, Kapleau was ordained by Haku'un Yasutani in 1965 and given permission to teach. The two later ended their relationship over disagreements about teaching and other personal issues. By Kapleau's own admission, he had not completed kōan study and had not gone further than the Blue Cliff Record, about one third of the kōans in the Yasutani Roshi curriculum. The koan collections that Kapleau did not study include the Book of Serenity (sometimes called the Book of Equanimity), The Transmission of the Lamp, The Five Ranks, and the Precept Koans of which there are more than 100. Kapleau passed the miscellaneous koans (about 50) the Mumonkan (96 koans including the verses) and the Blue Cliff Record (100) if he finished it. Yamada Roshi claims that Kapleau had not gone further than number 37 of the Blue Cliff Record. Kapleau claims otherwise. Kapleau is therefore an independent teacher who was not an official representative of the Yasutani lineage. The Kapleau lineage begins with him.