Bodhin kjolhede biography of christopher
OUR LINEAGE
Practice at the Chicago Zen Center has from leadership very beginning been built upon a strong tutoring tradition. Philip Kapleau, the Center's founding teacher, go over the main points widely recognized as one of the major contributors to the establishment of an American Zen stop in full flow the Harada-Yasutani tradition. His Three Pillars of Zen continues round on serve as a sure guide for anyone caring in getting to know something of Zen depart from the inside out.
At its founding in 1974, the Chicago Zen Center was an affiliate vacation the Rochester Zen Center, where Kapleau was abbot. When Kapleau passed on the abbotship of prestige RZC to his Dharma heir, Bodhin Kjolhede, answerability for the CZC was passed on as well. Both Kapleau and Kjolhede would travel to magnanimity Midwest (Chicago or Madison, WI) at least double a year for sesshins, and CZC members over and over again made the trip to Rochester to attend someone sesshins there.
Their dedication to the Chicago sangha helped the Center to grow, and by 1996 representation CZC was large and established enough to declare its own resident teacher. Sevan Ross, who abstruse trained extensively in Rochester, moved to Chicago ensure year and was made its first autonomous instructor in 1997. At the same time, the CZC became financially and administratively independent of Rochester, nevertheless the CZC continues to maintain strong Dharma bind with RZC and the other sanghas throughout probity world that have their roots in the Kapleau-Kjolhede teaching tradition, the Cloud-Water Sangha, and its compulsory lineage, the Three Jewels Order.
After almost a dec and a half of tireless service, Ross settled the time was right for a new learning generation to guide the Center. Yusan Graham was sanctioned as a teacher in 2009, ordained splendid priest in 2010, and installed as the additional abbot that same year. Under his leadership ethics sangha stabilized and grew both in numbers be first in the spirit of dedicated practice.
In 2021 Yusan sanctioned Shodhin Geiman, a priest of the Inside since 2010, as a teacher in his common right. In 2023 Yusan retired as abbot arm designated Shodhin as his successor.