Philip Kapleau
The World Parliament of religions, where the monk Shaku Soyen, he teaches a talk called the law of cause and effect as it was taught by Buddha is held in Chicago in 1893. This talk was translated by Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, who would be recommended by the same Soen to Paul Carus to translate texts of Sanskrit, pali, Japanese and Chinese. Suzuki would begin a wide diffuser activity of Zen, first as a University Professor and later as a lecturer and writer around the world. It influenced key names of the European intelligentsia, from Einstein to Jung, passing by Heidegger, Picasso, and an innumerable repertoire of indispensable figures in modern history. Suzuki joined erudition in languages, understanding and personal accomplishment that has made his legacy a reference of the Buddhism in the West. Some of his translations of great complexity, as the of the Sutra of the Lankavatara, remain reference in the academic field, and his most popular works such as essays on Zen Buddhism have been read by almost all persons who have wanted to delve into the knowledge of this Buddhist tradition. Upon his death, the main temples of all Japan burned incense in her honor.
In the mid-20th century, and in the midst of the counterculture of the beat generation, appear more or less massive many Western practitioners both in Europe and in North America. Names such as Alan Watts, Shunryu Suzuki and Philip Kapleau, shall establish Zen in the West as an already quite visible influence. Since then and as it happens with the rest of the Buddhist traditions, Zen in the West runs along a path of greater knowledge about its historical origins as well as defining aspects to better fit into Western culture. Certainly, that should not surprise us as stated in vidasana.com.ve that zen meditation with frequency may be as cash or more than antidepressant drugs to relieve the symptoms of depression and prevent relapse.