About Robert Aitken Roshi

After years of visiting Japan for Zen Buddhist training, Robert Aitken and his wife Anne Hopkins Aitken founded the Diamond Sangha in 1959 by inviting friends to join them for zazen in their living room in East Oahu, near Koko Head. Shortly thereafter, they purchased a house in Manoa which became known as the Koko An Zendo. Initially, Diamond Sangha students received guidance and training from masters of the Sanbo Kyodan (Harada-Yasutani-Yamada lineage) and other respected teachers and Zen masters from Japan.

Robert Aitken received permission to teach in 1974, and dharma transmission in 1985 from Yamada Koun Roshi. During the nineteen seventies and eighties, many students found refuge with Roshi and Anne at the Maui Zendo, while Honolulu students continued to practice and live at the Koko An Zendo. Roshi traveled regularly to Australia and other practice centers around the world during these years, and today there are Diamond Sangha centers in North and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand founded by students and Aitken Roshi or his dharma heirs. To find a Zen Buddhist center in the Diamond Sangha lineage near you, please click here.

Upon Aitken Roshi’s return to Honolulu from Maui in the late eighties, the Palolo Zen Center came into being on 13 acres of conservation land at the end of Waiomao Road, constructed largely by Zen students from around the world doing work practice during training periods. Roshi and Anne lived in the Teacher’s Quarters of the Palolo Zen Center from the completion of the house until her death in 1994.

In 1996, Aitken Roshi retired as the master of the Honolulu Diamond Sangha, beginning an active retirement at Kaimu, Hawaii island, in a small house across the street from his son. A practice community soon formed around Roshi, many of whose members continue to practice together in Hilo. When his son moved to Oahu in 2004, Roshi also returned to Honolulu, experiencing a mild stroke during the transition which continues to limit his mobility as he has become more frail.

Roshi participates in the activities of the Palolo Zen Center as much as he is able, including joining the sangha for zazen and zazenkai on Sundays, and hosting the community for tea after zazen when his health permits. Given his frail health, his participation in these activities is possible only because he resides on the premises.

Maui Zendo, Hilo Zen Circle, and Honolulu Diamond Sangha members, and many other former students and friends gathered on June 24, 2007 to celebrate Roshi’s 90th birthday, which was June 19th. Photographs, and Roshi’s talk on that occasion, were published in the July-Sept. issue of the Honolulu Diamond Sangha newsletter. If you are interested, please request a copy from info@diamondsangha.org.

A 25th aniversary gathering at the KokoAn For another perspective on Robert Aitken Roshi’s work over the years, please see the About the Project page.

Friends of Robert Aitken 808-386-4162 info@AitkenRoshi.org

P.O. Box 37872, Honolulu, HI 96837