Robert Aitken or Bob, as he liked to be called, was born to
Robert Thomas Aitken and Gladys Page Baker in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1917. He was raised in
Hawaii from the age of five. He was the son of a war enthusiast and was a rebel and loner in the 1930s and 40s before the war. Living in
Guam as a civilian working in construction—at the onset of
World War II—he was detained by the Japanese and held in
internment camps for the duration of the war. A guard at one of the internment camps let him borrow a copy of
R.H. Blyth's book
Zen in English Literature and the Oriental Classics. In one of his books later on in his life, he described being so invested in the book that he managed to be joyful even in the terrible conditions. In another internment camp in
Kobe, Japan, in 1944 he met its author,
Reginald Horace Blyth, with whom he had frequent discussions on
Zen Buddhism and
anarchism. At the conclusion of the war he returned to Hawaii and obtained a
B.A. in English literature and an
MA in Japanese from the
University of Hawaii. He would write for two hours each morning and even read aloud his work to make sure it was his distinctive style. In the late 1940s, while briefly attending classes at the
University of California in
Berkeley, California, he met
Nyogen Senzaki. Originally in California hoping for an encounter with
Krishnamurti, he began to study with Senzaki in Los Angeles. During this period he became more vocal about his commitment to leftist social issues such as
pacifism and
labor rights. He was investigated by the
FBI as a result of his advocacy work. Aitken decided to not pay the portion of his taxes that went to the Defense Department of the U.S because he opposed the war in Vietnam and arming the military. There he took part in his first
sesshin at
Engaku-ji, a temple in
Kamakura, Japan. In 1959 he and Anne began a meditation group in Honolulu at their residence, which became known as the Koko-an
zendo. The community that gathered at this zendo were then named the Diamond Sangha by the two. The Diamond Sangha has affiliate zen centers in South America, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Europe and is known for making the rigors of traditional Zen accessible to lay practitioners. In 1960 Soen Nakagawa Roshi asked young monk
Eido Tai Shimano to travel to Honolulu to assist at the Diamond Sangha center. In 1961, Aitken made an extended stay in Japan to study under
Haku'un Yasutani, eventually ending his studies with Soen. He then worked in various capacities at the
East-West Center and the
University of Hawaii until 1969, when he and Anne moved to
Maui, Hawaii, to found the Maui Zendo in
Haiku-Pauwela. Koun Yamada Rōshi was invited to lead the Diamond Sangha and he moved to Hawaii in 1971. In 1974 Aitken was given permission to teach by
Koun Yamada, receiving full
Dharma transmission from him in 1985. He also was a major inspiration for the ‘System Stinks’ movement, where they drew inspiration from his famous photograph protesting with a sign. In the picture the sign said 'The System Stinks' and was in protest of the
Iraq War, while in his wheelchair. The photo was taken in Hawaii. Robert Aitken was a social activist through much of his adult life, beginning with protesting against
nuclear testing during the 1940s. He was an outspoken critic of the
Vietnam War, and became a strong opponent of the
nuclear arms race between the
United States and the
Soviet Union. He was among the earlier proponents of
deep ecology in religious
America, and was outspoken in his beliefs on the equality of men and women. In 1978 Aitken helped found the
Buddhist Peace Fellowship, an organization that advocates
conflict resolution globally. In the discussion that led to the founding of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, most of the other people had less experience than him when it came to political activism. This gave him the most influence on what the organization should be about. Many of the first 100 people who were sent invitations to join were recommendations from Robert Aitken. He died after a brief bout with pneumonia on August 5, 2010, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was working on his fourteenth book before his passing. ==Bibliography==