With the exception of parts of the late Rick Fields’ pioneering study, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, there has been no attempt to write a history of Zen coming to North America. Zen Master Who? does just that, surveying also many of the shifts and challenges to Zen as it attempts to find a Western home. Clear-eyed and even-handed, Ford shows us the history and development of the institution of Zen, warts and all.

Zen Master Who? takes an expansive look at the many people, ancient and modern, who have helped shape the institution that has become Western Zen, especially in North America. This book will aid those seeking a Zen center or a Zen teacher who may find themselves unable to make sense out of the wonderful mess of different lineages, practices and teachers among which they have the historically unprecedented opportunity to choose. Of particular value to the newcomer will be the section “What To Look For When Looking For A Zen Teacher.” This book will help readers understand more clearly how their teacher or community fits into the landscape of North American Zen.

It will also be of use to those who lead the Zen centers of today and tomorrow,  suggesting what might be possible, skillful, and fruitful.

“James Ford has drawn a thorough road map of the terrain of American Zen—who did what, where, when and why—that entertains as it informs. It has enough ‘In my opinion...’ and ‘The way I see it...’ explications of lineages unfolding to make me feel part of a comfortable conversation that I come away from having, in a most relaxed way, learned a lot about Zen. Very Zen-like, I think.” —Sylvia Boorstein, author of It’s Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness