Our Story
L to R from top: Omori Sogen Roshi, Tenshin Tanouye Roshi, Dogen Hosokawa Roshi, Tenzan Toyoda Rokoji, Seiko Nakashima Sensei, T.K Chiba Sensei, So'zan Miller Roshi
The story of Korinji's historic founding begins with the transmission to the West of the vibrant Rinzai Zen lineage of Omori Sogen Roshi (1904-1994), called the greatest Zen master of the 20th century.
Sensing the decline of Zen in Japan, and recognizing the spiritual hunger of the West, Omori Roshi and his heirs Tanouye Tenshin Roshi and Hosokawa Dogen Roshi labored tirelessly to transmit these teachings to Western students. The lay Zen and Aikido master Toyoda Tenzan Rokoji oversaw this activity in the mainland USA, centered in Chicago. Through all their efforts, a community of Zen students in North America and Europe slowly developed.
After the untimely death of Toyoda Rokoji in 2001, his students took up his dream of founding a true Rinzai Zen sodo (training monastery) in the heartland of the USA. So'zan Miller Roshi continued the crucial Chicago-based activity of teaching and transmitting the dharma, while Meido Moore Roshi announced fundraising for a new monastery in 2003. In those first difficult years of Korinji's life, the renowned Chado and Ikebana master Seiko Nakashima Sensei, and the Aikido master and Zen priest T.K. Chiba Sensei, began serving valued roles as advisors.
In 2008, land was purchased in south-central Wisconsin, and ground broken in 2009. In 2013 the training hall was completed and Korinji was dedicated, with Meido Roshi installed then as its first abbot. By 2017 Korinji's residence hall was completed, and the monastery began to function full-time.
Korinji now oversees an international community of affiliated practice groups, and has become known as a center for serious, rigorous Zen practice. It is also known as a place where several Japanese Buddhist traditions co-exist, hosting eminent guest teachers from many traditions (for example the great Tendai "marathon monk" Mitsunaga Kakudo Dai-Ajari, who conducted the kechien kanjo empowerment here and brushed the calligraphy hanging at the entrance to Korinji's training hall). Teachers from the Zen, Shingon, Tendai, and Shugendo traditions, and masters of tea ceremony, calligraphy, and martial arts, have all contributed to Korinji's growth.
Korinji is a remarkable temple unlike any other. Our mission: to open paths of wisdom and compassion for many.