What is "daiyuzenji"

Daiyuzenji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States.

Daiyuzenji began in 1982 as the Illinois betsuin (branch temple) of Daihonzan Chozen-ji, a Rinzai headquarters temple founded in 1979 in Honolulu, Hawaii by Omori Sogen Roshi (1904-1994), a successor in the Tenryu-ji line of Rinzai Zen. Fumio Toyoda, a lay Zen master and martial art teacher who had emigrated to Chicago from Japan in 1974, was the driving force behind the founding and administration of the betsuin. Tenshin Tanouye Roshi and Dogen Hosokawa Roshi, two of Omori Roshi's successors who taught at Chozen-ji, traveled to Chicago beginning in the early 1980s to lead sesshin there.

Eventually the Chicago betsuin developed a cadre of senior students, including several ordained priests. In 2005 it was designated a fully independent temple by Hosokawa Roshi, named Sokeizan Daiyuzenji . So'zan Miller Roshi, one of Hosokawa Roshi's dharma heirs, was appointed the first Daiyuzenji shike (abbot).

Daiyuzenji teachers are also involved with the establishment of Korinji, a new Rinzai Zen Buddhist sodo ( monastery) in the Madison, Wisconsin area. Groundbreaking for this occurred in June, 2009. Daiyuzenji and Korinji together anchor a network of associated Zen practice groups called the Rinzai Zen Community (RZC).