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Ruth Strout McCandless Collection on Nyogen Senzaki, 1895-2007
2296
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Title: Ruth Strout McCandless collection on Nyogen Senzaki
Collection number: 2296
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
11.2 linear feet
(12 boxes, 3 cartons, 1 flat box, 1 oversize flat box, 1 roll storage box)
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1940-1960
Date (inclusive): 1895-2007
Abstract: The Ruth Strout McCandless collection on Nyogen Senzaki contains materials related to Ruth McCandless' collaboration and association
with Nyogen Senzaki and the American Zen Buddhist movement. Senzaki (1876-1958) was a Japanese Zen monk who left Japan for
the United States in 1905. Senzaki lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s, and played an important
role in the formative years of the American Zen Buddhist movement. Ruth Strout McCandless was a South Pasadena resident who
in 1941 became a disciple of Senzaki and later became a major scholar of Japanese Buddhism studies in the United States. The
collection consists of correspondence, photographs, ephemera, books, business records, artwork, and textiles. Also included
are original manuscripts by Senzaki with transcriptions and edits by Ruth McCandless, correspondence from Senzaki to McCandless
during his incarceration in the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, a traditional Zen Buddhist Kesa robe, and a decorative
scroll used in Senzaki's ministry.
Language of Materials: Materials are primarily in English, with some in Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, German and French.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special
Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Conditions Governing Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
COLLECTION CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Audiovisual materials in this collection will require assessment and possible digitization
for safe access. To review these audiovisual materials, you must notify the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk
in advance of your visit.
[Identification of item], Ruth Strout McCandless collection on Nyogen Senzaki (Collection 2296). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Purchase, 2015.
Processed by Wakako Suzuki in 2016 under the supervision of Courtney Dean in the
Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) . Description enhancement and further physical processing completed by Jessica Tai in 2016 and 2017. Processing of this collection
was generously supported by the Haynes Foundation.
Detailed description provided by Nelson Foster, Roshi.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
8073484
The name Kangetsu appears in these papers, presumably a Dharma name for Mrs. McCandless, since Senzaki praises her as one
who "who can stich and mend" the "rips and rents" in his English.
The name Genpo Roshi is used to refer to Soen Nakagawa.
Nyogen Senzaki (1876–1958), born Aizo Senzaki, was a Zen Buddhist monk and one of the first Zen masters to come to the United
States from Japan. He developed a following with his "floating zendo" model. Through his own writings, translations, and the
work of his students including Samuel L. Lewis and Robert Aitken, he has been regarded as one of the 20th century's leading
proponents of Zen Buddhism. His texts and translations, which aimed to make Zen Buddhist principles understandable and accessible,
were a large influence in their popularity and adaption in Western culture.
Specifics of Senzaki's early life are unclear. He was raised in Northern Japan where he learned Chinese calligraphy and studied
the Buddhist Sutras. Senzaki originally aspired to become a pediatrician, and attended Imperial University in Japan. Upon
reading the Buddhist Tripitaka texts, he was inspired to become a Monk, and went on to study Zen under Soyen Shaku at the
Rinzai School at the Engakuji Monastery in Kamakura. During his studies, Senzaki met Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki, a seminal Zen
scholar and fellow student of Shaku. In 1905, Shaku travelled to America and brought Senzaki with him. He lived in San Francisco,
working as a houseboy, a manager of a small hotel, and as an operator at the Chinese Telephone exchange. In 1922, Senzaki
began to rent out a small hall to give lectures and host meditation groups. After moving to Los Angeles in the 1930s, he resided
in Little Tokyo and gave semi-weekly talks and zazen. In the spring of 1942 he was incarcerated at the Heart Mountain Relocation
Center in Wyoming, where he was held for 4 years. Following his release, Senzaki returned to Los Angeles and resumed his lectures,
classes, and zazen. Senzaki passed away on May 7, 1958.
Ruth Strout McCandless (1909-1994) was Senzaki’s close collaborator and a major Western scholar on Zen Buddhism in Japan,
particularly contributing to Zen Buddhist movements in California. While under the guidance of Soen Nakagawa at Ryutakuji,
she became the first Western woman to stay at a Zen monastery. She was ordained as an Upasika of the Sangha under the mentorship
of Senzaki in 1941.
McCandless was born in 1909 and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She studied art, literature and science at Stanford
University, where she graduated from in 1932. After school McCandless worked in the San Francisco Stock Exchange Institute.
She later moved to Los Angeles where she worked in Hollywood in the publicity department for Samuel Goldwyn, and later as
a secretary to screenwriter Reginald Berkeley. McCandless married her husband, John McCandless in 1932. She had two sons,
Duncan and Keith McCandless. McCandless became interested in Zen Buddhism through her study of comparative religion, inspired
by Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki's
Essays in Zen Buddhism (1927). McCandless met Senzaki in the early 1940's and worked with him studying Zen and translating manuscripts. With Senzaki,
McCandless co-authored
Buddhism and Zen (1953), a book that provided an elementary introduction to Zen Buddhism aimed for Western audiences. She was also an editor
of
The Iron Flute (1961), a collection of ancient Zen koans. In 1961 McCandless and her husband divorced, prompting her to enroll in the Asian
studies graduate department at Claremont Graduate University. She continued in the study of Zen Buddhism, and maintained friendships
with many prominent figures in the Zen Buddhist community such as Soen Nakagawa, Eido Tai Shimano, and Ruth Fuller Sasaki.
McCandless passed away on December 14, 1994 in San Mateo, California.
This collection spans from 1895-2007 and consists of correspondence, photographs, books, and personal memorabilia pertaining
to Ruth McCandless’ collaboration and association with Nyogen Senzaki and the American Zen Buddhist movement. The collection
also contains manuscripts, lecture notes, translations, and periodicals. A particular strength of this collection is the material
relating to the influence and rising popularity of Zen Buddhism on Western society in the 20th century. This is evidenced
through Senzaki and McCandless' translations of historical texts, Senzaki's lecture notes from talks given in American universities,
the formation of Zen Buddhist organizations in the United States, and publications that aimed to present Zen Buddhist teachings
to Western audiences.
The collection is arranged in four series, two of which have been further arranged in subseries. The series and subseries
arrangement of the collection is as follows:
- Series 1: Subject Files, 1930-2007
- Series 2: Professional Materials, 1895-1971
- Series 3: Publications, 1900-2006
- Subseries 3.1: Printed Material, 1931-1988
- Subseries 3.2: Monographs, 1900-2006
- Series 4: Personal Materials, circa 1896-1990s
- Subseries 4.1: Photographs, circa 1896-1984
- Subseries 4.2: Correspondence and Memorabilia, circa 1930s-1990s
Subjects and Indexing Terms
McCandless, Ruth Strout -- Archives
Senzaki, Nyogen -- Archives
Zen Buddhism--United States.
- Collection Overview
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Collection Details
- Conditions Governing Access
- Conditions Governing Use and Reproduction
- Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
- Preferred Citation
- Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Processing Information
- UCLA Catalog Record ID
- Notes on Names Used
- Biography/History
- Scope and Content
- Organization and Arrangement
- Related Material