[1][2] His independent lineage includes teachers active in the USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Sweden, Finland, Germany, the UK and New Zealand.

In 1945 he served as chief Allied court reporter for the Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, which judged the leaders of Nazi Germany.

Kapleau later covered the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, commonly known as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials.

Disaffected with a primarily intellectual treatment of Zen, he moved to Japan in 1953 to seek its deeper truth.

[1][9] Affiliate centers were founded around the world, including in Canada, Poland, Costa Rica, Germany, Sweden, Mexico and the UK.

He also introduced many modifications to the Japanese Zen tradition, such as chanting the Heart Sutra in the local language.

You should also know that before I left Japan Yasutani Roshi gave me a certificate saying I could ask as a missionary teacher for his sect of Zen.

I interpreted this as evidence of our deep relationship at the time as an ordained disciple of his.According to James Ishmael Ford, "Kapleau had completed about half of the Harada-Yasutani kōan curriculum, the koans in the Gateless Gate and the Blue Cliff Record,"[2] and was entitled to teach, but did not receive dharma transmission.

He explained his decision in a teisho: Since I never worked extensively with any Soto teacher, such certification would, I believe, be a mere formality, and contrary to the spirit of Zen’s ‘mind-to-mind transmission.’ Roshi Kapleau’s seal – and now my twenty years of teaching experience – is more than enough for me.Kapleau was an articulate and passionate writer.

Also well known for his views on vegetarianism, peace and compassion, he remains widely read, and is a notable influence on Zen Buddhism as it is practiced in the West.

While his physical mobility was reduced, he enjoyed lively and trenchant interactions with a steady stream of visitors throughout his life.