Although it is difficult to trace the precise moment when America first became aware of
Zen as a distinct form of Buddhism, the visit of Soyen Shaku, a Japanese Zen monk, to Chicago during the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 is often pointed to as an event that enhanced the profile of Zen in the Western world.
It was during the late 1950s and the early 1960s that the number of Westerners other .