Dear All,
Our Rev. Bion found and prepared an old interview with 'Homeless' Kodo Sawaki, the wonderful Soto Zen teacher and master of Shikantaza. (He was also my teacher's first teacher.) It is lovely, and I recommend it. I can't see that it was posted before, but worthwhile to post again if so.
He talks about his life, his hard and impoverished childhood, his becoming a priest, what it truly means to "leave home," the radical Non-Seeking of Zazen, putting down the intellectualizing (although studies have their place too), the freedom of being without need for many things, and other topics.
Lots of old photos too. He tells the famous story of how, as a young man, he was sitting Zazen in a closet for a bit of quiet, and a maid who found him started bowing to the form of Zazen as if to Buddha.
At the end he says that he is glad that he did not have the obligations of children and family to take his attention, but I think he actually did ... in the many priests he trained, influenced and cared for, and in his constant travels and teachings. In turn, he is called "Homeless," but actually many people took care of him through the years, giving him food and places to stay, he always had a place to call home, even as he knew that every place is our True Home.
There are good English and Spanish subtitles if you click the settings tab at the bottom of the youtube page.
.
Gassho, J
stlah
Our Rev. Bion found and prepared an old interview with 'Homeless' Kodo Sawaki, the wonderful Soto Zen teacher and master of Shikantaza. (He was also my teacher's first teacher.) It is lovely, and I recommend it. I can't see that it was posted before, but worthwhile to post again if so.
He talks about his life, his hard and impoverished childhood, his becoming a priest, what it truly means to "leave home," the radical Non-Seeking of Zazen, putting down the intellectualizing (although studies have their place too), the freedom of being without need for many things, and other topics.
Lots of old photos too. He tells the famous story of how, as a young man, he was sitting Zazen in a closet for a bit of quiet, and a maid who found him started bowing to the form of Zazen as if to Buddha.At the end he says that he is glad that he did not have the obligations of children and family to take his attention, but I think he actually did ... in the many priests he trained, influenced and cared for, and in his constant travels and teachings. In turn, he is called "Homeless," but actually many people took care of him through the years, giving him food and places to stay, he always had a place to call home, even as he knew that every place is our True Home.
There are good English and Spanish subtitles if you click the settings tab at the bottom of the youtube page.
.
Gassho, J
stlah
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