Fr. Gustav Ericsson visit to Treeleaf Zendo, Japan 2026

[Jundo]

Dear All,

My Dharma Brother, Fr. Gustav Erricson, a successor to our teacher, Nishijima Gudo Wafu Roshi, and also an Ordained Priest in the Lutheran Church of Sweden, came for a return visit to our Treeleaf Zendo in Ibaraki, Japan. Though we did not have time for a full Zazenkai this time, Gustav and I spent a lovely day walking through our local botanical garden, had some pizza, sat some Zazen together, and recorded a short video together. Of course, we discussed Zen as a Christian, Nishijima Roshi, and a few other topics ...
.

The "Dishrack" Teachings by Nishijima Roshi that I mention, recorded years ago by Gustav, are here: LINK

(I am looking for the lovely Zazen sitting by Gustav and other Swedish Lutheran priests that I mention.)

Here were Gustav and I on his last visit, four years ago ...
.

image.png

Gassho, Jundo
stlah

[Kotei]

Thank you very much, Jundo and Gustav.
So nice to touch base with family.

Somehow Buddhism seems to go well with quite some other religious beliefs in the countries it is practiced.
Conscious or not, being practiced by folks raised in a Christian culture in the West, imho, it cannot not meet or merge with it.

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Hokuu]

Thank you, Jundo and Fr. Gustav!
(Should we start writing "Ven. Jundo"? )


satlah

[Jundo]

Ven. Jundo

Zen Jundo is enough.

[Mujin]

A delightful insight. Thank you for sharing

Gassho,

Mujin

SatTodayLAH

[Junsho]

Speechless. Just amazing

Gassho and very deep bows.

SatLah

[Bion]

Very nice that you both got to spend some time together and catch up. Thank you to Gustav for taking the time to record a little something for us.

Gassho
sat lah

[Seikan]

Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your time together. I've always been interested in the intersection of Buddhism with other religions, so this discussion (albeit brief) resonated deeply with me.

And thank you for the reminder about Nishijima Roshi's "dishrack" talks! I need to revisit those over the coming weeks.

Gassho,
Seikan
stlah

[Jundo]

Actually, this is Gustav's third or fourth visit to Treeleaf in Tsukuba. The picture above is from 12 years ago (I was thrown off because we both still look just the same. )

Here is the Zazenkai we held back then.

https://forum.treeleaf.org/articles/zazenkai/521898-our-special-zazenkai-with-gustav-ericsson

Gassho, Jundo
stlah

[Onki]

Thank you so much for sharing!

Gasshō,

On

st/lh

[Onkai]

Thank you both for sharing.

Gassho, Onkai

[Shinshi]

This was just wonderful to see. Thank you so much for sharing that moment Jundo.

Gasssho, Shinshi

[Tairin]

Wonderful talk. Thank you.


Tairin
sat today and lah

[Jippou]

I read Fr. Gustav’s book and am always happy to see people
crossing over from Christianity to Zen and back. It’s something I have put a great deal of thought into in my own life.
Gossho
Sat lah