A grey, moist day today, though not especially cold. My mind has been wrapped around an effort to gather permissions that would allow a small book, "Remembering Soen Nakagawa Roshi," to be published on the Internet.
The book consists of recollections (text, art, photos) from students and friends of the late and some say great Zen teacher. It was produced as something to send to the temple at which Soen was once abbot, Ryutaku-ji, and for the enjoyment of the contributors. Though there were unsuccessful efforts in 2009, when the book came to fruition, to get a publisher interested in a hardcover version, now the idea is simply to get it on the Internet.
I like the book, not least because, when I first conceived an interest in Zen Buddhism, I felt somehow reassured to read second-hand accounts of one teacher or another ... accounts from people who were more recognizable as being 'like me.' 'Like me' meant hopeful but uncertain. 'Like me' meant full of sometimes cranky reactions to the strictures of Zen practice. 'Like me' meant not especially good or holy at a time when the 'teachers' and 'masters' glowed in my mind with goodness and holiness. 'Like me' meant diving into an occasional swoon over the directions and perceived profundities of Zen practice. 'Like me' meant appreciating the fact that 'ordinary' people -- as distinct from pulsating icons -- were involved in daily life, daily confusions, daily passions ... it was as if my mind there were a voice saying, "Thank God I'm not the only crazy one!"Gathering up permissions from people who already gave permission for use of their works sounds pretty straightforward. But what a thing 'sounds' like and what it is can be pretty different.
Strange to see that, when submitting "Soen Nakagawa Roshi" for a Google-images search, how few pictures there are of him and how many there are of people whose lives he touched.
Anyhow, that's what has been filling my head.
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I am looking for a copy of the Soen Roku, loaned mine out and it never came back. Anybody got a spare around ?
ReplyDeleteTamcho
Thanks, Adam. I was wondering today: would you have any of the plans/instructions for your Zendo build?
ReplyDeleteDear anonymous -- The zendo was built by overcoming one bit of ignorance and the next -- sort of like stringing beads. There were no blueprints and there was no master plan outside the notion that the building would be 12x16 feet (a bit too small as it turned out). First I had to dig holes for the pilings that would support the whole structure. Digging holes and mixing cement was not a problem, but assuring that all six of the pilings were of equal height (and that the building would therefore be level) was something I had to check out with my neighbor, Mike. Then there was the question of what sort of framing material I was going to use. I wanted something the bugs wouldn't eat, so I chose pressure-treated wood ... until I found out how expensive that would be. At that point, I looked around the New England hills I live in and determined that a good many 200-lus-year-old houses were still standing and their timbers were not pressure treated. So then I found a saw-mill that would cut what I wanted ... for about 30% less. And that's how it went. Bit of ignorance after bit of ignorance. The result has a lot of flaws (and as the builder, I know every damned one of them), but the net effect is fine ... a small place with room for zafus, zabutons, an altar, a little art, a closet, and a plug for an electric radiator. Squirrels running across the roof add to the ambiance.
ReplyDeleteNo Soen Roku, but I do have a German version of "Points of Departure - Zen Buddhism with a Rinzai View" by Eido Shimano that I'm looking to get rid of. :)
ReplyDeletegenkaku - That will do fine. Thanks very much for the effort.
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