Conversations with North American Zen Teachers
Zenshuji
A conversation with Shumyo Kojima – In 1922 – two years before Sokei-an Sasaki began his lectures on Buddhism at the Orientalia Bookstore in New York City, and a full thirty-seven years prior to Shunryu Suzuki’s arrival in San Francisco – the Japanese Soto-shu established the Zenshuji Soto Mission in Los Angeles, the first Zen…
Ed Brown
Peaceful Sea Sangha – When we begin our conversation, Ed Brown tells me that the circumstances of his birth are a significant part of his Zen story. “I was born prematurely, and I was in the incubator for three weeks, and that has come to be a subject of my Zen practice. Because if you’re…
Norman Fischer
Everyday Zen Foundation – While at college, Norman Fischer came upon an anthology of essays by D. T. Suzuki. “It was introduced by a professor who was an expert on existentialism, and he presented Zen Buddhism in the light of existentialist philosophy, which was very current in the late ’60s. So that was what I…
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