What My Upcoming Book is About

Last updated on: September 8, 2008 at 10:06 pm by Dosho Port

What My Upcoming Book is About 2008-09-08T22:06:00-06:00 Dosho Port

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There are two main themes. The one that seems to stand out to most people who’ve seen it is the teacher-student relationship thread.

That’s how Wisdom is summarizing and promoting it. And in collecting blurbs for the book, I’m seeing that the same focus.

This one just arrived from Shohaku Okumura (to whom I deeply grateful) that nicely expresses this first theme:

As Dogen Zenji said, Dharma teachers and disciples are like entwining of vines (katto in Japanese). Whether disciples are in the stage of faithfully following the teacher’s style of teaching and practice, of rebelliously trying to become independent from the teacher, or of being mature enough for going beyond, the teacher’s dharma always deeply penetrates the disciple. In this book Dosho Port offers one of the examples of continuation of Dharma from teacher to disciple, from the East to the West.

The second theme that I’m hoping gets some attention is my criticism of current American Zen practice because, in my view, we need to change our focus or it is likely that Zen won’t survive as Zen.

I’ll be breaking the unspoken “zip it” rule among teachers when it comes to sharing concerns about dharma practice (although many of us seem to enjoy gossiping about the behavior of others) so I’m edgy about it. But as a wild fox, I tend to yip and yap from the border now and then.

Here’s a little excerpt from the introduction that touches on this second theme:

One purpose of this book is to share what it was like to train with one of the first generation American Zen teachers and in so doing I hope to help preserve and revitalize this incredible way. Another purpose is to offer a critique of the current trends in dharma practice contrasted with the perspective of one our Zen pioneers. Katagiri Roshi emphasized zazen as wholehearted surrender rather than using zazen as a means to psychological healing or even to become a Buddha. He lived the precepts as the expression of wonderment rather than moralistic regulations. Roshi emphasized the central role of the teacher-student relationship rather than over-emphasizing the role of the community. And he taught a Zen that offered no sweet cookies rather than a means to build personal or collective fame and fortune.

For me, criticism about the direction of our dharma practice is intended to open up a reflective denominational conversation. I don’t really expect that this book will have that kind of impact but I’m just doing what I can.

Comments welcome, of course.

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