Moriyama Roshi is Missing

Last updated on: March 29, 2011 at 8:25 pm by Dosho Port

Moriyama Roshi is Missing 2011-03-29T20:25:00-06:00 Dosho Port

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The disaster (still unfolding, I’m afraid) in Japan just got more personal when I learned that Moriyama Roshi, a teacher that I studied with briefly at Zuigakuin, is missing.

When I knew him, Moriyama was a strikingly normal guy who liked to have fun. And sit zazen. He was a complete Dogen body practitioner and not in his head to an amazing degree – less so than any other human I’ve ever met.

During sesshin his schedule included an informal tea with lots of chatting and laughter. And after evening zazen, he liked to do shiatsu on his students and other rather bizarre and intensely painful exercises.

Here’s the message:

“I received word yesterday from a lay disciple of Moriyama Roshi’s – who had had word from his disciple in France – that he did not turn up at a temple ceremony he was to attend on the 27th (some had held out hope that he would show up); his disciples/students and colleagues in Japan are going to search even more intensively. The feeling is that it is not a good sign that he has not been in contact with anyone, nor has anyone been able to find any news of him, since March 11. If/when I hear more I will let you know.”

I mentioned Moriyama Roshi in this story in Keep Me In Your Heart A While – it’s one of my most frequently retold stories:

IN OUR DIFFERENT WAYS all of us struggled to understand and actualize this simple practice. Later, I met a Japanese priest who had studied with one of the twentieth century’s most famous and most severe Soto masters. I had heard stories about his teacher and was in awe of him. I asked wide-eyed, “What was it like studying with your master?”

“For twenty years I just arranged his slippers,” he responded.

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