In our zazen we have to let go of any kind of thinking, even thinking about dharma. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to prepare lectures before sesshin started. I had to prepare the lecture during sesshin. To be a teacher in that kind of practice was very difficult to me. Please have compassion for teachers…
The Japanese worship tragic heroes, and I’m afraid some of that romanticism has rubbed off on me. He had a quiet dignity, even in difficult times, that I always admired. Though he may not have been a confident teacher, he persevered when others would have thrown in the towel. I think that even his lack of confidence appealed to me; having seen so many teachers over the years whose confidence seemed to be nothing more than self-deception…
These intensive meditation retreats, though somewhat mechanical themselves, seem to be designed to awaken you from mechanical, unaware existence. Long and consecutive days of intensive zazen require new ways of dealing with physical and mental pain, boredom, and fear…
Arthur Braverman was born in 1942 in NY. After living in Nigeria for two years through Peace Corps he went to Japan to study Zen Buddhism.
