Kodo sawaki biography examples

  • Kodo Sawaki was a Zen master practitioner.
  • Kodo Sawaki was one of the most respected Zen teachers of the last century, and endures as a great-grandfatherly figure, propped up by the.
  • Sawaki was drafted to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

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    Excerpts from
    To you
    bygd Sawaki Kôdô Rôshi

    Translated from Japanese by Jesse Haasch and Muhô

    1. To you who can't stop worrying about how others see you

    You can't even trade a single fart with the next guy. Each and every one of us has to live out his own life. Don't waste time thinking about who's most talented.

    The eyes don't say, “Sure we're lower, but we see more.”
    The eyebrows don't reply, “Sure we don't see anything, but we are higher up.”
    Living out the buddha-dharma means fulfilling your function completely without knowing that you're doing it. A mountain doesn't know it's tall. The sea doesn't know it's wide and deep. Each and every thing in the universe is active without knowing it.

    The bird's singing and the flower's laughter appear naturally,
    completely independent from the person sitting in zazen at the foot of the cliff.

    The bird doesn't sing in honor of the individ in zazen. The flower doesn't blossom to amaze the individ with her beauty

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    Discovering the True Self

    In easy-to-understand language, a 20th-century Zen master explains profound teachings from Zen Buddhism, offering an essential resource for anyone interested in Zen meditation.

    “You can’t see your true Self. [But] you can become it. Becoming your true Self fryst vatten zazen.”

    Having come of age as an orphan in the slums of Tsu City, Japan, Kodo Sawaki had to kamp his way to adulthood, and became one of the most respected Zen masters of the 20th century. He had a great understanding of Dogen Zenji’s teaching and he knew how to express Dogen’s philosophy in clear, easily–understood language. Sawaki’s primary mission was to bring all people to an awareness of the Self, which he believed came through Zen meditation.

    His humor and straightforward talk garnered Sawaki followers from all walks of life. Though he remained poor by choice, he was rich in spirit. Two of his students who became known in America as well as in

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    Arthur Braverman gathers all of Kodo Sawaki’s teachings togetherin his impressive new book on the Zen Master.

    BY VANESSA ABLE

    Kodo Sawaki was one of the most respected Zen teachers of the last century, and endures as a great-grandfatherly figure, propped up by the strength of his own legend as passed on by his students.

    Sawaki came of age and heard his spiritual calling as an orphan in the salubrious slums of Tsu City in Japan. At the age of 16, he left his town for the monastery and was ordained as a monk one year later. Called to train with the Japanese Imperial Army for three years, then conscripted to fight for another two, Sawaki returned to Japan and his Buddhist studies in 1906.

    When he eventually became a teacher, Kodo Sawaki eschewed the traditional model the monastic institution and instead traveled the country to speak and teach. Nicknamed ‘Homeless Kodo’, Sawaki insisted on always traveling alone and laid great importance on teaching his

  • kodo sawaki biography examples