Some time in the late 1980s I went to a Zen meditation workshop. I'd had a zazen lesson once before, and I believed the concentration exercise was just what I needed to straighten out my troubled head.
The workshop was led by a lanky man in black robes named Daido. And when he spoke his words hit my situation so directly it was as if he'd been reading my thoughts. A short time later I attended a weekend retreat at Zen Mountain Monastery. A Zen student was born.
Daido's question, asked over and over, was "Where do you find yourself?" All the world is sickness and medicine. Where do you find yourself? I ask you, what is real? What is reality? Where do you find yourself?
John Daido Loori, Roshi, died this morning of lung cancer. Zen Mountain Monastery has an online memorial page for Daido with a biography and virtual guestbook.
In coming, nothing is gained. In going, nothing is lost.Blue mountains and rivers,
Stones, pine trees, seasons,
Practice unceasingly.
Update: Here is the obituary for John Daido Loori from the New York Times.
Photo Credit:
Barbara the photo you used of Daido is mis-labelled in your photo credit. It was taken by Rachael Loori Romero.
Thank you
Barbara, he was born in 1931, not 1939.