Zen Master Joshu Sasaki Roshi

I started my Zen training with Joshu Sasaki Roshi in the summer of 2002. A brush with melanoma and mortality in 2003 ignited in me the urgency and determination to practice even more vigorously. Sesshins at Mount Baldy, were extremely rigorous training periods. They were run in the traditional Japanese Rinzai Zen style. Roshi guided us with patience, love, and deep generosity. I had never met anyone with such unwavering dedication to teaching. It was an immense privilege to have studied with him and to explore a universe I did not know existed. My last visit with him was a few weeks before he died at the age of 104. By then, he had dismantled much of his organization in response to a scandal. The grounds of the temple that had always bustled with activity were now eerily empty. He was alone with a few loyal students, barely breathing, barely alive. I had experienced Roshi’s capacity to read my thoughts so I was determined to meet him with a clear mind. He looked so weak and feeble. I felt my heart break and had the thought “Roshi why are you holding on? Why are you not leaving this world?” To my horror, he looked up at me and very clearly said: “I am not going to die until you become completely one.” Those were the last words I heard him say to me. As I was walking down the narrow stairs of that quiet and silent house I crossed Leonard Cohen. Leonard visited Roshi almost every day. He was a loyal and courageous friend, undeterred by scandal and public opinion.