Chris,
I've bought multiple copies of THE THREE PILLARS over the years, and given them
away to friends.
I first found it in about 1975, I think, during a period of intensifying yoga
practice for me, and in the midst of the Hindu-styled meditation sitting I did
each day, plus miles of jogging.
The body was prepared to meet a Ch'an teacher in NYC in Feb., 1979.
Four months later in May I attended my first 7-day intensive Ch'an retreat with
Sheng Yen after he'd been in USA for two years and had a strong sangha of young
students, and I had that first opening, which was the largest and strongest,
but there have been others over the years also with Sheng Yen, and then with
Diamond Sangha teachers out West in Arizona.
Sheng Yen had himself read THE THREE PILLARS, in Chinese, and thought it was
good for us to read, also. Most of us had read it long ago, by that time. He
once asked us all if any of us thought that the account by Yaeko of her
developing practice and her awakening, in her correspondence with Harada Roshi,
was anything really special, or big. Were we impressed by it? Many of us
thought so and raised our hands, and so did I. Sheng Yen told us, "That's just
the beginning".
I found that he was right! An opening is just that, an opening. Sheng Yen
called it, "Entering the Door", entering the door of Ch'an.
I still give that book to people. Used copies. The older printings of the
book have a nicer feel to them, and I think the brown cover with the black
symbol is warm and inviting.
Amazing that your Dad had read THREE PILLARS! Must be great to be a 2nd
generation Zen practitioner in USA. I wonder if your Dad also "sat". Attended
sesshin? Did you find changes in him if he practiced? And if he practiced,
did your Mom also take up the practice, too?
Wondering how their practice might have affected yours, or the operation of the
family. Sorry, big question, maybe.
Condolences on your loss of your Dad. My Dad is also gone, over 35 years, now.
--Joe
> ChrisAustinLane <chris@...> wrote:
>
> My introduction to formal practice was thusly: I read Buddha by Karen
> Armstrong, found that attentively reading about the eight fold path lead me
> to the feeling I needed to fix my work situation to accord with right
> livelihood, so I determined to leave my job and become a stay at home parent.
> Figuring if I was going to take this path that seriously, I should try the
> meditation. So I read my father's (already dead by that time) copy of the
> Three Pillars of Zen, rather intensely, probably more than once. Resolving to
> set my foot upon the path, I did find innumerable bodhisattvas springing up
> to assist. I found a local Zendo that had hours of sitting that I could make,
> arranged to go to an intro session in a month or two, and set about readying
> myself to sit on a zafu for 25 minutes. I read some Thich Nhat Hanh intro to
> sitting, different chapters on numbering the breath on the intakes, numbering
> the breaths on the exhales, etc. I gave it away to the Zendo library in a fit
> of burn the writings zeal so I'm not sure.
>
> I sat five minutes the first day I think and worked my way up to 25.
>
> So I have a fond spot in my heart for The Three Pillars of Zen, despite
> ending up with much mellower training in a more Soto lineage.
------------------------------------
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