Holding the Lotus to the Rock : The Autobiography of Sokei-An, America's First Zen Master

by Hotz, Michael

• ISBN13: 9781568582481
• ISBN10: 156858248X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-13
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

The first Zen master to make his permanent home America, and the first torite, lecture, and give Zen interviews (sanzen) entirely in English,okei-an Sasaki arrived in San Francisco in 1906 with the mission of bringingen to America. After his teacher returned to Japan, he wandered alonehrough the American West and lived a wild bohemian life in the Greenwichillage of the Roaring Twenties. Here, he tells of his childhood in Meijiapan and his struggle to transform himself through Zen, his experienceseaching Zen to New Yorkers - which led to the founding of the First Zennstitute of America - and his run-in with the FBI and his internment onllis Island. Conveyed with charm and ironic humour, this rediscoveredanuscript is here revealed to be that of an accomplished writer and Zenaster with a distinctive and intimate voice.

Author Biography

Michael Hotz has been president of The First Zen Institute for six years, and associated with it since 1965. He lives in New York City

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(22)
I Was a Dreamer When I Was a Child	23	(12)
When My Father Died	35	(6)
I Think There Is Someone Living in My Attic	41	(10)
This Very Mind Is the Seat of Zen Practice	51	(8)
Carve Me a Buddha	59	(10)
Peeling the Skin from My Eye	69	(16)
San Francisco, Medford, Seattle	85	(20)
Living Over an Abyss	105	(12)
Awakening Is My Teacher	117	(14)
Footsteps in the Invisible World	131	(18)
Seventieth Street Stories	149	(16)
Fishing with a Straight Hook	165	(18)
Cat's Yawn	183	(14)
Your Uncle's Doghouse	197	(14)
This Life Is Life after Death	211	(22)
Glossary	233	(4)
Additional Source Materials	237	(24)
Bibliography	261