[Buddha-l] crazy wisdom

[Stuart Lachs]

Franz wrote:
> Just a quick correction. The van de Wetering book Thomas Fink is
> thinking of is _Afterzen_, (St. Martin's, 1999). (_A Glimpse of
> Nothingness_ is his previous Zen book; the first is _The Empty Mirror_.
> All are great books.) Yes, the "Rimpoche" in the book is definitely
> Trungpa. It says something that van de Wetering, who's not known for
> being mealy-mouthed about Buddhist teachers, does seem to enjoy
> "Rimpoche."

van de Wettering is a terrific writer and story teller but I would be
hestitant about relating what he says to what has actually happened. His
second book on Zen,  "A Glimpse of
 Nothingness" was written about his first visit to Moonspring Hermitage, a
Zen community in Maine. His visit lasted about two weeks. Jan came about
four or five days before a seven day retreat, did the retreat, and then
stayed a few more days before returning to Holland. He then wrote the book
about the community. The teacher in the book is Walter Nowick in real life,
other people in the book are composite characters with a certain amount of
poetic license. Jan later came to Maine with his wife and daughter and
joined the community. He never really fit in with the community, the
practice there, or with Walter. It ended something like, "you can't fire me,
I quit." Jan was told to leave about the same time that Jan resigned. This
was some time in the mid to late 1970's.

He moved a few miles away and has a very beautiful house and grounds.

Stuart
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