[Buddha-l] la times piece on Denkyo Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi

[Richard Hayes]

On Sep 21, 2012, at 1:47 AM, "Dan Lusthaus" <vasubandhu at earthlink.net> wrote:

> A chatty sendup in the LATimes on Denkyo Kyozan Joshu Sasaki Roshi, now 105, celebrating his 50 years in California.

I'm not sure I would characterize the article as a send-up. As I understand that expression, a send-up is something that mocks or ridicules or parodies, and this piece does none of those things. It is, however, chatty.

A couple of summers ago, when Sasaki Roshi was giving talks at the annual summer seminar on Buddhism, co-sponsored by Bodhi Manda Zen Center and the department of philosophy at University of New Mexico, Roshi tumbled to the ground on his way to the lecture hall. Everyone gasped in horror as they saw him fall and bump his head on the ground. His attendants picked him up, and undaunted he continued to the lecture room. During his talk, which as always was a rambling discourse on relationships, he quipped that this morning he and the earth were so glad to see each other that they rushed toward each other to embrace.

When he is at the seminars, students love hearing Sasaki-roshi's talks. I think they find it fascinating to see a man over 100 years in age, and I know they delight in hearing him say what fools their professors are. (He is right of course.)

As I understand it, next summer's professors will be Victor Hori and Ken Kraft. As usual, Prof. John Taber is organizing the academic side of the program. Will Sasaki-roshi be there? Well, as Zen practitioners in New Mexico like to say, "¿Quién sabe?"

Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
The University of New Mexico

Web definitions
A parody (also called send-up, spoof or lampoon), in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or make fun at an...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_Up