by BISHOP KOSHIN OGUI
Buddhist Churches of America

I had been diagnosed with a brain injury that had resulted from my car accident in Los Angeles. After spending about two months in the hospital in San Francisco, I was released.
I was still unsure about my English ability and my life in this foreign land but nevertheless, I was assigned to work at the Buddhist bookstore at the Buddhist Churches of America headquarters. That was right around the time that I started going to Zen meditation sessions.

What happened was, one day, an aged Japanese Zen master named Shunryu Suzuki came to buy a book. He said to me, “Why don’t you come to one of our Zen meditation sessions? Even though we’re from different sects, Buddha will allow it, I’m sure.”

I suppose this kindly master had seen into my uneasy heart, with all my insecurity about giving sermons in English.

I decided to waste no time and accepted his invitation. When I went to the temple, I couldn’t believe how many different people were there. They practiced various styles of Zen meditation. It was my first time to be so close to people that weren’t Japanese or Japanese American.

One day, the master spoke in front of us. There must have been about 80 Americans there that day. What he did then blew my mind.

He stood in front of everyone and spoke in a hodgepodge mix of English and Japanese like only a wise master can. He said, “Today wa jana ...” He walked for a bit, then resumed. “Not yesterday ja . Not tomorrow ja. Yappari today!”

I listened with all my being, I who was so terrified of giving sermons in English. Then he said, “Today is today ja! ”* He grabbed the front of this American’s shirt and said emphatically, “Do you understand?” Then he broke into a huge grin, waved to us cheerily and left.

I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t move. With just a handful of simple English words, he had conveyed something so simple and yet so profound. All the Americans around me were also silent, taking in the meaning of what he had said.

I was moved beyond words. I realized that language ability and all that had nothing to do with it. I just hadn’t been bold enough to convey what I wanted to convey in my sermons.

After that incident, my English studies became a lot more fun. I was 23 at the time.

Now that I’m 68, if there’s one thing I can say it’s this: If you have the guts, you can make a deep impression on people. Even with just a handful of words.

Gassho

Translated by Lefteris Kafatos

* Translator’s note: The Japanese mixed in with the English used by the Zen master is probably characteristic of a spoken style used by older Japanese, and might translate loosely as follows: “See here, today... Today is not yesterday. It’s not tomorrow. It’s today. Today is today!” He was probably exhorting people to stop thinking about the past and the future and to truly live in the now. — LK