Deepening Zen: The Long Maturation

FROM THE FOREWORD by Hozan Alan Senauke, abbot, Berkeley Zen Center

When our Japanese teachers came to the West, they brought us an immeasurable gift-Zen as continuous, lifelong practice. This is what Roshi Mitra Bishop means by "the long maturation" in this wonderful book. There are several dimensions to this book, Deepening Zen, that call forth my appreciation.

First is the skillful way Roshi Mitra weaves together psychology, neuroscience, history, and dharma. Like it or not, we live in a psychologizing age. But the teachings here keep returning to Buddhadharma. That is our refuge-Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Roshi Mitra insists that we can rely on dharma, which is not other than our own enlightened nature.

Second, this is a book full of stories. Savour the stories. Observe how some of them weave through the book to deliver their cargo of wisdom. Maybe this is the defining characteristic of being human- the ability to create stories from our experience. Of course, we can be misled by stories, but all the great perennial wisdom is found in stories. This is true for the Buddha's Pali Sutras, for the Bible, for the collections of challenging and enigmatic Zen koans, and for the pages of this book. May these insightful stories come home to you, and help you in the work of saving all sentient beings