In his "Preface" to
Endless
Vow: The Zen Path of Soen
Nakagawa
(presented with an Introduction by Eido Tai
Shimano, Shambhala 1996) Kazuaki Tanahashi
writes: "Zen Master Soen Nakagawa was a key
figure in the transmission of Zen Buddhism from
Japan to the Western world. As abbot of the
historic Ryutaku Monastery, he trained monks and
lay practitioners. Among them were Robert Aitken
and Philip Kapleau, who later became two of the
first Westerners to teach Zen in the United
States . . . Soen Nakagawa was also an
extraordinary poet. In Japan his haiku are
renowned, even though no substantial collection
of his work has been made available to the
general public."
Endless Vow moves me
every time I open it (I used to have
three copies of this book, one by my pillow, one
in my office, and one in my truck). I will
be updating this page.