‘What attracted me in the first half hour of zazen that I did with Suzuki Roshi was that I didn’t need to have faith anymore – just the blank wall. All I had to do was sit. Suzuki demanded no more than that – and he was humble. It was overwhelming joy when I first met him. I had been looking for the genuine product, and there it was. I just dedicated my whole life.’ (from Cuke.com)

I always enjoyed hearing about Grahame Petchey, someone who came from England to be one of the early figureheads at Zen Center, and being the one of first people ordained by Suzuki Roshi, before he eventually went his own way in Japan. Appropriately enough, today is Suzuki Roshi’s birthday.