Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘From the age of nineteen, I widely visited monasteries in all directions, but there was no master who could teach people. Since the age of nineteen, I have not passed a single day or a single night without flattening the round cushion. Before the time when I took residence [as master] of a temple, I did not converse with the people of villages, because time is too precious. At places where I hung my traveling staff, I never entered or saw inside a hut or dormitory. How much less could I expend effort on outings and jaunts among the mountains and waters?

Besides sitting in zazen in the cloud hall and the common areas, I would sit in zazen at quiet and convenient places, going alone to an upper floor or in search of some secluded spot. I always carried a round cushion inside my sleeve, and sometimes I would even sit in zazen at the base of acrag. I always felt I would like to sit through the diamond seat—that was the end which I hoped to gain. There were times when the flesh of my buttocks swelled up and burst. At these times, I liked zazen all the more. This year I am sixty-five.

My bones are old and my brain is dull; I do not understand zazen. Even so, out of compassion for my brothers in the ten directions, I have become abbot of this temple, so as to counsel those who come from [all] quarters and to transmit the truth to the monks of the assembly. How can the Buddha-Dharma exist in the orders of the old veterans in all directions? So I preach like this in formal preaching in the Dharma hall, and I preach like this in my informal preaching.’ (quoted in Shobogenzo Gyoji)