Autobiography of a Zen Monk: Taisen Deshimaru

by Taisen Deshimaru, Reiryu Philippe Coupey (Foreword), Richard Collins (Translator)

A story of bravery and false starts, The Autobiography of a Zen Monk candidly recounts the author’s development from a highly mischievous Japanese boy into a world-renowned Sensei (Teacher) of Zen. While countless memoirs exist written by Zen students and teachers, few are as engaging and as tantalizing as Taisen Deshimaru’s. Looking back at his early life, growing up in Japan, from the viewpoint of his status as a Zen teacher in Paris, the author reflects on his earliest misadventures―from defacing a valuable painting of Bodhidharma as a child, to turning the “Zen stick” on a young monk during a retreat. Adventures abound with stories about alcohol and women, during his student years, and his activities during World War II in working for the arms industry in Malaysia, where he was sympathetic to the underground freedom movement.
This first English-language translation of Taisen Deshimaru’s autobiography will be prized for its clear and honest documentation of this great master’s life. Many people all over the world have been influenced by Deshimaru’s Zen teachings, especially his book on Zen and the martial arts. This memoir fills an important gap in our knowledge of his teacher, Kodo Sawaki’s influence on the world of Zen. The story of how Deshimaru met Sawaki as a boy, even slept in the same room with him, and later received monastic ordination is the story of a lifelong friendship of two extraordinary characters in the history of modern Zen.
Deshimaru’s influence extends beyond Zen practitioners, though, especially in those interested in the martial arts, as he touches on his martial arts experience as a young man and offers a look into the master’s early training.
Additional interest extends to historians who recount the supposed “scandals” of Zen masters’ participation in the war effort. Although Deshimaru’s viewpoint is decidedly subjective, he was intimately acquainted with priests and generals alike, and approaches the difficult subject with a refreshing lack of judgmental disdain which counterbalances many other more lopsided works.
Translator, Richard Collins, a longtime Zen practitioner, and currently the Abbot of the New Orleans Zen Temple, is a literature scholar and author of several books including No Fear Zen, Hohm Press, 2014. His knowledge of the subject matter and his finesse with language combine to make this book a delightful read for those who appreciate well-written memoir.

Genres: Zen, Buddhism, Spirituality

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[David Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always been a fan of Taisen Deshimaru, whom I sometimes think of as the European Shunryu Suzuki, or Seung Sahn (I’m not quite sure who to compare him to, because he was so much his own man). He was the son of a mother who was devout in the Pure Land school, and he was raised in the faith, at least on her side, but spent his life searching for something more, and finally found it in the Zen of Kodo Sawaki, the teacher of (among others) Kosho Uchyama and Gudo Nishijima. The basic teaching is utter devotion to zazen; as Sawaki once said, “Anyone who practices zazen is my disciple.”

Sawaki was known as Homeless Kodo because for most of his life he didn’t have a fixed temple but taught all over Japan in various small dojos; he seemed suspicious of the professional clergy and mostly taught lay people. In fact, despite Deshimaru’s frequent requests to be ordained, Sawaki kept saying no until, in 1965, he had arrived at the end of his life, and decided there wasn’t much time left. He ordained Deshimaru just before he died.

Not long after that, Deshimaru was working at a dojo in Tokyo and gave a tour to some European tourists, who suggested he come to Europe to teach. When he first arrived in Paris he worked in a health food store and did shiatsu massage, and in his ample spare time wrote this memoir of early days,

He’d had a most eventful life, working as a businessman like his father, getting caught up in World War II, though he didn’t favor his country’s declaration of war (neither did Sawaki). There were any number of hair-raising moments in his work during the war, which he spent mostly in Indochina; I didn’t fully understand the politics of the situation, but the man went through hell, and at times did zazen in solitary confinement in a prison, where he was under the threat of execution. But he emerged eventually and got back to a Japan that was struggling to recover after the war. After various setbacks he made his way to Europe.

In comparison to any number of Zen teachers, who carefully adhere to traditional teachings, Deshimaru was a loose cannon, likely to say anything. As an example, his student Philip Coupey tells in his Forward of a moment when a journalist asked if Deshimaru had moved to France in order to become a Zen master, since that might not have happened in Japan, where he wasn’t part of the hierarchy.

Deshimaru replied, “Ridiculous! You do not go anywhere to be a master! An authentic person does not want to be a master. I did not want to be a master; I wanted to be unsui to become like clouds and water. Along a simple path.”

The befuddled journalist said, “You came to Europe to become like clouds and water?”

“I come here to help God!” Deshimaru replied. “You know, God?”

The man was not an easy interview.

Despite Deshimaru’s unusual and adventurous life, my favorite moments in this book were the glimpses of Sawaki. Here, for example, was his kusen[3] the first time Deshimaru did zazen with the group:

“Zazen is to become intimate with yourself. Zazen is to know how to find yourself alone at the heart of the universe and get to know yourself, to become perfectly familiar with yourself. In zazen, you should not hope to obtain anything, you should be completely mushotoku.[4] You must not see satori, nor dismiss your doubts. Don’t try to chase away awkward thoughts either, because none of that matters.

“Zazen is not thinking with your head!. Zazen is a whole-body discipline. It is with all of your senses, not with your brain, that you grasp the way of the Buddha. This physical discipline is itself satori. The posture is enough to attain satori.

“During zazen, you get acquainted with the universe, contemplating it at a glance.”

When Deshimaru returned after the war, he was once again determined to become a priest, and approached Sawaki with the idea.

“That’s really not necessary,” Sawaki said. “You are not really going to fatten the ranks of that gaggle of degenerate and useless monks. Continue to do zazen, but by living life with ordinary people. . . .

“True Zen, you see, must be able to arise from any aspect of our daily lives.”

He later repeated his refusal.

“You have to understand that the way of the bodhisattva, which is to stay in the world to help others, is much more painful than that of the monk who retreats to live in a monastery. Continue to practice zazen; we’ll see what happens later.”

Sawaki was a true original, and Deshimaru took his attitude with him when he made his way to Europe. His lineage has continued in Europe with Philippe Coupey, and in this country by Richard Collins, who translated this volume.

www.davidguy.org

[Amergin mac Miled · Rating 5 out of 5]

Autobiografia di Taisen Deshimaru, Monaco zen giapponese che esportò lo Zen in Europa negli anni 70 del 900. La lettura scorre veloce e piacevole aprendo piccole finestre di ricordi su una vicenda profondamente umana, a tratti commovente. Ne scaturisce il profondo senso di solitudine e di impermanenza che hanno guidato la vita dell'autore a consacrarsi alla possibilità della "più alta realizzazione spirituale dell'uomo".

[Mazen Alloujami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une petite autobiographie d'un grand maître. Un récit de l'impermanence