Sometimes virtuous practitioners have taught Buddhism like the gently nagging of a little old lady. Although teaching with love is always excellent my Zen master believed that in this day and age of rapid acceleration and the ability to absorb multiple images, even though Zen understanding deepens slowly, that we had better move along and keep the momentum. So he eliminated the ethereal, impractical sayings and gongans from his teachings and concentrated on the practical and operative aspects of Zen. He also asserted that although he was a Zen Buddhist that Buddhism and Zen may be kissing cousins, but they are not married and that Zen stands by itself, singularly like a different musical instrument.

Satoru