Andrea Martin Zen
As the 20th anniversary of Katagiri Roshi's death was approaching, Andrea Martin was wondering how to honor the occasion in some meaningful way. Finally she realized that as his archivist she could preserve not just what he taught, but also information about him as a Zen teacher. So she embarked on a quest to pull together whatever information she could find and write a narrative account of his life.
Katagiri Roshi often told stories about his life to illustrate points in his talks, so there was some autobiographical information to draw on. There were also resources such as articles about him, references in books written by his students, Minnesota Zen Meditation Center files, and peoples' memories. Using what she discovered, Martin wrote the essay 'Ceaseless Effort: The Life of Dainin Katagiri,' which is available here as a downloadable file.
'Ceaseless Effort' is not an official biography. It is simply the result of Martin's wish to honor her teacher and preserve his story for those who want to know about the human being behind his books and audio recordings, the teaching lineage before and after him, and the history of Zen in America.
Katagiri Roshi often told stories about his life to illustrate points in his talks, so there was some autobiographical information to draw on. There were also resources such as articles about him, references in books written by his students, Minnesota Zen Meditation Center files, and peoples' memories. Using what she discovered, Martin wrote the essay 'Ceaseless Effort: The Life of Dainin Katagiri,' which is available here as a downloadable file.
'Ceaseless Effort' is not an official biography. It is simply the result of Martin's wish to honor her teacher and preserve his story for those who want to know about the human being behind his books and audio recordings, the teaching lineage before and after him, and the history of Zen in America.
Katagiri Roshi often told stories about his life to illustrate points in his talks, so there was some autobiographical information to draw on. There were also resources such as articles about him, references in books written by his students, Minnesota Zen Meditation Center files,.
Dainin Katagiri Relationship With His Student
- Segment of Zen Mountain Center - KQED film made summer 1968, this part at Sokoji in San Francisco featuring Suzuki's assistant Dainin Katagiri.
- Dainin Katagiri Roshi was one of the pioneers who brought Zen Buddhism from Japan to the United States. (“Roshi” means “respected elder teacher.”) Katagiri Roshi’s talks, recorded from 1979 to 1989, contain a huge volume of material not included in the four books compiled from his teachings.
- “If you want to take care of tomorrow, take better care of today. We always live now.