Like a Dream, Like a Fantasy: The Zen Teachings and Translations of Nyogen Senzaki

Choro-An Nyogen Senzaki Dai Osho. The American Bodhidharma. A mushroommonk. Hidden away. A man who wanted no titles. Nyogen Senzaki. He came hereand he stayed. He was the first Zen monk to stay. He was the best. And whathe began, east and west, continues to bloom and surprise.The way he spoke can be felt in the cadences of his writing. (Many live whoknew him. Wire recordings made of him and Soen Nakagawa Roshi survive.) Sothere is something vivid in how he wrote. And what he had to say is clear,direct and comprehensible, if you practice.Along with some of his talks, you will find translations he made of thepoems of Jakushitsu. And you will find Nyogen Senzaki's own beautiful andsimple, not-so-simple poems.Decades after his death, when his ashes were mixed with Soen Roshi's at oneof Roshi's 1984 memorial services, a student of Nyogen Senzaki's, GeorgeLamplighter, said, "Nyogen Senzaki told me something profoundly shocking.And I remain shocked."Shocking or no, you may find something remarkable if you follow what youfind when you read "Like A Dream, Like A Fantasy."