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Sky Flowers On the Day Before: My Life Guided by Zen Buddhism Paperback – October 6, 2019
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In his book, Sky Flowers On the Day Before, Kazumitsu Wako Kato tells the story of his life that began by being born into a Sōtō Zen Temple in pre-World War II Japan. Upon his father's death at the age of 11, he took the vows as a novice monk, joza. With the dedication of mentors who had a profound impact in guiding Kato in performing daily monastic rituals, temple member visits, special services, and the completion of his formal monastic training at the Kyu-kokuji and Nittai-ji temples, Kato reached the rank of oshō at the age of 20. Through his heartfelt memories of his mentors and their experiences together, one learns about the monastic training that individuals undertook to become a Sōtō Zen priest in Japan at that time as well as the hierarchy and customs that were followed. For readers who are practicing Buddhists or have an interest in Sōtō Zen Buddhism, the teachings his mentors transmitted to him that influenced Kato as a young adult coming of age in the midst and aftermath of World War II in Japan are of particular interest.
In mid-summer of 1949 as Kato was helping to air out items that were stored for safety during the war, he discovered an edition of Eihei Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō. His mother explained to him that it was the Eihei-ji Head Temple edition, which was considered to be the most authoritative text of the Shōbōgenzō. Upon discovering the frail document that had to be handled with care or the pages would disintegrate, the young Kato became engrossed in the Shōbōgenzō, with his mother pursuading him to take breaks to exercise his legs. His intrigue and resonance with the Shōbōgenzō resulted in Kato being guided by Dōgen's verses throughout the rest of his life, including times of turbulence as well as serenity; at times reciting Dōgen's lines and verses to himself silently, and at other times out loud.
In 1952, Kato came to the United States to serve as an assistant priest at Sōkō-ji Temple in San Francisco. Through his storytelling one gets insight into the Zen Boom movement that was taking place at that time, and his tenure when he served as assistant priest to Sōtō Zen Buddhist Priest Shunryu Suzuki, the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center, who later became the first abbot of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.
Each chapter of Sky Flowers on the Day Before begins with a verse by Dōgen, written side-by-side in Japanese and English, with translations by Dr. Kato. Intermittent verses of Han-shan, also translated by Dr. Kato, are woven into Kato's colorful, often humorous, fascinating life story.
- Print length475 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateOctober 6, 2019
- Dimensions5.5 x 1.19 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-10169520980X
- ISBN-13978-1695209800
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Product details
- Publisher : Independently published (October 6, 2019)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 475 pages
- ISBN-10 : 169520980X
- ISBN-13 : 978-1695209800
- Item Weight : 1.34 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.19 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,890,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,552 in Zen Spirituality
- #9,759 in Religious Leader Biographies
- Customer Reviews:
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It is a memoire, of a little boy raised as the son of a priest in a Soto Zen temple in wartime, coming of age amid the ashes of post-war Japan ... and the ashes of the temple, burned to the ground by American bombs ... who went on to monastic training at Eiheiji to inherit that temple upon the death of his father, supported by several other Japanese Soto priests in his life, each as human and imperfect as they were caring, dedicated and wise.
He went to America: It is the story of this young Japanese priest, barely speaking English, with little money, living and serving in San Francisco in the 1950s at the Soto Zen temple there, staying for decades, becoming a humble friend to Alan Watts, Shunryu Suzuki and many other Zen pioneers at the very start of Zen's taking root in the west ... staying in America but growing his hair, marrying, becoming a college professor much more than temple priest, yet remaining in both worlds as one, and ... most of all, through all of this ... remaining a true student of Master Dogen, of Shobogenzo, through every change in life.
The wonder of this book is that, through this simple yet amazing life story, Master Dogen's wisdom is expressed and explained and reflected through Rev./Prof. Kato's life story. This man who knew war and recovery, culture east and west, truly understood the heart of Dogen and formed his life around the wisdom and compassion he found in the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye.
Perhaps you will not find this book life changing or indispensable, but you will find it beautiful, tragic, encouraging and unforgettable. If you are someone who might be interested in what life and training is like for "an average" Soto Zen priest in Japan, meant to serve as resident of a local parish temple, then this book conveys a sense of that life path. If you are interested in the early roots of Zen in the west, then there is much here (some of the stories about Shunryu Suzuki, when first come to America, are simply wonderful and "real deal" inspiring!)
My one quibble is the part of the book, really only a page or so, where Kato describes Dogen as mostly focused on monastic practice, dedicated almost exclusively to the highly regulated discipline of monks, doubtful about lay practice ... because the rest of Kato's book disproves Kato's own theory: Kato is someone who lived his life inspired and guided throughout by Master Dogen, even though only a small portion of that life was during Kato's own monastic training.
Really, this is a great book. Maybe one of the best Soto Zen books I have ever read (granted, I am interested in the topics I listed above). At 460 pages, I found it too short. A lovely book, not to be forgotten or overlooked in the Zen world, let's not let it fall through the cracks.
In 1949, when he was 19, he was helping to air out items that had been stored for safety during the war, and he discovered an edition of Dogen’s Shobogenzo. His mother told him it was the Eihei-ji Head Temple edition, considered the most authoritative one. Kato at that point began an extensive study of Dogen’s work, and found it extraordinarily difficult (thank God), just like the rest of us. He already, at that age, had been sitting zazen for years. He continued to read the Shobogenzo almost exclusively, and found it helped to read the book out loud (haven’t tried that). He says various passages are extraordinarily beautiful when read in Japanese.
He begins each chapter with a passage from Dogen; his translations are fascinating. Here, for instance, is a passage most Soto practitioners will recognize.
To learn Buddhism
is to learn yourself.
To learn yourself
is to forget yourself.
To forget yourself
is to be one with every existence.
And here is the opening of the second chapter, about his ordination.
You must know that if you shave your head
and wear a Buddhist robe
even if you have not received the precepts,
you can pray and you will
enter into a state of no fear.
That’s a state that we could all use right now.
Kato is now ninety years old, and apparently self-published this book; I can see why a publisher didn’t pick it up, because it seems too long in places, it includes monastic detail that many people won’t be interested in (though I often found it fascinating). It is also oddly focused on his early life; on page 282, more than halfway through the book, he is still just 22, and departing for the United States. An editor might have told him to get to that part sooner, and punch up the stories about Shunryu Suzuki, who is endlessly fascinating. Kato also met Alan Watts during his early years in San Francisco, and taught with him for a while at the American Academy of Asian Studies. He had an academic side all his life, and never wanted to be a temple priest.
For the first year Shunryu Suzuki was living alone, without his wife, and Kato often had him over to his place for a meal, but after a while he realized Suzuki was uncomfortable being away from the temple for long; he saw it as his role to be there. Kato was present at the famous incident when Soen Nakagawa visited, and blew his stack when he saw the book of sutras, shouting “This is not Zen!” and throwing the sutra book on the floor. Kato was shocked, but Suzuki rose to the challenge. “Suzuki looked at Nakagawa, bowed lightly and moved forward, squatting to pick up the sutra. Suzuki then said, ‘This sutra is donated by Mr. and Mrs. Jota Handa. This is a practice of our people and their way of kuyo (veneration). We treasure it’ Suzuki gently dusted the sutra, folded it and returned it to the altar and bowed sincerely with the touch of his conviction.” He then told Soen he was honored to have him, and asked him to have tea.
That moment beautifully contrasts the two men and their attitude to things. Kato thought it was an instance of dharma combat, and that Suzuki acquitted himself well. There are a couple other great anecdotes about the man, including the time he confronted a greedy man from his sangha, and his encounter with a young American who thought he was ready to teach Zen.
Kato himself doesn’t try to be a teacher through most of his book, but I found various passages inspiring, especially those about his own teacher, Nin’ yo, who like Kato had his ups and downs but was guided throughout his life by practice. But in his final chapter Kato talks about practice more directly, and a number of passages there were worth the price of the whole book. To quote just a few:
“Dogen’s Zen is neither the pursuit of a state of ultimate truth nor some sort of remedy, but simply the state of being connected to reality. Since I had observed and practiced Dogen’s Zen from my early days, I realized that Dogen’s Zen is centralized in its practice of shikantaza, ‘just sitting.’ Our varied practices (or daily activities) are like petals of a flower with sitting practice as its pistil.”
“Our lives must be in tune with our surroundings. That necessitates being in rhythm and harmony with all earthly existence. We are embraced and nurtured by this earth. . . . Nirvana is the thorough acquisition of dharma, or complete equilibrium with existence. Attainment of that state will keep us free from samsara. Nirvana will be a dynamic and positive state assuring us of our humanity.”
“Over the years, I have tried to follow in Dogen’s footsteps . . . I attempted to simply pay close attention to each instant of my actions, trying to be one with what I was doing.”
“I decide to live each moment in full, and think of time as never being ahead of or behind me. . . . Practice and awakening are one, with no beginning and no ending; thus, I have no need to seek awakening outside of my own life.”
This chapter reads like the final testament of a man of deep wisdom.