Taisen Deshimaru, Autobiography of a Zen Monk

The book Autobiography of a Zen Monk in its Catalan edition: Taisen Deshimaru, Autobiografia d’un monjo zen. Translation: Natàlia Barenys. Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona 2010.

“If a sincere desire for redemption were to manifest universally, this could once again awaken the spiritual source that already exists within each one of us. Isn’t the essential and common feeling shared by all humanity perhaps hope — a hope born from the simplest and most natural joys and sorrows? This hope, which burns deep within every human heart and purifies the mind, is, essentially, a purely religious feeling. Couldn’t this hope change the course that has led us to commit the monstrous errors of this last war?”

Autobiography of a Zen Monk is the story of the spiritual journey of a man who left his mark on our era. With great simplicity and in a very direct way, Roshi Taisen Deshimaru shares the difficulties he faced in accepting a vocation that would eventually lead him to spread Zen in Europe.

DESHIMARU, T. & BARENYS, N., 2010. Autobiografia d’un monjo zen. Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat. ISBN 9788498832785. You can find it at the Zen Kannon Shop.

Taisen Deshimaru, Autobiography of a Zen Monk — Quote from Takuzo Igarashi

To this day I have not been able to forget his personality. His physical appearance was that of an attractive and strong man. He resembled Bodhidharma. When he died, I wrote about him for the Soto-Shu. I said that Master Deshimaru Roshi was the Bodhidharma of our time and that he had flown over the entire world. He truly was a flying Bodhidharma. And now I repeat the following: Deshimaru Roshi, born in Japan, possessed a remarkable and profound Eastern wisdom. He practiced zazen, transmitted from Buddha, Bodhidharma, and Dogen Zenji, through to Kodo Sawaki, and he transmitted it to Europe — without saying a word!

Autobiography of a Zen Monk explains how the fundamental spirit of Zen is I shin den shin, “from my soul to your soul.” Passing from the mind of the Master to that of the disciple.

Takuzo Igarashi
Jokei-In Temple — Yunohama

The First Encounter with Kodo Sawaki

After a while, the Master took a large basin and went under the gallery to shave his head. Just as he finished, the rooster from the garden, with a flap of its wings, jumped onto the railing of the gallery. Suddenly, with a leap, it landed on his freshly shaved head and let out a loud and strident crow. I was frozen in shock. The Master, unmoved, didn’t make a single gesture.

As soon as I was able to react, I rushed at the rooster, shouting frantically to scare it away.

—Why do you get so worked up? I have perfectly understood that in Saga, the roosters are also impulsive and reckless —he said calmly, while wiping off the traces of mud left on his head.

Still stunned, I replied:

—Maybe so, but you too are quite a phenomenon!

He smiled without saying a word. Deep down, he felt flattered by the unintended compliment.

Excerpt from Autobiography of a Zen Monk

Other translations by Natàlia Keiko Barenys

Catalan translations catalog in english is under construction to see full catalog visit: Llibres traduïts