Zoketsu Norman Fischer is a Zen priest in the tradition of Suzuki Roshi.
When I first started learning Zen meditation in the mid 1980s, he was one of the priests I really connected to.
I felt honored to be able to have dokusan (a private interview with a Zen teacher) with Norman some time around 1988.
He was already known for his poetry at that time.
What a luxury it would be
To have an inner life
A few trees in a pot
A scrawled list of formerly used words
And music, plenty of music,
That tinkles down the stairs like water
Or tiny shards of ice falling off melting roofs
Not to have to worry about the many arrangements
That go to shore up a life
It would be a pleasure to sink into those waters
And there would be no more images
—Zoketsu Norman Fischer
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