"Fundamental Zen: An Interview with Joshu Sasaki Roshi"
Tricycle Magazine, Summer 1997

In the summer of 1997, Tricycle magazine published an interview with Joshu Saski Roshi, then ninety years old. Sasaki became a roshi and abbott in Japan in 1947, and relocated to America in 1962. After settling in southern California, he and his students founded Zen centers in Los Angeles and at Mt. Baldy. His students went on to found centers throughout the world. 

Sasaki was interviewed at Bodhi Manda Zen Center at Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Twenty years earlier, he had begun the annual "Summer Seminar on the Sutras" there. Once again, he was participating as a lecturer in the two weeks of talks by Japanese and American scholars.  In the interview, Sasaki exounded on several topics in Buddhism, including his own teachings of what he calls Nyorai Zen. According to him, the fundamental teachings of Nyorai Zen involve understanding the incomplete self and the complete self. Since all activities are manifestations of the two activities of living and dying, then the place where these two activities meet is called the complete self. In the broader context of Zen in general, Sasaki spoke of how both study and practice are valuable, as they were traditionally practiced in Japanese temples. Zen is more of a knowledge of Buddhism than other branches, which are more faith-based, and its fundamental teaching is that of mu-ga, or "no-self." Sasaki feels that many Japanese scholars of Buddhism today have forgotten about mu-ga, and simply affirm the self without question. Sasaki holds a unique position, with certain unique opinions, as a Japanese monk in America. He believes in the importance of passing the traditions on to Americans, although he has not yet named a successor. He feels that female Zen teachers are essential, because a boddhisatva is a person in whom man and woman have become one. He wants to understand America, and he wants Americans to understand him, which, he says, is the same as saying he wants Americans to understand Buddhism. Because of his unusual position in the Buddhist world today, Sasaki can help us understand the ways in which contemporary Buddhism is manifested in different cultures. He stands in contrast to those who try to maintain the exclusivity of Zen and its incompatibility with the West. Yet he doesn't quite reflect the other Japanese school of thought, that which embraces the new and the non-Japanese. Instead, Sasaki believes that the whole world can benefit from the ancient Buddhist teachings, and he has faith that Americans can accept the teachings if they try. I enjoyed Sasaki's candid tone and straightforward explanations. As one of the pioneers in bringing Japanese Buddhism to America, he is an authority on how the religion has evolved, both in Japan and in the U.S., over the last forty years.