May 6, 2024, was the twentieth year following Roshi Philip Kapleau's death in 2020. Mitra-roshi trained intensively under Roshi Kapleau, including extensive periods where she served as his secretary, both in Santa Fe NM and in Tepoztlan, México. Twenty years training with him she was deeply impressed by his skill as a teacher, his ethical conduct, and above all, his deep commitment to his own ongoing practice. The latter was especially impressive as he grew and changed over the years, right up to his peaceful death, surrounded by students, in the garden of the Rochester Zen Center. He suffered from Parkinson's for over 20 years, eventually falling prey to tardive dyskinesia, an incurable side effect of the years of medication he was on to treat his Parkinson's. Even with those devastating side effects he remained peaceful and accepting. When asked, "This Parkinson's is truly a teacher, isn't it!" he responded, in his barely perceptible speach, "Sure is!" In this teisho Mitra-roshi shares her experiences and observations of him.
6 май 2024
