Two Shores of Zen:
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When a young American Buddhist monk can no longer bear the pop-psychology, sexual intrigue,
and free-flowing peanut butter that he insists pollute his spiritual community, he sets out for
Japan on an archetypal journey to find “True Zen,” a magical elixir to relieve all suffering. Arriving
at an austere Japanese monastery and meeting a fierce old Zen Master, he feels confirmed in his
suspicion that the Western Buddhist approach is a spineless imitation of authentic spiritual
effort. However, over the course of a year and a half of bitter initiations, relentless meditation
and labor, intense cold, brutal discipline, insanity, overwhelming lust, and false breakthroughs, he
grows disenchanted with the Asian model as well. Finally completing the classic journey of the
seeker who travels far to discover the home he has left, he returns to the U.S. with a more mature
appreciation of Western Buddhism and a new confidence in his life as it is.
and free-flowing peanut butter that he insists pollute his spiritual community, he sets out for
Japan on an archetypal journey to find “True Zen,” a magical elixir to relieve all suffering. Arriving
at an austere Japanese monastery and meeting a fierce old Zen Master, he feels confirmed in his
suspicion that the Western Buddhist approach is a spineless imitation of authentic spiritual
effort. However, over the course of a year and a half of bitter initiations, relentless meditation
and labor, intense cold, brutal discipline, insanity, overwhelming lust, and false breakthroughs, he
grows disenchanted with the Asian model as well. Finally completing the classic journey of the
seeker who travels far to discover the home he has left, he returns to the U.S. with a more mature
appreciation of Western Buddhism and a new confidence in his life as it is.
How far has Western Buddhism come
from its roots, or how far has it fallen?
from its roots, or how far has it fallen?
An incomplete but final draft for the wide Sangha.
An American Monk's Japan
| by Jiryu Mark Rutschman-Byler |
Western and Eastern Buddhism are raised side-by-side to illuminate each other in this story of an idealistic young
monk who heads East to seek the True Zen that he's convinced eludes his well-meaning but misdirected, indeed
spineless, Western Buddhist comrades.
monk who heads East to seek the True Zen that he's convinced eludes his well-meaning but misdirected, indeed
spineless, Western Buddhist comrades.
Based on Jiryu's year and half of training in Zen monasteries in Japan, and his decade of intensive residence at
temples and monasteries in the U.S., Two Shores of Zen weaves together scenes from Japanese and American Zen
to offer a unique and compelling contribution to the ongoing conversation about Western Buddhism's stark
departures from its Asian roots. How far have we come, or how far have we fallen?
temples and monasteries in the U.S., Two Shores of Zen weaves together scenes from Japanese and American Zen
to offer a unique and compelling contribution to the ongoing conversation about Western Buddhism's stark
departures from its Asian roots. How far have we come, or how far have we fallen?
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