Abstract

Conversations Between Two Priests from Soto Zen's Antai-ji" - A conversation between two authors from Antai-ji, a temple of the Soto Zen sect, discussing zazen meditation, the teachings of Dogen Zenji, and the true meaning of living "here and now".

Author’s Information

Isso Fujita
Isso Fujita, born in Ehime Prefecture in 1954, dropped out of the doctoral program in Educational Psychology at the Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, and became a monk in the Soto sect at the Shichiku-rin Antai-ji temple. In 1987, he moved to the Pioneer Valley Zen Center in western Massachusetts, USA, as its head priest, and gave lectures on Zen and instructed Zazen at nearby universities and Buddhist meditation centers. He returned to Japan in 2005 and has been holding his own Zazen meetings in Hayama Town, Miura County, Kanagawa Prefecture. Since 2010, he has been traveling between Japan and abroad as the director of the Soto Zen International Center in San Francisco. His works include "Contemporary Zen Lectures: The Way to Just Sit" (Kosei Publishing). Co-authored books include "Update Buddhism" (Gentosha Shinsho), "New Me (Zen 100 Messages)" (Kosei Publishing), "Can Neuroscience Explain Religion?" (Shunju-sha), "Can Buddhism Save the World?" (Jiyu-sha). His translated works include Thich Nhat Hanh's "The Key to Zen" and "Reflections on the Lotus Sutra," Don Cupitt's "Religion of the Future" (all Shunju-sha), Stephen Batchelor's "Practicing the Dharma," David Brazier's "Feeling Buddha" (all Shiki-sha), and Caroline Brazier's "Beyond the Self Prison" (Cosmos Library). Official website: http://fujitaissho.info/

Muho Noelke
Born in 1968 in West Berlin, Germany, Muho Noelke lost his mother at the age of 7, leading to existential questions. At 16, he encountered Zazen and dreamt of becoming a Zen monk. In 1990, he came to Japan as an exchange student at Kyoto University. That autumn, he participated in Zen training at Antai-ji temple, Soto sect, for the first time. Dropping out of the university's doctoral course, he was ordained at Antai-ji in 1993. After 8 years of unsui life (a term for Zen monks in training), he succeeded his master's Dharma. From 2001, he started a morning Zazen group as a "Homeless Unsui" in Osaka Castle Park. In 2002, upon receiving the news of his master's death, he became the 9th temple head (chief priest) of Antai-ji. He leads a life dedicated to Zazen, instructing Zen practitioners and Unsui from Japan and abroad. His publications include "Zen Practice for the Lost: A German Priest's View of Japanese Buddhism" (Shinchosha Shinsho), "Naked Monk" (Sanga Shinsho), "Just Sitting" (Kobunsha Shinsho), "8 Practices to Become an 'Adult' Taught by Zen" (Shodensha Shinsho), "33 Life Hints from the Teachings of a German Priest" (Asahi Shinsho), "Living While Lost" (Daiwa Shobo), "Reverse Importing Dogen" (Sanga), "Japanese People Don't Need 'Religion'" (Best Shinsho), "Zen Practice by Reading" (Asahi Shimbun Publishing), "Getting Lost is the First Step to Enlightenment" (Shinchosha Shinsho), "It's Okay to Be As You Are, and It's Okay to Not Be As You Are" (KK Bestsellers), "100 Buddhist Sayings That Resonate with a German Zen Monk's Heart" (Takarajima-sha).
Official website: http://antaiji.org/