Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931-1995) was a seminal figure in the transmission of Zen Buddhism to the West. He was founding abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles (ZCLA) from 1967 to 1995 and of Zen Mountain Center from 1978 to 1995. He and his successors also founded Zen centers throughout the United States, Europe, and Mexico. Maezumi Roshi established The Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values, which promotes Buddhist scholarship and publishes, with the University of Hawaii Press, translations of East Asian Buddhist classics. He coauthored On Zen Practice- Foundation of Practice, On Zen Practice II- Body, Breath and Mind, and The Hazy Moon of Enlightenment. He also provided the commentary for The Way of Everyday Life- Zen Master Dogen's Genjokoan.
A brilliant, simple, infinitely subtle appreciation of this precious life. -Peter Matthiessen, author of The Snow Leopard With a loving heart, Maezumi Roshi carried these teachings in his two hands across the ocean to offer to the West. Now you hold them in your hands, the subtle, profound, enigmatic Zen that awakens trust in your own true nature. Enjoy. -Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart and After the Ecstasy, the Laundry We are fortunate, with Appreciate Your Life , to finally have a volume that evokes the voice and broad-minded teaching that have meant so much to all of us in Western Zen. -Zoketsu Norman Fischer, Zen priest and poet, founder of the Everyday Zen Foundation, senior dharma teacher at the San Francisco Zen Center Maezumi Roshi's dharma is gentle, generous, accessible, humorous, and above all encouraging. -Robert Aitken, author of Taking the Path of Zen and Original Dwelling Place