A Temporary Affair

Yoshin David Radin is abbot and founder of the Ithaca Zen Center where he has taught for the past forty years. Yoshin began Zen practice in 1976 with Joshu Sasaki Roshi. He was ordained a monk in 1983 and an Oshō in 1989. He leads regular sesshin at the Ithaca Zen Center as well as at Rinzai-ji Zen Center in Los Angeles. His writings have been turned into songs or spoken poems which were released in four collections, including Love Songs of a Zen Monk, he was the editor of two books by Zen Master Joshu Sasaki, including The Great Celebration, and he has been published in Tricycle magazine. He lives in Spencer, NY.

Dedication and Introduction ix
Preface xi
1. A Temporary Affair 1
2. All Peace Breaks Loose 3
3. You Will Be a Beacon 6
4. Bearing the Pain and the Insult 10
5. Fellow Forms of the Most Miraculous Assembly 14
6. Saved from a Superficial Stay 17
7. The Great Goodness of Existence 24
8. When the Inner System Is Broken 27
9. When the Muzak Stops 31
10. Never Separate 35
11. The Protection of the Dharma 38
12. A Flawed Agenda 42
13. Signing on to Suffering 46
14. A Guide for Your Mind 50
15. Skywriting in the Mindspace 54
16. The Mistaken Seat of Consciousness 62
17. Completion Comes from Gentleness 67
18. What’s Next? 71
19. In Humility, Not in Things 76
20. Nancy and Charlie 79
21. Mind Is the Holy Land 85
22. Here I Am 89
23. Don’t Let Yourself Off the Hook 92
24. The Mirror of Your Body 95
25. The Blessed States 98
26. What Is Zen? 103
27. Falling out of the Garden of Eden 108
28. Waiting for the Prison Bars to Melt 111
29. Stand in the Presence of Ego 115
30. What Is the Address of Love? 119
31. The Most Precious Thing Is You 123
Epilogue 127