INNER CALM
The Venerable Zen Master Soen Nakagawa Roshi, abbot of the Ryutaku, Monastery in Japan, teacher, and poet, rises above the landscape, his hand stopping a volcano. By calming the fires of the mind during meditation, the clouds part around his head, revealing the infinite blue void. The sun begins to rise over the mental/emotional landscape and a new day is dawning. Our emotions form an inner landscape. Acknowledging their presence with detachment produces a state of inner calm. The Venerable Soen Roshi (1907-1984) was instrumental in transmitting Zen Buddhism to the Western world. His Dharma Heir, Eido Shimano Roshi, carries on this tradition. Eido Roshi is head of the Zen Studies Society in New York City and the Dai Bosatsu Zendo-Kongo-ji in Livingston Manor, New York.