Monday, July 19, 2010

Two Suzukis that have changed my life.

Did you think I was talking about vehicles?  Sorry.  The first is one of the first men to actively teach Zen meditation in the U.S.  His book, compiled from short lectures he made to audiences, is a classic of clarity about the reality of a meditation practice. 

The second Suzuki is much less well known in Buddhist circles, but has his own fanatic followers in the world of music.  The Suzuki Method has fundamentally changed how we view early music teaching.  I've spent hundreds of hours reading and rereading the basic violin texts with my older son.  If I'd done the same with the first Suzuki, I'd probably be enlightened, but instead I'm a middle-aged beginning violinist.

What both men have in common is a focus on right-minded persevering effort without an obsession with "getting somewhere."  Too often in modern society we need to accomplish something, no matter how poor the results.  We need to return to the careful process of doing. 

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