Читать книгу A Straight Road with 99 Curves - Gregory Shepherd - Страница 5

I would like to express deep appreciation to all of the people who have guided me on my Zen journey, especially the late Yamada Koun Roshi and Robert Aitken Roshi, and the very much alive (in all ways) Michael Kieran, my current teacher. The selfless and unstinting devotion of these teachers to all of their students will always be a source of amazement and gratitude to me. I would also like to thank Mrs. Kazue Yamada and Mrs. Anne Aitken, spouses of my first teachers, who played far more than auxiliary roles in the teaching lives of their husbands.

Thank you as well to the many students with whom I have had the privilege to practice over the past four decades, especially my brother Paul who has always been one of my best friends and a true dharma brother since the earliest days of our practice that we began together in New York City.

My parents, William and Jessie, always encouraged Paul and me and our siblings to go our way in life with forthrightness, independence, and the courage to say what we think, and for this I’m forever grateful.

Many thanks to Peter Goodman, my publisher and editor at Stone Bridge Press, for having faith in this first-time author. Sincere appreciation to Mitch Horowitz, Executive Editor of Tarcher/Penguin in New York City, for his kind words of encouragement after reading an earlier, sprawling version of this book. Without that encouragement, I doubt I would have continued working on it. My thanks as well to Tom Haar for permission to use his father Francis’s photos from the early days of the Diamond Sangha.

Thanks also to the people who read earlier drafts of the book and offered incisive comments and suggestions, including Brian Baron, Michael Kieran, Nelson Foster, John Tarrant, Stephan Bodian, David Weinstein, Michael Katz, Dale Hall, John McElligott, Elizabeth Kieszkowski, Linda Shimoda, Todd Shimoda, Bob Goldberg, Steve Shepherd, and Paul Shepherd.

My ever-patient wife, Virginia, has stood by me steadfastly for over thirty years, and for this (and for her very being) I dedicate this book to her.

G.S.