Talking While Walking

When Soryu was physically at MAPLE, he was usually very busy. From 4:40 AM until 9:15 PM, he often had a full schedule of chanting, giving interviews, holding meetings, giving teachings at various points in the residents’ training schedule, and giving hours-long course lectures and dharma talks. If I wanted to catch a meeting with him, I had to ask his assistant and then wait weeks or sometimes even months to be put on his schedule. However, alongside all of that busyness, he was casually approachable in between scheduled activities, and often appeared happy to connect with whoever was speaking with him.

One time I had a meeting with him, and not realizing how quickly time was passing, didn't get to the really important stuff until the end. As Soryu got up and started walking to his next meeting, I followed him, continuing the conversation. At some point, I realized I didn't know if I was keeping him from his next commitment or not; it seemed up to me to end the conversation. This often happened in interviews as well; we trainees had to have the maturity and judgment to know when the interview was over ourselves.

One day we had an all-hands meeting at which another resident presented on a process she had just been through, in which she broke some agreements with Soryu and was denied interviews for an undetermined length of time. She told us how she needed to have a meeting with Soryu as part of the resolution process, but his assistant wasn't putting her on his schedule that week, and it was relatively urgent that she rectify the situation. Confused, she eventually realized she needed to make this meeting happen herself. She even went as far as following him down the path to his cabin and knocking on his door in an attempt to talk with him. Soryu added that he made himself quietly available to her by timing his exit from the zendo so that they would cross paths, giving her an opportunity to speak to him, if she could let go of the principle that it was noble silence at that time.

Soryu had often told us about how it was at Sogen-ji where he trained with Harada Roshi in Japan. Instead of having an interview order, the process there was that the training residents simply ran to the interview room, with whoever needing an interview the most tending to run the fastest.

With all that in mind, one day I wanted to speak to Soryu about something that wouldn't make sense to wait weeks for. In fact, I had requested a meeting with him via his assistant but had no idea when that might happen. I was concerned that I hadn't passed my interviews recently and wanted to ask him about something that had come up in one of them that concerned me. It was breakfast cleanup time, and we were supposed to be in noble silence cleaning the kitchen, but one of the guests was asking Soryu about meeting him that day. "When can we talk about this project you mentioned?" the guest asked. At that point, I started walking alongside them and just started the conversation I wanted to have with Soryu without asking. The three of us walked side by side, speeding up as our conversations took hold, Soryu chuckling as we playfully elbowed each other. Finally, Soryu and I reached the meeting room he was heading to, and I was able to finish the chat before heading back to the kitchen.