It was about six months after my teacher (Zen Master Mori) passed away.

My cousin was doing pottery near a Zen temple in Hiroshima. Near his workshop was a small pond, and my cousin found Keisaku※ standing upright in it. Normally, if you throw a stick into a pond, it floats horizontally, but this Keisaku was standing in the pond. My cousin knew this was the kind used for zazen, so he waded into the pond, pulled it out, loaded it into his car, and brought it home.

My cousin's father, my uncle, passed away, and I conducted the funeral rites. At the meal after the service, my cousin said, "I found this keisaku on my way to pottery class. When I brought it home, it seemed to have some characters or something written on it. What do you think it says?" and handed me the Keisaku.

The moment I saw the characters written on it, I knew immediately it was written by Zen Master Mori. This single Keisaku stick became my only keepsake. I still keep it carefully inside SAIKOUZENJI.

Jakusui: What was written on that Keisaku?

Priest Danjo: It said, “Light-born samadhi.” Living in light, samadhi is a sense of oneness, becoming one with the light. You are light; light is my world.

Why it was standing in the pond is still a mystery to me. I don't think it would stand if someone just tossed it in. Well, that part remains a mystery.

Jakusui: Zen Master Mori had only Priest Danjo as a disciple at his Hiroshima Zen temple, but did he have any disciples at his Kyoto temple?

Priest Danjo: No, Zen Master Mori didn't take disciples at his Kyoto temple either. He himself said he wouldn't take disciples. I think part of it was probably that he knew, even if he took disciples, his temple had almost no parishioners, so no one would inherit it. Running it would be difficult.

Jakusui: Zen Master Mori was truly a man of simplicity. He left nothing to his sole disciple and departed this world without any lingering attachments. He was truly the model Zen monk.