From Stage 5. Early adulthood – The Soul Apprentice at the Wellspring and Zen

I long cherished the idea of establishing a lay path to dharma succession in our school. When I asked Roshi to give me a ministers certificate so I could be a member of the Buddhist Sangha Council of Southern California, the fact that he agreed was acknowledgement that this was possible.

Then on a beautiful day during the backyard lunch break of a scholarly presentation at ZCLA, I mentioned my idea to the two presenters. I think Will Bodiford was one and maybe Robert Gimello was the other.  They laughed and told me the Japanese Soto School is way more conservative and rigid than the Catholic Church. If I wanted to become an authorized dharma successor, they advised not wasting my energy trying to reform the institution but to just bite the bullet and take the vows of a priest, which I did on November 16, 1991.

One month before the ordination ceremony I was laid off from my corporate management job. I wrote about it in Into the Heart of Not Knowing.