In 2011 Roshi Bernie Glassman asked me to prepare an unusual lineage chart. Rather than make a vertical down-through-time chart listing historical Buddhist ancestors, he wanted a horizontal chart. He wanted a cross-section of time as it manifested in my particular life. He wanted a chart of living persons who collaborated with me to create what we call Peter/Kuku. In the original version Bernie asked me to begin with pictures of my parents and grandparents, pictures of my teachers, friends, lovers, my nation and my creations, but I’ve left that out of this version. Here you will see the co-creators of ME from the Buddhist world, I am very grateful to have had them as friends and teachers. To see the book, please click on the full screen arrow below.
My ambition with this collection is to include here a current link to each of these teachers, many of them are active in the socially enganged Zen world, a reflection of how Bernie taught. The other idea is to make a film with this material set to Krisha Das’ tune of The Gate of Sweet Nectar. He sang that at Bernie’s bedside and all the people in this book learned that ceremony from Bernie. Seems to make sense, I’d love to hear any thoughts that arise for you. (peterc@stilltv.com)