Photo from First Ango at Hokyoji, Summer of '83
I am a board member of the Hokyoji Practice Community. Below is my short bio from Hokyoji web page:
Lee Love met Katagiri Roshi on Memorial Day weekend in 1983. Lee was living in a Sioux TiPi in the woods and, realizing that he needed formal instruction in Buddhism, he decided to go to Japan to study in a monastery there. He wrote to half dozen Zen Centers in the USA, and Katagiri Roshi was the only teacher to personally write him back.
In his letter, he said to Lee, “Right now, you are standing in the middle of your life in the midst of confusion. You are attempting to jump across a vast ocean in a single leap, while not noticing the stepping stones at your feet. The first stepping stone is to learn and practice zazen. I have many things to share with you, and we should do it face to face. Please come visit me and we can talk.”
After meeting Katagiri Roshi, Lee realized he had many things to learn before going to Japan. He moved to study with Katagiri Roshi that summer until Katagiri Roshi’s passing seven years later.
At Katagiri Roshi’s funeral, while assisting Rev. Yvonne Rand with the care of Roshi’s body during the three days of zazen, Lee decided to become a potter. In 1999, he moved to Japan where he apprenticed with a National Living Treasure in traditional pottery for three years and worked in his own studio in Japan for an additional five years. He is a studio potter now living in South Minneapolis. He visits South Korea and Japan frequently for research and study.
Visit orginal page here: http://www.hokyoji.org/leadership/
