Zen Is Right Here

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70 - okesa

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One Saturday morning a student arrived late for the beginning of a sesshin. He was Suzuki Roshi's first ordained student to wear the traditional priest’s robe, the okesa, in America. After breakfast Suzuki took him to task in his office saying, "Priests don't arrive late! You're no priest! You have no right to wear that okesa!"

The student was mortified and started to take off his robe.

"What are you doing?" said Suzuki. "No one has the right to tell you to take off the okesa."

p.73. Grahame Petchey, Sokoji, 1964.