Much has already been said of David’s archiving work so I would like to acknowledge another dimension where I feel he has been instrumental in the effortless turning of the wheel of Dharma.

David is a person of unique social abilities. He was a networker before the word was ever invented. I remember at Zen Center he always seemed to know everybody and treated people equally and non-judgmentally. When I first came to Page Street in 1972 I saw David walking the halls with Katagiri Roshi chatting in Japanese. When Edward Conze came to give a talk, there was David close by. When Paul Reps showed up it was David showing him around. When Yatsutani Roshi floated in wearing golden robes again, it was David chatting him up in Japanese. When Taj Mahal came to Tassajara with his family, it was David giving him the guided tour.

When ZC first bought Tassajara there were a few ornery ranchers nearby who viewed us Zennies as a bunch of city slickers, hippies and weirdos who had intruded on their turf. Bill Lambert was one of those ranchers and a dangerous man. Lambert would drink alone and slide into a dark place. He would pick up his six-gun and shoot holes in the interior walls of his house. From time to time, David would drop by Lambert’s ranch and have a few drinks with him. I guess Lambert was actually lonely because this won him over as an ally to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

I could go on, but I think it’s sufficient to say that not only is David a renowned Zen failure, but he is also the un-appointed un-official ambassador of Zen. So I’m going to stop here and urge you all to contribute to the best of your ability. Together we will nurture this wonderful gift that Suzuki Roshi brought to America and together we will keep the Buddha dharma living for future generations.

Andrew Atkeison … Kyoto 2/17/2020

 Then from a follow-up email after I wrote Andrew and said that was most kind of him but it's too much me and not about Cuke which is much more than me - it's all of us. And I suggested a few things and said something about how much he's done for me, how generous he's been and he wrote:

What you didn't say is all that you have done for me. I also didn’t say what all you have done for me. 1st … and most importantly, you introduced me to “Ichi Tozen” [Tozen Akiyama) who quietly accepted me as his student and then cut off my bird finger compassionately but without anesthetic … thus causing momentary kensho … 2nd you continued to be my friend during my days as an egotistical asshole … without ever wavering. 3rd … you lent my your car at Tassajara when Ria was about to die from seizures … I had never driven a car that new … and we drove out over the Tassajara road in the night when it was snowing … and stayed in Carmel valley with the swinger doctor and his wife … sleeping on their swinger waterbed which felt like surfing while trying to sleep. 4th … uh oh … I’m having a Rick Perry moment … no seriously David … ours has been a true friendship. I should be your biographer … but then it would just be a pulp novel instead an elegant Zen tome.

As Katrinka says, it obviously comes from your heart. [She said what he wrote was from his heart] Yeah … thank Katrinka for her opinion … in the last few years I’ve begun to realize that the heart gives truer information than the mind does. As you probably already know … the word Shin, as in Maka hanya haramita Shin gyo … means both heart and mind simultaneously.