“Jōshū Sasaki was one of a small handful of mid-twentieth century Japanese Zen masters who left their home culture to devote their lives to Zen students in the West. Thick and compact as a bowling ball, he kept to a rigorous Zen routine well past his 100th birthday, having spent more than half his life teaching in America. Part round-and-round explanation, part patient demonstration, informal, challenging, compassionate, improvised, his energetic sesshin (retreat) talks inspired generations of students, expressing Sasaki’s unique approach to a lively tradition as it was being established on new ground. Although his last years were marred by the surfacing of long-standing allegations of sexual misconduct, which caused pain to many, his words—here recorded and wonderfully edited and introduced by his senior disciples—clearly express the Dharma gift he crossed the ocean to give.”