David
An Obituary for David Chadwick
It is about the hardest thing, to write an obituary for a lifetime friend. Dear David, this is for you:
You were just looking at me, from that chair across the room. Now you are gone.
Both, gone and not gone! Somehow still here, working, laughing.
David, you actually listened to Suzuki Shunryu Roshi. You listened and you were able to hear him,
his teachings, the ways in which he changed our lives.
And it was you, who got so many others to listen to him deeply. You are one of the Founders of the ‘Suzuki Roshi Lineage’.
You are one of the Founders of the ‘San Francisco Zen Center’. And you are one of the Founders of the ‘Dharma Sangha’,
Crestone Mountain Zen Center and the Zen Buddhist Center Schwarzwald (in Germany).
You are the author of the ‘Crooked Cucumber’, the biographical lineage of Suzuki Roshi in Japan and in the United States.
And since Suzuki Roshi died, you have put a huge effort in developing this community, and making everyone feel connected.
It’s the way to create a lineage. You gave us a way to continue with him.
David, I really wanted you to stay alive. Now, you are gone. David Chadwick gave so much to everyone who knew him.
‘Crooked Cucumber’. ‘Tassajara Stories’. I will read them all again.
Your friend,
Zentatsu