Seeing One Thing Through The Zen Life and Teachings of Sojun Mel Weitsman

A young painter, coming of age in San Francisco’s bohemian 1950s, meets his teacher—Shunryu Suzuki, a pivotal figure in Buddhist America—and dedicates his life to continuing Suzuki Roshi’s teachings

Seeing One Thing Through begins with a series of biographical memories and reflections going back to Mel Weitsman’s boyhood in Southern California, his coming of age as an artist and a seeker in the vibrant San Francisco of 1950s, and encountering Zen in the person of one remarkable teacher, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. From that moment, and for nearly sixty years after, Sojun’s life took the direct path of Zen—as a student, as a teacher, and as one of the first generation of American Zen masters. The larger portion of the book is a collection of Sojun Mel Weitsman’s edited talks, his articulation of “ordinary mind,” and his strong belief that Zen as a way of life is available to all.

SOJUN MEL WEITSMAN grew up in Southern California. He became one of the first Americans to train with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. In 1967, he founded a zendo in Berkeley which, under Suzuki’s guidance, became the Berkeley Zen Center. As Abbott of Berkeley Zen Center, he practiced and taught there for fifty five years. Sojun Mel Weitsman died at home in January of 2021, leaving more than thirty dharma heirs, and hundreds of devoted students.