Seeing One Thing Through

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.