FATHER & SON CONVERSATIONS
Special online film series “Father & Son Conversations” are available for purchase. Your purchase of films supports and sustains SMZC. The series of short films were made during the temple closure in 2020 and 2021 by an independent filmmaker Tim Zenun (禅雲) Metzger, received jukai (Zen Cloud) from Kwong-roshi in 2009 and our long time sangha member since 2002. We hope you enjoy the father and son conversations.
Beyond A Dream: Father & Son Conversations - Part II (42 min)
Join us for part II of the “Beyond A Dream: Father & Son Conversations” film featuring an intimate conversation between a father and a son. Learn what they can teach us how to live in a troubled world. Find out how we can benefit from something negative, coming out of the darkness of this pandemic and seeing the light. They reflect on what has happened and what is happening. Discover how continuous practice helps all of us come into a full circle and return to now.
$20 for Your Own Copy
Online purchase is a two-step process:
1. Purchase Online on PayPal
2. Download Video on Vimeo
​
The online payment uses PayPal. A PayPal account is not required to pay online; PayPal accepts credit cards without the creation of an account. After purchasing your admission ticket, you will be taken to the video download page.
Blue Mountain White Cloud Father
White Cloud Blue Mountain Son
White Clouds intermingling all day long, while
Blue Mountain completely don’t know
—Tozan Ryokai Zenji
SMZC Genjo-ji sign installation (Roshi with students at the front gate) in 1975
Nyoze’s first visit to the Suzuki-roshi’s family temple Rinso-in in the winter of 1978-- Nyoze (right) with Hoitsu Suzuki-roshi’s two daughters Kaiyoko and Narumi under the kotatsu (heater covered by blanket) for Kwong-roshi’s transmission ceremony
%20-%20Part%20ll.png)
%20-%20Part%20ll.png)
It was very good with beautiful photos of family and teachers and wonderful stories. Your teaching was there as clear as usual, and I can't say it too often how grateful I am for that. This project is admirable, and to put it all together is really great work. I´m very thankful for that not only for myself but for all zen students and also for the next generation of zen students. Through the years, Roshi has been teaching us in so many ways to open our mind and see, not only one side. We need both feet in waking.
—Kimyo Helga Jóakimsdóttir
​
I thought the film was incredible. Thank you for all you do to keep the spirit of Suzuki-Roshi’s teaching alive!
—Kevin ‘Shindo’ Souza
Part ll was excellent. I really enjoyed the history of Roshi and the center. I don't know why, but at the end when the closing chant was done, I teared up heavily, not with sadness but with great joy. Thank you so much for your support, Roshi.
—Dan ‘Kajin’ Landault
Part I was good but Part II affected me deeply. I don’t know if it is the right word to describe it, but I was so incredibly proud of Roshi. How he puts everything into it, his whole life strength. It was the poem about the blue mountain not knowing….every time in dokusan how he can just BE THERE for each person, over and over. Being without. Roshi has clearly demonstrated this over and over through all the years I have had the privilege to witness his example.
—Susan ‘Gesshin’ Frey
​
I loved it, and I found it very meaningful. It gave me so much to think about. These films are really thought provoking. I think I enjoyed the second one even more than the first. The dialogue and historical reflection gave me a real feeling for the origin and development of Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. I've thought about it all day! This film is a treasure.
—Jennifer Johnston
Beyond A Dream: Father and Son Conversations - Part I (37 minutes)
This film is dedicated to Suzuki-roshi’s 50th anniversary of his passing and transmission of this sacred lineage. It's also to celebrate Vesak (International Buddha’s Birthday) together with our worldwide sangha and to mark our transition into reopening and returning to our on-site practice.
$20 for Your Own Copy
Online purchase is a two-step process:
1. Purchase Online on PayPal
2. Download Video on Vimeo
In "Father and Son Conversations" two contemporary Buddhas discuss, share, question, and rest in the "Inconceivable" .... These Buddhas are son and father Zen priests, and the film records their dialogue about their personal history and about how meditation found them and called them forth to teach.
—Genzen Ed Cadman
​
These two episodes were a rich conversation about the way-seeking path of a great teacher...and new ways to understand the pain of the pandemic as a container for transformation. Watching this dialogue inspires me to practice.
—Annie 'Seiken' Hammang
The videos, photographs and stories took me into a sacred glimpse of the beginnings of Zen in the west...as I witnessed this living and unbroken lineage since the time of the Buddha. I felt my mind and body quiet and my heart open in new ways as I received their profound teachings—a rare and precious gift!
—Laury 'Gensho' Rappaport
​
If you are curious about the authentic practice of Zen, wish to deactivate your mind, and see things as they are, then the intimate and profound reflections shared between Roshi and Nyoze will help you find the way.
—Megan Backus
