About Jim Redel
Every path begins somewhere, but how is it that the Zen path seems to get started before you realize you’ve already taken the first step?
Mine began in 1974 at the University of Illinois with a paperback that was circulating widely at the time: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I struggled through about half of it, didn’t like it much, and understood it even less—but something about it lodged itself firmly enough to launch a lifetime of search.
Fifteen years later, in 1989, that search brought me to the Albuquerque Zen Center and to Seiju Bob Mammoser. For the first time, Zen was no longer an idea, a book, or a fleeting experience. It was a practice—one that required structure, discipline, and the willingness to sit still long enough to meet one’s own mind.
Shortly after that, I began a formal study with the Zen master Joshu Sasaki. I trained with Sasaki for nearly twenty years, until his retirement in 2012 at the age of 105. And over that time, I engaged in over a dozen sesshin (7-day silent retreats), countless thousands of hours of practice, and several hundred sanzen (koan sessions with Sasaki).
And the result of all this? The Last Turtle: Zero and the Search For Effective Zen
Happy to get your comments and answer your questions. Email me at zenoptimism505@gmail.com