Zen do tei jun dai shi / Zen way, faith, refined naturalness
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Ananda Dahlenberg, Della Goertz, Betty Warren
July 11, 1913 – Feb 5, 2012
Della, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, was 99 1/2. She was one of Suzuki Roshi’s early students at Sokoji Temple in San Francisco and lived in City Center’s 340 Page Street building for many years.
An excerpt from a letter from Della on Suzuki Roshi, posted on cuke.com:
“In almost every talk Suzuki Roshi encouraged us to have faith and confidence in our Buddha Nature. What was wonderful about Suzuki Roshi is that he thought I was wonderful. Everyone had that same feeling. You felt he was there just for you.
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Della in the early days at Zen Center
“He autographed Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind with the character ‘Harmony.’ I said that would be an inspiration for me to have harmony in my life. He said, ‘You don’t have to worry.’ Such confidence! As I left him I always went away feeling special for having been in his presence. ‘We love the great ones, because they bring out the greatness in us.’ Suzuki Roshi was a great teacher because he could see the Buddha nature in us.”