We published Alan's book, Turning Words: Transformative Encounters with Buddhist Teachers last year. Alan touched the hearts of all of us who worked with him. We share an apreciation of him that Susan Moon expressed in her foreword to Turning Words:
"Alan’s ongoing and unequivocal commitment to saving beings, within and without. I have been inspired by this commitment as I have witnessed it in Alan’s life, and again as it shows up in this book. Furthermore, he lets me see that his ability to make this commitment is a work in progress, as it must be with any human. Alan is never preachy. Not teachy, either. He’s the learner here, and this encourages me, because I’m learning too."
In an interview about the book with Publisher's Weekly, Alan related,
"I am encouraged by living and practicing in sangha—from the example of others and for the continuing opportunity to see the effect of my words and actions. I ask myself whether these words and actions tend towards harmony or division. Living in sangha—or community—involves engagement with others, which can be a stiff remedy for self-delusion."
In Turning Words, Alan wrote the following and includes his poem Mourning Doves:
"My dharma name is Kushiki, two pivotal characters in the Great Wisdom Beyond Wisdom Heart Sutra, which we chant every day. Ku translates as 'emptiness,' 'formlessness,' 'boundlessness.' Shiki is 'form' or 'color.' The Heart Sutra says, 'Form is not separate from emptiness; emptiness is not separate from form.'
...
I still go by the name Hozan, which is more conventionally Buddhist. But I have taken Kushiki to heart. The name is my teacher’s deep question. Can I manifest the form of Zen, moment by moment, without special rituals or clothes, using plain words? Can I embody formlessness, boundlessness, within the form of zazen, within my whole life? This work is never done."
Mourning Doves
Can’t you hear those lonesome doves?
Cooo-wee—woo woo wooo
Yes, I hear them
Mourning doves
Calling to each other
One east, one west
One higher in pitch, one a little lower
Two moons in the mind’s sky
While we sit at dawn
Morning light pierces the dark curtain
And these enchanting visitors speak
Sweet turning words
Right now—I am nothing but the doves’ call
40 turning words
Cooo-wee—woo woo wooo
Lost in a moment outside of time—Hozan Alan Senauke, April 2, 2022
We offer a deep bow to Alan and a life well-lived.
