To get a fresh perspective on Steve Jobs and Zen, I talked with Yamashita Ryōdō, one of the most influential spiritual figures in Japan today. © Nicolas Schossleitner Living Each Day Like One’s Last When Otogawa died in Switzerland at the age of 64, trying to save his drowning five-year-old daughter, Jobs was devastated. Unfortunately, there is no record of the questions and answers that passed between them.
Later, when Jobs was a wealthy man, he donated one of his houses to Otogawa and visited him there regularly. For Jobs-who liked to go barefoot at school and the office and was put on the night shift at Atari because he refused to shower-this freewheeling disdain for convention (both in his teachings and in his personal life) was probably a big part of Otogawa’s appeal.
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He drank and spent prolifically and shacked up with a series of women. Otogawa was not your typical Buddhist priest.
Jobs is thought to have heard Suzuki Shunryū lecture before the latter’s death, but the person who was to serve as his spiritual mentor for almost three decades was Otogawa Kōbun, a Niigata-born monk of the Sōtō school who had come to San Francisco to teach at Suzuki’s invitation. He also read extensively, of course, beginning with Ram Dass’s classic Be Here Now (1971), and moving on to Suzuki Shunryū’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (1970), which sparked a lifelong interest in Zen. As a 19-year-old college dropout, he traveled to India in search of the wisdom of the East, a kind of spiritual rite of passage for young adults of that generation. Put up for adoption immediately after birth, Steve Jobs was a spiritual seeker from an early age. But how did Steve Jobs come to Zen Buddhism? Zen Buddhism Meets Steve Jobs This, in a nutshell, is how Zen Buddhism came to the United States. The second was Suzuki Shunryū (1905–71), a Sōtō Zen priest who founded the San Francisco Zen Center and played a pivotal role in teaching and promoting the practice of zazen (Zen meditation) among Americans during the 1960s. The first was Suzuki Daisetsu (1870–1966), a scholar who dedicated himself to explaining Zen doctrine to Westerners through his lectures and English-language writings. Two Japanese figures, both named Suzuki, played a key role in introducing Americans to Zen. Interest in Zen began to develop in the West in the early twentieth century. The Sōtō and Rinzai schools of Zen took root during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) and spread during the Muromachi period (1333–1568) under the patronage of the Ashikaga shogunate. But by then, the Japanese monk Dōgen (1200–53) had journeyed to China and brought the sect’s teachings and practices back to Japan. Chan, as it was known in China, fell into decline during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Originating in southern India, it was brought to China (according to Chinese accounts) by the monk Bodhidharma, known in Japan as Daruma. Zen Buddhism is a sect of Mahayana Buddhism that focuses on the attainment of spiritual enlightenment through meditation. Suzuki), whose English-language books and essays brought Zen Buddhism to the attention of Westerners. In the following, I would like to look at some of the interconnections between Steve Jobs, Zen Buddhism, and Zen’s recent offshoot, mindfulness meditation Zen’s Global Journey This helped trigger a new wave of interest in Zen specifically and meditation in general that has swept through the West and, ironically, begun making its way back to Japan. But Jobs’s influence on the world did not stop there.Īmid the surge of interest in Jobs’s life and work that followed his death, the media began to highlight the impact of his Zen training under the Japanese master Otogawa Kōbun (1938– 2002).
The name of Steve Jobs is synonymous in many minds with such groundbreaking consumer products as user-friendly personal computers, iPods, and iPhones. Among the millions mourning the death of this unique genius and visionary was Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who conveyed his deep respect for his long-time rival in a statement saying, “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.” Five years ago, on October 5, 2011, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs lost his battle with cancer.
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