"Tangen Roshi saw a Buddha in everyone and everything. He treated those he encountered in this way without differentiating between big and small, important and not important, enlightened and deluded. Yet at the same time, Tangen Roshi would tirelessly guide his students to what he himself realized, demanding of them to give their all to their practice, just as he did. No matter if someone stayed in Bukkoku-ji for 30 years or just for one day, everybody was struck by his living example of Bodhisattva life. Since the readers of this book in the West will most likely be Zen or Buddhist practitioners, the talks presented here are mostly excerpts taken from teisho given to students at retreats. As these teisho were intended to be an encouragement for the whole day of practice, it might be that instead of reading this book in a day or two from beginning to end, the best way of engaging with these teachings would be to read one talk at a time, reflect on it, and put it into practice"-- Provided by publisher.