Sando Kaisen

Alain Kaisen Krystaszek was born in Noyon in the Oise department in 1952.

He spent the first years of his childhood in the darkness of factory fumes and frequent arguments at home. From the age of six, he yearned for peace, which he found only in the solitude of the Compiègne forest surrounding his home town. He left the forest when his father decided to take him to his native Poland. There he received a strict upbringing from his authoritarian Communist grandmother, and the repressive atmosphere of the regime at the time continued to give him painful impressions of incomprehension.

As he grew up, he wondered more and more about the wickedness and stupidity of mankind, the exact opposite of what his childhood heart felt. However, the Christian education he received in Poland while serving an elderly bishop seemed to provide him with the beginnings of an answer, and when he returned to France he became a caretaker at Noyon Cathedral and a guide at the museum where John Calvin lived. He even considered becoming a priest.

But other questions arise within him: he cannot accept that peace and happiness of spirit can only exist within the four walls of a church, and that outside, the world is nothing but suffering and ignorance.

Pursuing his quest, the young man travelled from community to community. As a musician, he won prizes for drumming and then played drums in several rock and blues bands to earn a living. From 1968 to 1972, oriental philosophy was booming. Fascinated by the martial arts he had learned from Caucasian teachers in Poland and Russia, he decided to travel to China to practise at source. A veritable voyage of initiation, this long journey, which he made alone and on foot, took him through the Himalayas and Communist China, to a small monastery lost in the mountains of Waifangshan.

There he practised kung fu and meditation under the guidance of a very old Chinese master who also taught him the rudiments of traditional medicine.

On his return to Paris, he met up again with Master Taisen Deshimaru, with whom he had practised a few zazen sessions at Monsieur Joli's dojo in Gretz.

He finally recognised him as a living example of what he had always sought, and chose to become his disciple. With him, and thanks to zazen, he found confirmation of what he had always believed: that an inner quest should be accessible to everyone. That the answer cannot be philosophical, mystical, esoteric, moral or even divine. That if there is a common light, it must shine on all sentient beings, without distinction, and that it cannot remain the exclusive preserve of a few high priests, gurus or masters, any more than it can remain the exclusive preserve of the monasteries of tradition and sacred texts. As practising with the body has always seemed essential to him, he quickly came to understand that the secret of being lies in the reality of the body, and not in any imaginary spirituality.

In 1977, he received the bodhisattva ordination and, in 1979, the monk ordination from his master, and was born into his new dimension as a monk under the name Sando Kaisen: "solitary hermit in the deep mountain of satori".

He then devoted himself entirely to practising and teaching the zazen posture, while studying arts such as ikebana, calligraphy and bonsai care. He practised Chinese medicine for nearly twenty years, and refined his art of kung fu while teaching it, until he realised that silent sitting surpassed any other practice, even when taken to its fulfilment. It was then that he gave up martial arts for good.

Overflowing with energy, he attracted more and more disciples around him, creating various associations and building multiple 'dojos' to practise zazen.

In 1990, he returned to Eastern Europe to develop the Zen teachings passed on by his master.

Free from any organisation, his authenticity, outspokenness and determination soon made him popular in the very heart of Christianity, in Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. He teaches the posture of zazen and the Awakening that leads beyond all human fabrications, that touches the essence of life and death by undoing fears, excessive moralism and everything that can imprison a being in search of an answer.

He often says in his talks: "In fact, there is no answer to give, because the answer is in each moment of life. It's just a question. And if that question is sincere, it contains within itself the answer."

Invited by a major spiritual family that is growing every year, he has given many lectures, taken part in symposiums and met leading figures from all walks of life.
He speaks in political and scientific circles as well as in cultural and religious circles. The media (television, press and radio) relayed his message and naturally made him famous by the growing success of his public appearances.

He took his master's Zen to Russia and the Ukraine. A temple comes to life in Georgia.
His fame surprises even him, for all he has ever done is respond to the calls of those who approach him. Some fifteen of his books have been published in these countries, including several in-depth works in which he tackles the major issues of our time in a straightforward manner, providing concrete, enlightened answers.

He did not hesitate to settle the question of the equality of men and women, which had been debated since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, by allowing his female disciples to perform ceremonies and become Zen masters on an equal footing with men.

An educator, builder and missionary, he created a European Zen, a much-needed revival of the militaristic Japanese tradition.

In France, surrounded by his closest and oldest disciples, he initiated the construction of a monastery in 1992. From a former jewellery factory, he created a place dedicated to the practice of zazen: the Sermon de la Rivière monastery, located on the banks of the Auvezère river, in the heart of the Périgord region. The style of the place is unique, integrating Slavic sensibility and Japanese rigour into the local architecture. The monastery welcomes Zen monks and nuns for training, who come to practise zazen with him. Here, as elsewhere, he passes on to all those who approach him the heart of his teaching, which is to look at reality as it is, with spontaneity, freshness and newness. Just with your heart.

Artist, musician, cook or botanist... His teaching takes on all aspects and adapts to the circumstances. In addition to the traditional kusens (improvised teachings during zazen) and mondos (questions and answers between master and disciples), his message is sometimes heard in songs that he composes and performs. But he also says that nothing is subject to teaching, because what is seen with the heart needs no teaching. That to seek freedom is totally wrong, and that there is no way to obtain it. That freedom, like Love, is nothing other than the expression of the pure jewel that illuminates everything. All you have to do is be alive, be creative, and let spontaneity spring forth from the natural, sincere impulse that dwells within each of us.

In 2005, the Sangha bought a site in the Périgord Noir, near Belvès, and set up a new centre called the Pic Lumineux, which welcomes disciples from six countries every two months.

It transmits only one thing "from my soul to your soul": to break through the shell of habit and certainty that imprisons our being in order to touch and realise the Way, which is pure consciousness, which is in all things.

He travelled to Japan several times, accompanied on his last trip by his disciple Tomek Dabrowski and the Zen master Rinzai Ejun Iechika.

They are received by Roshi Honda, a former disciple of Kodo Sawaki, in the temple of Zuiseki-Ji in Shizuoka.

They visit Kyushu in the company of Honda Roshi and Shizuya Ishi Roshi.

Then, in the company of Honda Teki Hu, they travel to Tokyo to the temple of Sengaku-ji where they meet Kosaka Kiyu Roshi, head of Transmission (Shiho) at the temples of Eihei-ji and Soji-ji, a specialist in the teaching of Shiho rules and ceremonies.

Then there's a meeting at Eihei-ji temple with Kuroyanagi, the temple secretary, and Matsunaga Roshi, whom they meet at the Soto-Shu administrative centre.

Twice, Sando Kaisen refused the Shiho offered to him, Kosaka Kiyu, who had supported Master Taisen Deshimaru's mission, having told him: "It is useless to beg for Shiho in Japan. Many have done so, but you don't need it. You followed a great Master and the ordination you received from Taisen Deshimaru is the only true transmission.

Next up was a trip to the sources in the Saga region and a visit to the Myozen-Ji where Dogen Kigen stayed before his departure for China.

Then a night ceremony north of Kyoto at the former site of the Antai-JI temple, Kodo Sawaki temple.

After a final visit to the Jodo-Shinshu and Nihonzan Myoho-Ji temples at the home of the Reverend Myoshin Imanaka, we return to Gifu and Fukui.

Its website "le zen de kaisen" provides information on forthcoming events and retreat dates.