“These short discourses by an old Zen priest facing his possible imminent death are relaxed and friendly in tone. They speak directly to the heart of human suffering, the confusion that comes from not understanding what is clearly available for us to feel directly and be liberated. It is a book I keep on my bedside table, at close hand when I need a dose of encouragement.” —Sylvia Boorstein, cofounding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center and author of Happiness Is an Inside Job
“Life is amazing when we step out of our thoughts, our selves, and become the mystery alive to itself. With kindness and Zen directness, Yoshin David Radin opens the gate of simplicity and invites us to live here, awake, free.” —Jack Kornfield, author of No Time Like the Present
“‘You should find your salvation by becoming bored with your suffering...if you can be alone with yourself, you can be comfortable anywhere.’ With such unexpected and unpretentious teachings, Yoshin David Radin makes Zen completely available. A Temporary Affair is a treasure house of comforting wisdom, a book you’ll go back to again and again to undo the tangles in your mind.” —Norman Fischer, poet, Zen priest, and author of The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path
“This is a wonderful book. It is simple. It is clear. There are poetic moments. But, bottom line, Yoshin David Radin speaks to us from the heart of the matter. Here is a Zen life as an authentic life. I highly recommend it.” —James Ishmael Ford, author of Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons
“With warmth, humor, and gentle authority, Zen teacher Yoshin David Radin shares the fruits of decades of intimacy with the mind to invite us home to the heart. His very real proximity to his own death charges these dharma talks with a kind of tender beauty that touched me to my core.” —Mirabai Starr, author of Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics and God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
“Do we really need another book on Buddhism? YES! But only if that book and collection of talks is Yoshin David Radin’s A Temporary Affair. Sitting with this book is like sitting with a roshi and having the wisdom within you mirrored back to you in a way that shatters everything that keeps you from knowing who you are and aren’t. Read this book slowly. The talks may be casual, but the truth is anything but.” —Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author of The Tao of Solomon: Unlocking the Perennial Wisdom of Ecclesiastes and Judaism Without Tribalism: A Guide to Being a Blessing to All the Peoples of the Earth
“This is a collection of genuine teachings from the heart that resonate with an authenticity that comes from Yoshin David Radin’s many years of practice. It is both profound and practical, a fine line that few Zen teachers are able to walk.” —Hal Roth, professor of religious studies and director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University
“Reading these talks by Yoshin David Radin is sharing one’s life with a wise and kind old friend. With his gentle words he dissolves the ridges of the boundaries we presume in our life. With simple words and common images Yoshin shares his experience of dissolving distracted mind, and thereby reveals the boundless heart that is our common unity.” —Seiju Bob Mammoser, senior teacher at the Albuquerque Zen Center
“Yoshin David Radin shares with all of us his deep insight. He knows what it means to take up the study and practice of Zen. He offers a way to live life through the clear lens of reality, and his words reflect those of Huang Po: ‘the ignorant reject what they see, not what they think; the wise reject what they think, not what they see.’ Yoshin has a poignant insider’s view. It should open many a wayfarer’s eyes.” —Hwalson Sunim, abbot of the Detroit Zen Center
“Reading this book of Yoshin’s simple, elegant Zen teachings, tears come—tears of gratitude for his generous encouragement, tears that recognize what is deeply true. He teaches us to sit and walk in courage, humility, and grace, as long as we live.” —Trudy Goodman, founding teacher at InsightLA
“In this very clear, straightforward and helpful guide to Zen meditation, Yoshin David Radin is generous and welcoming in his approach to the dharma. He is also strong in insisting on the temporary nature of this reality and nonpermanent self. Dharma practice is seen by Yoshin as a spiritual path to uncover our own true nature, which is profoundly good and unified with all that exists.
“While not religious, this view echoes mystical teachings in many traditions. I was especially moved by the healing of Yoshin’s relationship with his orthodox Jewish mother on her deathbed when she says to him, ‘You’ve been living in heaven these past few years, haven’t you?’ This is a poignant moment and testimony to the dharma practice.” —Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, author of God Loves the Stranger
“In this book, those who are investigating the human condition will find a cornucopia of food for thought and heartwarming expression shared by a fellow human, well versed in living and equally adept in dying. Yoshin’s students collected these talks and made them available to us with his help. Great hearts sharing: Wonderful!” —Dokurō R. Jaeckel, abbot of Charles River Zen Center
“If you’re reading this, you’ve found something very special. There are many individuals who, from the generosity and wisdom of their insights, attempt to share their hard-won understanding with others. The challenge is that Zen insights don’t pack easily into language and the results often read like cliché. I recommend that you keep this book by your bedside and savor a few pages each night. You will experience the delight of finding something very subtle captured in words. The articulation found in this collection is a humble gift.” —Jerry Mirskin, poet, professor at Ithaca College, and author of Crepuscular Non Driveway
“Yoshin was experiencing life-threatening health issues while giving talks in A Temporary Affair, which adds great poignancy to his words, as if to say: ‘This is real; I’m not kidding around.’ Yet despite his stark confrontation with mortality, he conveys dharma wisdom with a lightness of heart and gentle humor that is astounding and extremely useful for any of us who plan to die at some point.
“As someone who thought he was possibly approaching the end of life, this is not merely a nice, spiritual idea; it was Yoshin’s potentially final offering of love and compassion, a much-needed reminder that there is a way out for all of us.” —Eliezer Sobel, author of Minyan: Ten Jewish Men in a World That Is Heartbroken, and The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist’s Misadventures
