So, who am I, that is writing? Firstly I want to say I don’t know. Not really. As I see it I am an expression of existence, of Life itself, one of all its myriad forms. And what is existence, really? Nobody knows. An unknowable mystery, as it seems.
On a more ordinary note I can obviously say something about how I appear in the world. My name is Dan Landgré and I am a father of two, psychologist, psychotherapist, partly retired, in a relationship and a zen buddhist monk. This last item since the 5’th of May 2017 when my abbot, Genpo Roshi, conducted the ceremony whereby I was ordained. And that is in turn a step on the path which in a way started more than 35 years ago when I read ’The three pillars of Zen’ by Philip Kapleau and started sitting in zazen, which is the zen buddhist form of meditation.
Soon after that, in 1982, I began studying at the University of Lund to become a psychologist. Both of these paths, zen and psychology, I believe grow out of an intense need to understand life, and especially myself. ’Civilization and its Discontent’, Sigmund Freud wrote back in 1929 and for me that was a lot of my life. I was wrestling with myself, with anxiety, lack of self-esteem and an intense stage-fright, that could surface even in small groups. It took me many years of seeking along different paths, many varieties of psychotherapy and a lot of meditation before I could find some peace with myself. Meeting Genpo Roshi was a defining turning point. Today I am very grateful to my life and generally happy with it.
PS: Eko, then, is my dharma-name, it means ’Light of Wisdom’ and is something to try to grow into. Genpo gave it to me in my Jukai-ceremony in 2011. Jukai is when you first take the buddhist precepts.