Roland Rech
Roland Rech
1944 – 2024
Roland Yuno Rech, born in 1944, is one of the most senior and prolific Soto Zen teachers in Europe. He began practicing with Taisen Deshimaru in 1972 and became one of his closest students, receiving ordination and eventually dharma transmission. After Deshimaru's death in 1982, Rech continued his training in Japan and emerged as one of the principal teachers responsible for carrying the European Soto lineage forward. He leads the Nice Zen Dojo and teaches sesshin across France and Europe.
Rech is distinguished by his deep engagement with Dogen's Shobogenzo, which he has studied, commented on, and taught for decades. His kusen—oral teachings given during zazen in the tradition established by Deshimaru—draw extensively on Dogen's philosophy, making these dense and challenging texts accessible to contemporary practitioners. He has published numerous books in French, including commentaries on the Shobogenzo, the Sandokai, and the practice of zazen. His teaching emphasizes the inseparability of practice and awakening, the importance of the correct posture of the body as an expression of the mind of Buddha, and the practice of concentration and observation during zazen. Rech represents the maturation of European Soto Zen from its pioneering phase into a tradition with genuine philosophical depth and contemplative rigor.
Teachings
- proverbLetting Go Is Not Giving Up
Letting go is not giving up. It is opening your hands and letting life be what it is.
- proverbZazen Is a Mirror
Zazen is like a mirror that reflects everything without judgment. In this mirror, you can see yourself as you truly are.
- sermonBody and Mind Are One in Zazen
In zazen, body and mind are not separate. When you straighten the spine, you straighten the mind. When you let the breath settle naturally, the thoughts settle naturally. This is why Dogen placed such emphasis on the posture—not as a physical exercise, but as the concrete expression of awakening. The body sitting in zazen is not the container of the mind; it is the mind itself, made visible. To sit with the correct posture, in complete presence, is to realize the unity of body and mind that we call Buddha.
- sayingAlways Returning to the Present Moment
The practice of zazen is very simple: always returning to the present moment. When you notice that you have been carried away by your thoughts, you come back to the posture, the breathing, the present reality. This return is not a failure—it is the practice itself. Each time you return, you are practicing the fundamental gesture of awakening: letting go of illusion and coming back to what is real.
Master Record Sources
1944-2024
Roland Rech
Soto
Taisen Deshimaru