Rynick ’74 Writes Zen Memoir

David Rynick ‘74 is the author of This Truth Never Fails: A Zen Memoir in Four Seasons (Wisdom Publications). This intimate collection of short observations and reflections is a personal record of ongoing practice and study of the extraordinary experience we call ordinary life. Although the volume was written over a period of several years, the brief sections are arranged into the cycle of the seasons of a single year. Each piece stands alone but is also part of an overall narrative that involves leaving a home of 18 years and creating a Zen temple in a lovely old Victorian mansion.

The memoir includes a brief study guide for further inquiry, which offers opportunities for personal reflection and exploration on themes touched on in the book.

Rynick is a Zen teacher authorized in two lineages, a Korean Linji heritage and a Japanese Soto one. He is the resident teacher of the Boundless Way Zen Temple in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife, Melissa Myozen Blacker ’76, also a Zen teacher. Since 1991 he has worked as a life and leadership coach, providing faith-based coaching to individuals and peer coaching for clergy from diverse faiths.