A Zen Center Trip to the Movies

I first experienced Dae Soen Sa Nim (Zen Master Seung Sahn) around 1977 when I was listening to the radio show “In the Spirit” hosted by Lex Hixon on WBAI. It felt like the energy of a wild animal that was barely contained by the studio walls; it was thrilling! Listeners were invited to call in to ask the zen master questions, so of course I called in. I don’t remember what I said to Dae Soen Sa Nim, but suddenly I heard him say: “I hit you 30 times!” Shocked, I stammered some reply. He finished his 1-2 punch with: “I hit you 60 times!!” I was hooked! Shortly after, I went to the Chogye Center for the first time and never looked back.

Back in the late 70’s, I knew that Dae Soen Sa Nim was a fan of sci-fi films from his frequent queries to questioners at his talks, particularly those who wanted to engage him in intellectual discussions of the meaning of Zen. He suddenly would roar: “Have you seen Star Wars?” If the shocked questioner answered in the affirmative, he delivered the second part of his 1-2 punch: “Have you seen Star Warsthirty times??” (This seemed to work even better than the more traditional “Katz!!!” for stopping the ongoing flow of conceptual thought.)

I had the idea that it would be fun for Dae Soen Sa Nim and anyone from the Chogye Zen Center who felt like joining to take a group trip to the movies. The sci-fi film The Final Countdown was playing in theaters right then, so I asked Soen Sa Nim and he said he would like to go. I don’t remember who, but one of the Center members had access to a pick-up truck with a roomy cargo bed, so this took care of our transportation.

The afternoon for our excursion arrived. The weather was balmy, and we climbed into the back of the truck. Dae Soen Sa Nim rode shotgun next to the driver, resplendent in his gray robe and a straw hat. We rode through the streets of Manhattan, and even not-usually-surprised New Yorkers stared at our open truck, us riding in the back and a berobed Zen Master up front smiling broadly and genially waving from his rolled down window.

 We arrived at the movie theater and purchased our tickets. (No buying online ahead of time in 1980!) The basic story in The Final Countdown, starring Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen, involves the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier U.S.S. Nimitz leaving Pearl Harbor for naval exercises in the mid-Pacific, where it runs into a mysterious electrically-charged vortex. As it passes through the vortex, all radio equipment goes dead; the captain and crew eventually learn that they have been sucked through a time portal back to the day just prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The captain of the nuclear aircraft carrier is then faced with the momentous decision of  whether to destroy the Japanese fleet and alter the course of history in myriad unknown ways, or to stand by and allow history to proceed as we all know it.

 At the movie’s climax, Dae Soen Sa Nim suddenly thrust both his arms into the air, shaping each of his hands into the traditional position of a make-believe pistol, and began shouting out the sounds of a make-believe gun, loudly and repeatedly. Some people near us turned around and responded: “Shhh!!” For me, that afternoon was one of the most memorable and fun times of my life!!