About the Project

Long ago, I had originally conceived this project as a single book, the story of Appamada, a contemporary Zen community. Flint and I talked about it for a long while, but we were both very busy and it had to wait. It began to actually take shape in 2022. That fall I was invited to join the first of two Tracking Wonder Inner Circle groups led by Jeffrey Davis, which truly launched this project, energized the writing, and provided support and inspiration for its two first years, in which I drafted and laid out the first 10 chapters. As part of that effort, to provide other perspectives, memories, and reflections I created a studio, where participants could read and comment on the writing as it was unfolding, and contribute their own reflections and images for possible inclusion in the whole. Meanwhile, our Depth in Practice group has been reading it with keen eyes and offering precise feedback. It’s been slow, mindful work, but very rewarding! It’s ironic that this book, Not Two, has ended up as two books that are really one. On the Credits page you can see how many people contributed to this work.

These were the original goals for this project:

  1. Provide a record of the evolution and development of Appamada, a unique contemporary Zen community, from its origins as a tiny sitting group in Austin, Texas, to an established sangha with affiliated sanghas in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, and the UK.

  2. Provide an “operating manual” that supports and guides and heartens these sanghas in their ongoing evolution, making wise decisions, acting for the benefit of all beings, and fostering sangha relationships based on the principles and processes we’ve established.

  3. Provide an introduction to Appamada for newcomers.

  4. Offer resources, ideas, inspiration, and scaffolding for other small spiritual communities so that they can evolve and grow as healthy ecosystems for spiritual development, both individually and collectively, as a community.

Now I believe it is most important as one account—a case study— of a Zen sangha in a time of transition for Zen in the West, a history told from the inside out. I hope to encourage other sanghas to gather their own accounts, their own autobiographies of their sanghas. In that way we may provide more “first-person” historical accounts of the evolution of Zen in the West, and also, by sharing our experiences, practices, and challenges, we can grow in wisdom and clarity, together.

—Peg Syverson