IN MEMORIAM
Shi Yin Zhao, O.H.Y.1957 - 2008
On August 9th, our brother in the Dharma, Da Shi Yin Zhao, - to us just simply Mike - died while doing something he loved to do. He was running and likely had a heart attack. He ran at least five miles every day and he ran those miles in a place no power on earth could get him to leave: South Dakota. At any time of year he loved to be outdoors, "checking out nature," as he put it. We used to kid him about the weather, asking how many pair of snowshoes he went through in a season. He never would tell us. But he would inform us of his unavailability during vacation season: "We get 8 hours of summer every year." he'd say, "and I'll be playing golf for all of them."
Sometimes we're asked to name the facets of a person's character that reflect the most light. In Mike's character those would be humility and fidelity to commitment. When he first received instructions in the proper way to meditate, he followed the instructions exactly and achieved amazing success. He quickly passed through ordinary forms of meditation - the egoless peace; the suspension of sensory input, the visionary apprehension of the Platonic Ideal Forms, and so on. And then he experienced the higher states of Divine Union. With an eloquence few who knew him would recognize, he described the glorious perfection of God and the exquisite love and security of the divine embrace. The earth, he rhapsodized, had suddenly taken on a new beauty and he considered himself unworthy to have been so blessed to see it. I printed out those emails. They are the priceless artifacts of my thirty years in the Dharma. He continued his spiritual ascent, but these events we talked about in person or on the phone.
Michael was retired Air Force, a twenty year enlisted-man. He loved his country, probably because South Dakota was in it. His political views were conservative as we would expect; but he was not a man to talk casually about politics or even religion. He could answer a two page email with a single sentence or even a single word. Often he did not answer at all. He had ascended to extraordinary mystical heights and attempts were made to spy on his electronic correspondence. He would change his email address or disconnect his service; and then he'd let his kids use his computer for their school work. The nature of advanced spiritual states and techniques is such that first he necessarily deleted his personal files.