"Gradually we begin to realize there is a Something. That Something was there before we were born, before our present formation, and it will still be there after oiur transformation. It is constantly active. We think that that Something is somewhere else but the fact is, that Something of beginningless beginnings and endless ends, boundless, mysterious, is centered here in ourselves." This book is about the Something, our Buddha Nature, the ultimate Reality. What is this essence of life? How can we experience it? Why is it so important to do this? What effect will this experience have in our daily lives? For these Points of Departure, we can enter and continue the study and practice of Zen with a firm step. Eido Tai Shimano (嶋野 栄道) (b. 1932) is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist roshi. He was the founding abbot of the New York Zendo Shobo-Ji in Manhattan and Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-Ji monastery in the Catskill mountains of New York.