B is one of those high school teachers they make Hollywood movies about. You know the type, a slightly zany offbeat teacher with unconventional classroom etiquette wins over his students with unfettered acceptance, sincere honesty, and a wry sense of humor. He cleverly abides by the rules of the school, yet somehow jumps through the hoops in his own way, all the while creating a space where misfit, outcast, or otherwise ‘alternative’ students find solace, companionship, and even—often against their own will—education.

Looking back on it now, I took B’s classroom for granted. No matter my troubles, my mood, my listlessness, or my rambunctiousness I would saunter into his classroom plop down on the couch and assuredly find an atmosphere equally casual and engaging, buzzing but without bluster. B was just as likely to be laughing at a comic strip with other students, quietly reading a book of poetry to himself, or pottering around in his Birkenstocks (with knitted wool socks :) watering potted plants on the windowsill. Being in his classroom didn’t feel like being in school.

B taught by example, by being genuinely curious about the world around him. That type of curiosity can’t be bought, faked, or borrowed and no one knows that better than an angsty adolescent high schooler…which is why he was so popular among them. If you don’t learn to enjoy what you’re doing than what’s the point? And maybe that’s what B taught us best, how to enjoy learning. My years in SWS would not have been the same without him, nor would my bookshelf hold as many collections of poetry as it does today.

Oh, and I feel privileged that my time in high school coincided with B’s courageous attempt to bring his laid-back aficionado atmosphere to the general public via the Plucking Monkey Cafe. Perhaps he was ahead of of his time, but for his student admirers it was inspiring to see him tackle such a daunting undertaking with unfaltering charm…I still don’t know much about tea, but I never enjoyed it more than in his cafe.

We’ll miss you dude, thanks for B’ing.

At 8:30 pm, Salem Zen Center dedicated their Heart Sutra to Doug Blankensop. This is a chant often offered when someone passes. It is also a very beautiful sutra our father chanted when practicing or meditating. We do not have a recording of the center's chant. Instead, here is a video of the Heart Sutra very similar to the Salem Zen Center's version.  May his soul find peace in the next life. 

The Heart Sutra

The Maha

Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutra

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

when practicing deeply the Prajna Paramita

perceives that all five skandhas are empty

and is saved from all suffering and distress.

Shariputra,

form does not differ from emptiness,

emptiness does not differ from form.

That which is form is emptiness,

that which is emptiness form.

The same is true of feelings,

perceptions, impulses, consciousness.

Shariputra,

all dharmas are marked with emptiness;

they do not appear or disappear,

are not tainted or pure,

do not increase or decrease.

Therefore, in emptiness no form, no feelings,

perceptions, impulses, consciousness.

No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind;

no color, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch,

no object of mind;

no realm of eyes

and so forth until no realm of mind consciousness.

No ignorance and also no extinction of it,

and so forth until no old age and death

and also no extinction of them.

No suffering, no origination,

no stopping, no path, no cognition,

also no attainment with nothing to attain.

The Bodhisattva depends on Prajna Paramita

and the mind is no hindrance;

without any hindrance no fears exist.

Far apart from every perverted view one dwells in Nirvana.

In the three worlds

all Buddhas depend on Prajna Paramita

and attain Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi.

Therefore, know that Prajna Paramita

is the great transcendent mantra

is the great bright mantra,

is the utmost mantra,

is the supreme mantra,

which is able to relieve all suffering

and is true, not false.

So proclaim the Prajna Paramita mantra,

proclaim the mantra which says:

gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha

gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha

gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha

I am sorry to hear of his families loss. My last semester of high school was  Mr. B's and SWS's first. It was my favorite time made do by Doug's welcoming acceptance of people and his insistence that we could be interested and engaged in life. He always seemed to have some bee bopping jazz song effervesing and about to bubble out. Jeff, Trevor and I would hang out in his class at lunch and play backgammon. Thank's Mr. B! 

Grant 

Doug, I remember you fondly from East High School in Anchorage and from my many visits to you after High school.  You were a gifted teacher and clearly cared about the students that you taught.  You were one of my top teachers and one to this day, I have never forgotten.

Love

Mark Travers

Doug had an incredible impact on my life. We really became friends in 2013 when I was going to UC Santa Cruz and he was living in the area at that time. I knew Doug because he had gone to college with my dad and they had stayed friends throughout the years, so he became a multigenerational college friend in my family. He got me into tea (real tea, no herbal nonsense), and really taught me the ways of cooking. When Doug stepped into a kitchen he became a wizard, often unearthing long forgotten about  pantry items, combining them in seemingly nonsensical ways and creating some of the best food I've ever tasted.  

Doug was a kind and adventurous soul. A natural teacher with a curious mind. He could always make me laugh and he had a way of making everyone around him smile. 

Rest easy old friend! I hope you and my dad are laughing at some dumb movie or listening to Ornette together in whatever comes after this.

I'll think of you often. 

It's really hard to put adequate words to how I feel about this. B was one of my teachers at SWS who had a massive impact on my life, and even became a sort of surrogate father to me in a way when I was going through some rough times. B's classes were legendary, and he encouraged people to explore and investigate and learn; all the while sharing all kinds of crazy stories about his life. After I graduated we still stayed in contact for many years, and I can only hope that I was one-tenth the positive influence on his life as he was on mine. Because of B (or Yakmaster B as I sometimes called him), I write, I listen to Scottish Folk music (mainly Silly Wizard), I read eclectically, I love foreign films, I've worked with teens myself for many years, and I became a better person.

When I graduated from high school, B gave me a Dublin Police Department patch that I still have propped up on a bookshelf and that I see every day to remind me of him. I was very saddened to see this today, but I hope that B is still out there keeping an eye on all of the people that his life touched. He will be missed greatly.

Deeply sorry to hear of the loss of Doug. I remember him writing me while I was deployed in 2008 and sending me burned CDs with his skillfully crafted song selections. He was certainly his own unique person and always very thoughtful. I’m sad to hear that he suffered so badly from alcoholism. My prayers are with the whole family.