I wondered about Sensei. From my point of view, there were several people thow were going to a lot of trouble on his behalf for reasons that would make no sense on a r�sum�. If I understood him, he claimed to be offering us something fundamentally important, but intangible. He claimed that ultimately it had to do with our own sense of who we are--character, if you will--and the development of strength of spirit more than strength of body. He was clear that as students, we lacked the capacity to understand where we were going or why we were going the way that he was taking us. He said that what he was really teaching could only be understood through the physical training and perseverance in it. He said that he took what he did because it was necessary.

There are other possible translations for "sensei." In Hebrew, it would be "Rabbi"; in Sanskrit, "Guru."

Finally, one night, Megan asked me to come over to talk with Sensei about money. She left us alone in the living room of their apartment. The only furniture was a low wooden table that Sensei had built in Florida and brought with him. It was made entirely of two-by-fours, but somehow it was elegant. We sat on floor cushions on opposite sides of it. I started by asking him about his teachers and his experience with them.

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