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Mazu Daoyi daiosho
eMirror Vol. 11, No. 32 Friday, August 10th, 2007 Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho
Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror
Now Dogen turns once again towards Master Ma’s statement that ““All sentient beings have never left dharmata samadhi throughout myriads of eons. They are always in the reality of dharmata samadhi, putting on their clothes, eating rice, greeting and speaking, the workings of the six sense organs, all their activities are completely dharmata.” He says,
-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing teisho 6: “Coming Thus As Us” in the series “Essentially Real, commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s Hossho: Dharmata”. Presented on Saturday, January 22, 2005.
Upcoming Events
Fusatsu and the Vow of Samantabhadra Chanting of the Precepts will take place on August 15th and August 29th. The Vow of Samantabhadra will be chanted on August 22nd.
August Two-day Sesshin The August two-day sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, August 10th and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 12th. On Saturday, August 11th, associate and general students may attend a sitting held in the Zendo. Arrival time is 9:15 a.m. (in time for First Bell). The sitting ends at 11:30 a.m. Students attending are reminded to remain on the first floor.
Oryoki for General Students On Saturday, August 18th, general students who attend the 6:00 a.m. formal sitting may participate in oryoki practice led by Jinmyo osho. Associate or visiting public students who are in retreat at the monastery on that day may also participate in oryoki. Dana is $10.00. You do not need previous experience of oryoki to attend. For more information or to register please send an email to schedule at wwzc dot org.
Samu Weekend The third samu weekend of 2007 will be taking place on August 25th and 26th. Although the schedule of work for the two days has not yet been finalized we hope to be working on the following projects: the insulation of large portion of the attic floor needs to be completed before winter, the small chimney at the rear of the building (the one not rebuilt) requires scraping and repainting, the front steps require a coat of paint and more work can be done to further improve the grounds. Please pencil these dates into your schedule so that you can attend some or all of the samu weekend and so help to maintain and improve the environment of practice.
Hermitage The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on August 29th which will end on Sunday, September 2nd, when he leads monastics in Acalanatha Sadhana.
Introduction to Zen Workshop Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho will present the next Introduction to Zen Workshop at Dainen-ji on Saturday, September 1st. For more information please see: http://www.wwzc.org/programs/Introduction_To_Zen_Workshop_Ottawa.htm. For information concerning our Long-distance Training Program, please visit this Web Page: http://www.wwzc.org/programs/longDistance.htm.
Jinmyo osho's Notes on the Forms: Bowing In an early essay from 1986, “Bowing the Body of the Way,” Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi says,
It is difficult to write about physical movement when we can't see each other, but recently a number of students have asked me questions concerning bows in hallways and other areas of the monastery and so I will do my best to clarify a few points.
Gassho monjin When Entering Practice Rooms Gassho monjin is done when entering formal practice rooms or rooms that are being used for daisan or interviews. When you bow, breathe with the bow. The bodymind naturally wants to breathe out as it bows forward and breathe in as it straightens. At the end of the bow, return your hands to shashu and allow a brief pause so that you fully complete the bow before beginning to turn or walk away. Also, a new meme has sprung up which apparently entails angling towards the Butsudan to bow when entering or leaving through the rear door of the Hatto. Please just bow into the space of the room rather than turning to bow at an angle.
Shashu Bows In place of the more formal gassho-monjin, we often bow in shashu (hands held on top of the diaphragm, right hand formed into a circle, left thumb tucked into the circle) when we meet one another, but they're not a substitute for a “greeting”, not a fancy way of saying “Hi, how are you?” Bowing, as it is taught by the Lineage of Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi is not about bowing to some "one" or some "thing". When we bow, we bow to the space in which we arise and which we each arise as. A bow is therefore all-inclusive, but not directed towards anyone, though of course it includes them. When holding your hands in shashu, as a point of mindfulness the thumb knuckle of the right hand should contact the solar plexis rather than resting your hands on your belly. Resting your hands on your belly might seem more comfortable to you, but the forms are not about getting comfortable.
Shashu Bows in Hallways There are many kinds of situations that can come up with hallways in the monastery. In some areas, there are a number of doorways that converge onto small spaces and when there are many students coming and going before or after sittings, these areas can become quite congested. In such a situation, monastics will often give a signal indicating that there should be no bow because to do so would be far too complex. At other times, monastics will give you a clear indication that there is to be a bow, by coming to a stop with both feet together, hands held in shashu. When you see this, it is an indication that you should follow suit – come to a full stop, put your feet together and turn bodily to face the monastic. When you bow with a monastic, turn towards them. The turn is not done because you are bowing to them, but because you need to be able to see their timing and align with it. They have been bowing much longer than you have and so aligning with their timing provides an opportunity to learn the form in greater detail. If you have been bustling down a hallway, looking this way and that, the monastic will often pause before beginning the bow as they are waiting for you to let go of the quality of rushing and make yourself available to the bow. So when this happens, don't add to the rushing by beginning the bow without them. Let go of the rushing and align yourself with the timing of the monastic. If you encounter several monastics you will find that everyone in the group will turn towards the most senior monastic as they will lead the timing for the bow. You should turn with them.
Shashu Bows when Entering the Dining Hall We bow when entering the Dining Hall because this is a “high traffic” area. Because there is so much activity in this room, it provides us with an opportunity to practise environmental mindfulness. And with students entering and leaving through one doorway, carrying trays, bowls of food, cups of tea and whatnot, stopping at the doorway is immensely practical. When you are entering the Dining Hall, if there are other students behind you who are also waiting to enter the room, don't block the doorway. Move into the room to make space for them so that you can all bow together. There is a portrait of Eihei Dogen zenji above a small Butsudan on the wall opposite the door, so bow in this direction. Again, you're not bowing to some “one” or some “thing”. Bowing in the direction of the portrait removes the complexity of having us all bow in different directions and Dogen zenji represents for us the Lineage of Awakened Ancestors. Open to peripheral vision and if there is a senior monastic in the room, they will bow with you, also facing Dogen zenji, and will lead the timing. If there is no monastic present, simply bow in unison when everyone has come to a full stop and are balanced and ready to bow. If there are other students in the room, perhaps standing in the coffee area alcove, they would bow with those entering or leaving the room, but if turning to face the portrait of Dogen zenji would mean having to pirouette at high speed, just bow in the direction you are facing. There may also be times when they are positioned such that it is difficult to see that someone is entering or leaving. If you don't see someone coming in until the last moment and they have already begun to bow, it is not necessary to suddenly lurch into a bow, trying to catch up. Just continue to do what you were doing. If you are in the middle of doing a samu task such as sweeping the floor when someone comes into the Dining Hall it isn't necessary to try to bow with a broom in one hand and a dustpan in the other as that would be too awkward.
Shashu Bows when Seated at the Dining Hall Table If you are seated at the table, in the midst of eating with a spoon halfway to your mouth, you are not expected to bow if someone comes to the doorway and bows. If you are just sitting there and bowing would not be awkward you can do a seated bow if you wish to. Sometimes the bodymind responds to seeing another person bowing by bowing with them. And that's fine. It's situational and you can decide whether to bow or not, in accordance with what is actually going on.
Other Situations During samu periods before sittings or after sittings, and during Samu Weekends, we limit bowing in doorways or hallways because we are carrying buckets and mops and whatnot. If there is a monastic present, please look to them for an indication of what is appropriate. We do not bow on staircases as we don't want you to fall down the stairs. And we don't bow on small landings as there is not enough space.
A Note Concerning Standing up when a Monastic Enters If you are sitting down on the front or side porches, in the Shuryo, in the Undo or one of the other rooms in the monastery and you see a monastic approaching, it is appropriate to stand up. If the monastic gives you a clear signal to remain seated (extended hand, palm down or something of that nature), then you can remain seated. But your first response should be to stand up and this is what you should do if no signal is given. If you are seated at the Dining Hall table, eating or drinking, you are not expected to stand if a Dharma Teacher or a practice advisor comes into the room as we are frequently in and out of the Dining Hall and things would become much too complex if everyone had to stand every time one of us entered the room. But if the Roshi comes into the room, which he would usually not do if someone is scheduled to be there so as to not interrupt, you should stand unless given a signal to remain seated. By standing, you have an opportunity to align with him in a bow to the Lineage and so you should make yourself available for this regardless of whatever you are doing – eating, doing samu, or anything else. Or he might use this meeting to provide you with some instruction (which although often said humorously, is not “just kidding”). Again, he will give you a clear signal indicating that you should just continue with what you are doing if that is what he decides is appropriate. But you should not assume that this will be the case and should be ready to stand as soon as you see him.
Neither Tight Nor Loose Sometimes how we use the forms can become too tight; sometimes things can become too loose. The forms need to be clear and relaxed. Clear isn't the same as rigid; relaxed isn't the same as slackness.
Recorded Teisho Schedule Saturday, August 11th associate sitting – The Wheel of Becoming: “The Six Realms” (teisho 3 of 4). Monday, August 12th general sitting – Wild Time: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin’s commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s Uji: Being Time: “Now and Then” (teisho 1 of 10). Tuesday, August 13th formal sitting – Mikkyo-zo: Monastic Jishu: “Three Spaces” (Class 5 of 15). Thursday, August 15th associate sitting – The Wheel of Becoming: “Transcending the Wheel” (teisho 4 of 4). Saturday, August 17th general sitting – This World of Ten Directions: “Don’t Worry About Not Falling” (teisho 10 of 10).
Website Update A Dharma Talk presented by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho during the recent Dharma Assembly entitled “Dealing with the Demon”, has been posted on the White Wind Zen Community Website. The direct link is: http://www.wwzc.org/Jinmyo_osho/DealingWiththeDemon.htm Retreats Deshi Tokushin sat a one-day retreat on Sunday and a partial retreat on Monday.
To Schedule a Retreat Please email schedule at wwzc dot org to schedule a retreat, even if you have made verbal arrangements with a practice advisor or a Dharma Teacher. Emails sent to that address are routed to all members of the Practice Council who will need this information for the purposes of meal planning, preparing tapes for your retreat and planning samu assignments. Retreats are defined in the following way:
Half-day Retreat (you would need to arrive 15 minutes before the actual starting time) Begin at 6:00 a.m., end at noon. Or begin at 9:30 a.m., end at 6:00. Or begin at 3:00 p.m., end at 9:10. Partial Retreat (You would need to arrive 15 minutes before the actual starting time) Begin at 6:00 a.m., end at 6:00 p.m. Or begin at 9:30 a.m., end at 9:10 p.m. Full retreat (you would need to arrive by 5:45) Begin at 6:00 a.m., end at 9:10 p.m. Please remember to bring a change of clothes suitable for samu (caretaking practice). If staying overnight, please remember to bring a sleeping bag, a towel and other such necessities. If you have been diagnosed by a medical doctor as having allergies to specific foods, please contact the tenzo, Jinmyo osho at Jinmyo at trytel dot com a week in advance of your retreat to inform her of dietary restrictions as this affects food purchases and meal planning. The suggested dana for retreats is $40 a day, which covers the basic cost of food and other materials. Donations above this figure are very welcome and all donations are tax deductible. There is also a retreat schedule for public students posted on our Website at: http://www.wwzc.org/Resources/Public.student.retreat.schedule.htm Public Students’ Retreats For retreats to be mentioned in the eMirror, public students are asked to send an email to schedule at wwzc dot org after they sit a retreat mentioning the date of their retreat and whether it is a partial, half-day or full retreat. Please also include the name of the city in which you live.
Summer Garden Work During the summer months there is always work to be done in the grounds, including regular watering, weeding, planting, deadheading and tidying. If you can offer some time to help maintain the monastery grounds please contact Saigyo chiden at saigyo@telecomottawa.net or by leaving a message on the office answering machine at 613 562 1568
Office of the Tenzo Dogen zenji taught that the work of preparing and serving meals was "a matter for realized monks who have the mind of the Way or by senior disciples who have roused the Way-seeking mind." In alignment with this, part of Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's samu for the Community involves personally overseeing the activities of the ancient office of tenzo. Jinmyo Renge osho serves as tenzo and Mishin tando and Saigyo chiden offer assistance as tenzo-anja. Meals served on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, prior to the sitting:
Monday Yakuseki Gazpacho with five kinds of tomatoes, Lebanese cucumbers, white onion, daikon, oi kimchi, red bell peppers, jalapeno and banana and serrano chiles, red wine, ngoc mam, mirin, lime juice, slivered ginger and minced garlic with coriander; white kidney bean butter with rosemary and oregano; small garlic and whole wheat flatbreads; large shitake mushrooms roasted with extra virgin olive oil and ancho chile.
Tuesday Yakuseki "Moroccan" chile con carne with toasted cumin seeds, white and brown and black mustard seeds, ajwain seeds, pomegranate molasses and juice, red wine, chopped white and Spanish onions, chopped plum tomatoes with San Marzano tomatoes and passata, chopped yellow and red bell peppers, cubanelle and poblano peppers, green chiles and jalapeno and chipotle with adobo, chickpeas, and ground beef, pork, and chicken; blue corn tortilla chips and labneh; roasted huge cremini mushrooms with sliced chorizo sausage; slaw of fennel, green cabbage, and white onion dressed with lemon zest and juice and extra virgin olive oil.
Thursday Yakuseki Udon noodle salad dressed with minced garlic, shoyu, sesame oil, and Chinese black vinegar tossed with mesclun and peanuts; oyster mushrooms, dai gai choy, mung bean sprouts and puffed tofu braised in tamarind and shoyu soup; fennel, yellow zucchini and red bell pepper roasted in coconut milk with dried chiles.
Students attending sittings on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings may make arrangements to join residents for meals prepared by the Office of the Tenzo. Please email schedule at wwzc dot org at least one day in advance; Contribution is $10.
Thank You If you would like to thank someone for a contribution they have made, please feel free to send an email to Jinmyo osho at rengezo at vianet dot ca. (Owing to the volume of mail I receive, please note that an email sent to me containing a thank you intended for the eMirror should specify that it is to be included. Otherwise I will likely assume that you are just sending me an email, will think, "Thank you very much," and that will be the end of it).
From Jinmyo osho, “Thank you to Chunen ino for reformatting my external hard drive; to Mishin tando for preparing a list of transcribed and published teisho for me; to Saigyo chiden for doing “ladder work” for me (dusting in high places); to Graham Mayeda for trimming the cedar hedges.” From Chunen ino, “Thank you to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for delightful meals prepared for residents every week, to Shikai osho for wonderful breads, to Mishin tando for clearing and preparation of a room on the third floor at short notice on Thursday morning, to Saigyo chiden for overseeing monastery garden samu, and to Carl Anderson for creating MP3 files for the media site.” From Mishin tando, "Thank you to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for the many shopping trips, week after week, to purchase a wide array of fresh and beautiful produce for meals for monastery residents, retreatants, Dharma Assemblies, and sesshin; to Shikai osho for fish treats for Nanzan, a monastery cat; to Nathan Comeau for archiving samu." From Saigyo chiden, “Thank you to the Roshi for his translation of 'The Vow of Samantabhadra' and for the wonderful fun of chanting practice, which he leads each morning. Thank you to Shikai osho for a new bubbling fountain for the monastery pond and to Jinmyo osho for leading the Introduction to Zen Workshops each month. Thank you to Senbo shuso for purchasing and installing a new hose pipe timer; to Graham Mayeda for giving the cedar hedges their yearly clipping; to Michael Landay and Nathan Comeau for work in the grounds and to Neil Porter for samu; to Carl Anderson and Samantha Drouin for regular archiving samu and to Doug Somers for testing noise reduction software to improve of the sound quality of taped teisho presented by the Roshi dating back to 1986.” From Vicki Robichaud, “Thank you to the monastics who copy, label, and mail teisho immediately after each sesshin and O-sesshin so that formal students and monastics living at a distance from the monastery can hear them soon after they are presented.”
Ongoing
Samu Request for Assistance, Office of the Treasurer As part of clarifying and streamlining the financial processes of White Wind Zen Community, we would like to have pairs of students rotate to help process dana contributions on a weekly basis. To date, most of this work has been done by Mishin tando with the assistance of one or two other students, but it is time to restructure the system so that the work of the Office of the Treasurer becomes more manageable and more students are helping with this responsibility. If you would be available on Saturdays prior to the General Sitting for about a hour (from 8:15-9:15 a.m.), your help will be appreciated. Please email Mishin at trytel dot com. Training will be provided. No special financial skills are needed other than an eye for detail and accuracy.
Archiving Samu Since 2002 the teisho presented by the Roshi and the Dharma Talks given by the Dharma Teachers have been recorded directly onto CD and copies made available to students. Prior to this time all of the recordings were made on cassette tape. Over the last years the monastics, with the help of several students, have worked to transfer the taped material onto CD, not only because cassette tape technology is fast becoming outdated but because the early tape recordings are deteriorating quickly and may soon become unplayable. To lose these teaching would be disastrous. We are presently making direct CD copies of all of the early tapes so that there is a back-up copy available should anything happen to the master tape which makes it unplayable but there is much work to be done. There are still over 100 tapes from the 1980’s and 1990’s that need to be re-mastered, relabeled and copied and this constitutes many hundreds of hours of work. If you are able to commit to a regular weekly schedule of two or three hours samu to continue this vital work, please let us know by writing to tapes at wwzc dot org. Full training will be given.
Daily Samu Samu each day to prepare the monastery for the arrival of the students is a very important practice for the monastics. Any help to assist the monks with brightening and clarifying the practice environment is very much appreciated. If you are able to come early before a sitting to do samu, please consult the samu notice board situated between the side entrance doors to find a task which has not been done recently. If you have any questions about the task please ask any monastic.
Improvements to the Second Floor Washroom A project that has been on the high priory list for a number of years is the renovation of the second floor washroom. Even though this is the most frequently used washroom in the building it has never had any substantial improvements apart from being painted last year. Work on this washroom, which was scheduled to be taking place late this year or early next year, will again need to be delayed due to the necessity of a urgent roof repair to the west side of the roof. This repair will cost in the region of $13,000 and as this is considerably higher than our available budget we have had to cut back on other important work. Because of this, we have decided to fundraise in order to gather sufficient money to make the improvements to the washroom. The work to be done will include a new sink and cabinet and a new ceiling light, fan and exhaust. This will cost in the region of $1000 to complete. Students are encouraged to donate towards this project so that it can be scheduled some time in the winter and the improved facilities will be available by 2007. Improvements to this room will benefit every student that comes to the monastery for sittings. Thank you for your generosity to help with this project. Gassho, Saigyo chiden, shissui.
CDs Available to the Public A selection of CDs of teisho and Dharma Talks is available on our web-site. The page is found at http://wwzc.org/CDWebSales/CDWebSales.htm or follow the link for Dharma Texts and CDs on the home page. Over time more teisho and Dharma Talks from the over 2500 presentations made by the Roshi, Shikai osho and Jinmyo osho will be made available for purchase.
Ongoing Project: “All is Change” Dainen-ji, being a 135-year-old building, is continuously in need of maintenance and the costs associated with this can be astronomical when such things as roof repairs or painting are needed. This is something that we cannot afford to do, yet must do and so the “All is Change” project has been created. The “All is Change” project is very simple. Most of us have a bowl or a jar or some other kind of container that we keep somewhere at home and fill up with loose change because it's too heavy to carry around. Several hundred dollars has been collected so far both in loose change and Canadian tire money which has been put towards the building maintenance fund. Most of the collected money was spent on materials for the new front path and we have also been able to purchase several new tools which will help greatly with ongoing renovations. If anyone would like to contribute to this fund, each penny will be appreciated.
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