The Sanmon (Mountain Gate) of Dainen-ji

 

eMirror Vol. 11, No. 20

Friday, May 18th, 2007

Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho

 


Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror

 

Most people live their lives with only the palest encounters with the vividness and richness of the colours, forms, sounds, sensations, smells, tastes and cognitions of reality. And unfortunately some of the sutras and masters that people meet teach them to grow calluses over their eyes and to close off the senses. Some sutras with the best of intention blame the senses for confusion. After all, you can’t lust after what you don’t even notice. Some religious groups put veils over women in order to protect the men from lust and also to protect the object of their lust from being ruined by others. Some Buddhist practices would have all of the senses veiled to protect self-image from confusion but also to keep it protected in a cocoon of self-contemplation. Some even amount to a kind of sensory leprosy that not only brings loss of feeling and numbness but parts of the body just falling off and away into abstractness.

            In the language now called Pali the words “samisam” for “bodily” or “sensual” literally means “with raw meat” and for mental or non-sensual is “niramisam” means “not with raw meat.” With the language itself so constrained and hobbled this is understandable in the ancient Indian texts to a certain extent. The Buddha Dharma has continued to develop and be articulated in many languages and cultures but still some of these orientations and strategies of avoidance of actual experience are revered.

            This is not necessarily a matter of particular schools of Buddhism. There is no such thing as the Hinayana school. The various Theravadin traditions of Southeast Asia derive from and follow traditions earlier than the Mahayana schools that developed in India but they are not Hinayana as such. There can be Hinayana Zen Masters and Pure Land Teachers and Tibetan lamas. There can be Mahayana Theravadin bhikkhu. Hinayana and Mahayana are orientations towards practice and experience. The Hinayana backs away, crouches, and hides. The Mahayana sits up straight and pervades and embraces all beings and all worlds. True practice reveals the living body as the Way.

 

-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing teisho 4: “This is Not the Samadhi of Dharmata,” Monday, December 6, 2004, in the series “Essentially Real, commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s Hossho: Dharmata”

 

Upcoming Events

 

Fusatsu and the Vow of Samantabhadra

Chanting of the Precepts will take place on May 30th, June 13th and June 27th. The Vow of Samantabhadra will be chanted on May 23rd, June 6th and June 20th.

 

Shukke Tokudo and Shuso Hossen

This evening, Friday, May 18th, at 7 p.m. Ven. Senbo shuso will receive full monastic ordination from Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi. Senbo shuso has been a student of the Roshi's since 1995. He received postulant vows for monastic ordination following the May 2004 Sogaku-ki O-sesshin, novice monk’s vows on May 20th, 2005 and received Transmission as a practice advisor in February, 2006.  He began training in the monastic post of shuso on March 21st, 2007.

            Following the ordination Senbo shuso will receive Roshi’s nyoi staff and present his first Dharma Talk. All students are welcome to attend. Seating will be limited so please register early. For further information or to register please send an email to schedule at wwzc dot org or telephone the Zen Centre office at 562-1568.

 

Oryoki for General Students

On Saturday, May 19th, 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 next Samu Weekend is scheduled to take place on May 26th and 27th. Please pencil these dates into your calendar so that you will be able to attend some or all these two days of caretaking practice, and help with the maintenance and improvement of Dainen-ji.

 

Hermitage

The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Wednesday, May 30th, which will end at 10:00 a.m. On Sunday, June 3rd 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, June 2nd. 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.

 

Dharma Assembly

On Saturday, June 9th, Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho will lead a Dharma Assembly which will begin at 9:30 a.m. (please arrive by 9:15, in time for first Bell) and will end at 9:10 p.m. Dana is $40.00, which includes two meals: lunch and supper. Participants are asked to bring clothing and shoes appropriate for samu practice. To register, please send an email to schedule@wwzc.org or leave a message on the office answering machine at 562-1568. Dharma Assemblies are open to all students.

          The general sitting that would ordinarily take place from 9:30 to 11:40 on Saturday morning will be cancelled due to the Dharma Assembly.

 

June Two-day Sesshin

The June two-day sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, June 15th, and will end on Sunday, June 17th, at 6:00 p.m. The Roshi will continue the teisho series “Doing Not-Doing: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's 'Kyojukaimon' and Fusatsu".

On Saturday, June 16th, associate and general students may attend a sitting held in the Zendo, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. (please arrive by 9:15 in time for first Bell) and will end at 11:30 a.m.

 

Oryoki for General Students

On Saturday, June 23rd, 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.

 

Hermitage

The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Wednesday, June 27th, which will end on Sunday, July 1st at 10:00 a.m., when he leads monastics in Acalanatha Sadhana.

 

Teisho Presented During O-sesshin

During the Sogaku O-sesshin, May 11th-18th, Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi concluded part one of "Doing Not-Doing: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's 'Shoaku Makusa' and The Three Pure Precepts". The full series on CD will be available shortly in the First Floor Library. The Roshi also began part two of the series, entitled "Doing Not-Doing part two: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's 'Kyojukaimon' and Fusatsu".

Doing Not-Doing: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Dogen zenji's "Shoaku Makusa" and The Three Pure Precepts

1. Reading of Shoaku Makusa - December 2, 2006
2. Teisho 1: Dogen's Intention - December 3, 2006
3. Teisho 2: Seven Buddhas, Three Categories, Unborn Nature - December 4, 2006
4. Teisho 3: Makusa- December 5, 2006
5. Teisho 4: Before the First Move - December 6, 2006
6. Teisho 5: Wrong Action Does Not Arise - December 7, 2006
7. Teisho 6: Responding - January 13, 2007
8. Teisho 7: Good - February 10, 2007
9. Teisho 8: The Goods - February 11, 2007
10. Teisho 9: Wha? - February 12, 2007
11. Teisho 10: This Is Good - February 13, 2007
12. Teisho 11: Not-Doing is the Sincere Practice of Natural Clarity - February 14, 2007
13. Teisho 12: Master Bird's Nest - February 15, 2007
14. Teisho 13: Naturally Open Hands - March 17, 2007
15. Teisho 14: Just a Flower on Hanamatsuri - April 14, 2007
16. Teisho 15: Good in the Beginning, Middle, and End - May 12, 2007
17. Teisho 16: Expressing an Expression - May 13, 2007
18. Teisho 17: Dharma Wheels Turning - May 14, 2007
19. Teisho 18: Translating the Three Pure Precepts - May 15, 2007

Doing Not-Doing part two: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Kyojukaimon" and Fusatsu
1.  Reading of Kyojukaimon and Daruma Isshin-kai - May 16, 2007
2.  It's “Inconceivable Luminosity” May 17, 2007.

 

Recorded Teisho Schedule

Saturday, May 19th general sitting – This World of Ten Directions: “This One Phrase” (teisho 2 of 10).

Sunday, May 20th formal sitting - SAkN: Root Cycle 4: Moving in Knowing: “Tantra is Unnecessary” (teisho 4 of 5).

Monday, May 21st general sitting – Without Difficulty: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin’s commentaries on “Xinxin Ming: Words on Trusting Awareness” by Jianzhi Sengcan: “Existence Stands Out” (teisho 20 of 25).

Tuesday, May 22nd formal sitting – Mikkyo-zo: Monastic Jishu: “Komyo-zo” (Class 14 of 15).

Thursday, May 24th associate sitting – Four Great Vows by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho:  “All Beings” (Dharma Talk 1 of 4).

 

Retreats

 

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.

 

 

Spring Garden work

With the arrival of spring much work needs to be done in the grounds. If you are able to offer any time to assist with garden samu please contact Saigyo chiden at saigyo at telecomottawa dot net. Your help will be appreciated. Thank you.

 

 

 

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. The following is a list of meals served during O-sesshin:

 

Saturday, May 12th

Breakfast: Noodles tossed with Nappa cabbage, red and yellow bell peppers, onion, ginger, and black beans; scrambled eggs

Lunch: Gohan (Japanese white rice) garnished with gomasio (toasted ground sesame seeds with salt); Miso shiru made with baby bok choy, shitake mushrooms and silken tofu; takuan (pickled daikon) and gari (pickled ginger).

Supper: Roasted rutabaga, carrots, parsnips, turnips and potatoes garnished with chopped parsley; Brussel sprout, almond and tofu salad dressed with lime juice and chili flakes; Italian cherry tomatoes and pearl b occancini dressed with olive oil, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese and torn basil.

 

Sunday, May 13th

Breakfast: Congee

Lunch: Thai rice topped with cubed daikon braised in chili sauce; wakame seaweed soup with silken tofu; platycodon and cucumber kimchi.

Supper: Mixed grain (Lundberg short-grain brown rice, barley, Korean white and brown sticky rice and Chinese rice) topped with toasted coconut; Thai green curry (squares of cotton tofu, red bell peppers, cubanelle peppers, onion, mushrooms, fresh coriander); roasted eryenge mushrooms with walnuts.

 

Monday, May 14th

Breakfast: Fried rice

Lunch: Gohan (Japanese white rice) garnished with gomasio (toasted ground sesame seeds with salt); Miso shiru made with baby bok choy, fresh shitake mushrooms and silken tofu; takuan (pickled daikon) and gari (pickled ginger).

Supper: Ziti with batonettes of red bell pepper and chickpeas; green cabbage coleslaw; roasted tomatoes topped with crescents of Havarti.

 

Tuesday, May 15th

Breakfast: Shitake mushroom congee; scrambled eggs.

Lunch: Fried rice; wakame seaweed soup with silken tofu; kimchi

Supper: Cubes of boiled rutabaga, carrots and potatoes mixed with baby Romaine and red lettuce leaves, mache, raddiccio and frisee dressed with a mixture of lime juice and mayonnaise seasoned with toasted mustard seeds and whole cumin seeds; tomato soup with puffed tofu; Fennel seed coated labneh balls with seared yellow pepper and scallion strips.

 

Wednesday, May 16th

Breakfast: Shanghai noodles with red bell pepper strips, onion, mushrooms, cubanelle peppers, and thinly sliced sauteed tofu seasoned with shoyu, mirin, sesame oil and roasted chili oil, garnished with peanuts.

Lunch: Gohan; Miso shiru with Shanghai bokchoy and silken tofu; takuan and ginger.

Supper: Lundberg short-grain brown rice and baby green peas seasoned with butter, salt, pepper, chili flakes, toasted cumin seeds and toasted mustard seeds; Sate deep-fried tofu with onion, red bell pepper, cubed daikon, bean sprouts, ginger and coriander.

 

Thursday, May 17th

Breakfast: Fried rice with tofu.

Lunch: Chinese white rice garnished with gomasio; wakame seaweed soup with silken tofu; kimchi.

Supper: Conchiglie with diced raw plum tomatoes, pearl bocconcini, black beans, and watercress leaves; sautéed fennel, leeks, celery and nappa cabbage; asparagus and baby gerkins.

Friday, May 18th

Breakfast: Congee; scrambled eggs.

 

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 com. (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 the Roshi for teisho presented during O-sesshin and for menu design and instruction concerning food preparation for O-sesshin; to Shikai osho for establishing an herb garden outside the kitchen door of the monastery.”

From Mishin tando, "Thank you to the Roshi for the presentation of thousands of teisho, Dharma Talks, and classes over the past decades, for the ceaseless and incredible exertion made on behalf of all students in each moment, and for the many translations done with Joshu Dainen zenji and on his own, making teachings from many hundreds of years ago available here and now; to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for designing and preparing so many vivid and nourishing meals for practitioners during O-sesshin; to Shikai osho for the varied and elegant afternoon refreshments especially the crispy oatcakes with assorted cheeses and devilled eggs with kimchi toasts; to Jinmyo osho for leading and instructing in Oryoki; to Chunen ino and Jido anagarika for auditing the CD recording of each evening's teisho to check for possible recording errors; and to Saigyo chiden and Senbo shuso for duplicating and labelling CDs of each evening's teisho; and to Muryo for repairing the blender used during kitchen work.

From Vicki Robichaud, "Thank you to the Roshi for providing a space where students can practice, for the teisho series Doing Not-Doing and his commetaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's 'Shoaku Makusa' and the Three Pure Precepts; to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for creative and delicious meals; to Shikai osho for your directness and reminding me how I should  practice the forms; to Jinmyo osho for clarifying so many details of practice, for not allowing my excuses to stop me from practicing and for  endless support; to Chunen ino for making sure retreatents are comfortable; for looking after many details and for your patience; to Mishin tando and the other monastics who, on short notice, put together a series of teisho cd's for me to bring home; to Saigyo chiden for the work you do, outside and inside the monastery, to make Dainen-ji a beautiful space in which to practice; to all of the monastics for the many hours of work you do at Dainen-ji to help make things run as smoothly as possible."

 


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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