Bell Tower at Mazu's temple in Youmin

 

eMirror Vol. 11, No. 24

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho

 


Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror

 

Dogen zenji now raises Great Master Ma’s Teaching:

 

Zen Master Mazu said,

“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.”

            The “dharmata” expressed by Mazu is the dharmata expressed by dharmata. Dharmata is the condition of Mazu and the state of Mazu is the same as dharmata. Mazu understands dharmata and therefore cannot fail to express it. Dharmata is riding Mazu.

 

            Great Master Mazu Daoyi was one of the most influential of the Tang dynasty Chinese Chan Masters. He was in the eight generation of the Chinese Transmission, the only Dharma-heir of his Teacher Nanyue Huairang, and had one hundred and thirty-nine Dharma-heirs during his long life from 709 to 788. He was a huge man and was said to have the glare of a tiger and the walk of a buffalo. With shouts and gestures and eloquent words he shook students from their perches and hurled them to the ground.

            He was a contemporary of our own Lineage Ancestor Shitou Xiqian, known as Old Stonehead. Great Master Ma, which mans “horse”, and Old Stonehead used to send students back and forth between each other. Shitou’s Dharma-heir and our Ancestor Yaoshan Weiyan studied also with Mazu. Another monk who studied with both Mazu and Shitou was Deng Yinfeng.

            The Wudeng Huiyan says,

 

            When Deng Yinfeng was leaving, Master Mazu said to him, “Where are you going?”

            Yinfeng said, “To see the Stone.”

            Mazu said, “Shitou’s road is slippery.”

            Yinfeng said, “I’ll carry a wooden staff with me and when I encounter such a place I’ll play it as it goes.” Then he went off.

            Upon arriving at Shitou’s he circled that Teacher’s meditation seat, loudly struck his staff on the floor, and asked, “What doctrine is it?”

            Shitou said, “Oh, heavens!”

            Yinfeng didn’t speak, but returned and reported this to Master Mazu. Master Mazu said, “Go there and ask him again. Wait for his answer, then roar twice.”

            Yinfeng again went to Shitou and asked the question as before. Shitou roared twice. Yinfeng again didn’t speak. He returned and reported this to Master Ma.

            The Master said, “I told you that ‘Shitou’s road is slippery.’”

 

 

            These two Great Masters knew each other’s minds well. Both were alive to dharmata and expressed it each in their own way. Mazu’s expression here of the samadhi of dharmata is dharmata expressing itself through Mazu, riding him like a horse, moving his lips, flying as his spittle.

 

            “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.”

 

            Mazu’s activities wholly expressed dharmata because the purpose of his activity was to actualize dharmata and to open others to its activity.

 

-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing teisho 5: “Actualizing the Samadhi of Dharmata” in the series “Essentially Real, commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s Hossho: Dharmata”. Presented on Tuesday, December 7, 2004.

 

Upcoming Events

 

Fusatsu and the Vow of Samantabhadra

Chanting of the Precepts will take place on June 27th, July 11th and July 25th. The Vow of Samantabhadra will be chanted on June 20th, July 4th and July 18th.

 

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 ‘Shoaku Makusa’ and the Three Pure Precepts”.

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.

 

Introduction to Zen Workshop

Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho will present the next Introduction to Zen Workshop at Dainen-ji on Saturday, July 7th. 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.  

 

Hermitage

The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Wednesday, July 4th, which will end at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 8th, when he leads monastics in Acalanatha Sadhana.

 

Yaza

Our annual tradition of Yaza (all night sitting) will take place on Saturday, July 14th from 10 p.m. until Sunday, July 15th at 8 a.m. Zen Master Anzan Hoshin will lead the Yaza. Students attending should arrive by first bell at 9:45 p.m. A light breakfast will be served before the end of the Yaza. All students are welcome to attend. Please register soon as is seating will be limited. The suggested dana contribution for Yaza is $25.00. To register, please send an email to schedule at wwzc dot org or leave a message on the Zen Centre office answering machine at 562-1568.

 

Oryoki for General Students

On Saturday, July 21st, 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.

 

Dharma Assembly

On Saturday, July 28th, 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 at wwzc dot 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.

 

 

Recorded Teisho Schedule

Saturday June 16th associate sitting – Hekiganroku Case 14: Yunmen’s “A Right Word” (teisho 1 of 1).

Monday, June 18th general sitting – Without Difficulty: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin’s commentaries on “Xinxin Ming: Words on Trusting Awareness” by Jianzhi Sengcan: “Three Cases of Zhaozhou part one (Hekiganroku 57-59) (teisho 24 of 25).

Tuesday, June 19th formal sitting – Mikkyo-zo: Monastic Jishu: “Hakusan” (Class 2 of 15).

Thursday, June 21st associate sitting – “Mind Cannot be Grasped” (teisho 1 of 1).

Saturday, June 23rd general sitting – This World of Ten Directions: “Frost and Snow” (teisho 4 of 10).

 

Website Update

A Dharma Talk entitled “Stainless” presented by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho during the June 9th Dharma Assembly has been posted on the White Wind Zen Community Website. The direct link is: http://www.wwzc.org/Jinmyo_osho/Stainless.htm.

            Ven. Senbo shuso presented a Shuso Hossen Dharma Talk on May 18th, entitled “No Home”. The Dharma Talk has been posted on the Website and the direct link is: http://www.wwzc.org/NoHome.htm

 

Practice Calendar July-December 2007

The new Practice Calendar has been posted on the "Resources" Page of the White Wind Zen Community Website in .PDF format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the file. If you do not have Acrobat installed, you will find the download link posted with the calendar. The direct link to the Page is:

http://www.wwzc.org/resource.htm


Congratulations

Congratulations and deep gassho to Philip Martell on being accepted as an associate student by the Roshi. Philip is a resident of Ottawa.

 

Retreats

Chunen ino and Charles Enman sat a one-day retreat on Sunday.

 

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. Meals served on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, prior to the sitting:

 

Monday Yakuseki

Thai red cargo rice cooked with dried pomegranate seeds and pomegranate essence and garnished with toasted almonds and gomasio; maka tofu squares roasted with almond and chile butter; stir-fried baby Shanghai bok choy with lime; salad of chopped Lebanese cucumbers, plum tomatoes, mache and Romaine lettuce with yogurt, lime, and zataar.

 

Tuesday Yakuseki

Roasted pork tenderloins rubbed with chipotle and adobo and cumin seeds; roasted red and yellow bell peppers and poblano peppers with sliced chorizo sausage; roasted colossal cremini and white mushrooms with extra virgin olive oil and sage; large cut roasted Yukon Gold potatoes.

 

Thursday Yakuseki

Chinese celery and mung bean sprout soup with puffed tofu in a shoyu and kimchi broth; colossal white mushrooms roasted with shoyu, sesame oil, and roasted chile oil; salad of Cantonese noodles in Pad Thai sauce with ngoc mam, mirin, Xiaoxing wine, slivered ginger and scallions; salad of blanched Chinese long beans with dan dan sauce; salad of Napa cabbage, plum tomatoes, and Lebanese cucumbers dressed with a sauce of mayonnaise and pureed and strained ginger, lime juice, ngoc mam, mirin and tomato.

 

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 the Roshi for leading food preparation despite being in obvious pain while recovering from a back injury; to Shikai osho for leading Fusatsu on Wednesday morning; to Chunen ino for upgrading our LAN to provide faster internet access; to Mishin tando for ensuring that our accounting is accurate month after month, year after year; to Saigyo chiden for assisting with food preparation this week ; to Senbo shuso for doing the layout for the Practice Calendar now posted on the Resources Page of our Website.”

From Mishin tando, "Thank you to the Roshi for the ikebana and suiseki (arrangements of sand and stone) that light up spaces of the practice halls and throughout the monastery; to Chunen ino for repairing the archiving printer; to Tokushin for mailing teisho to public students; to Nathan Comeau for archiving samu; to students who arrive early for sittings to assist with soji and samu."

From Saigyo chiden, “Thank you to Tokushin for mailing teisho tapes to public student and for creating the teisho poster each week; to Gillian Higenbottam and Neil Porter for painting samu. Thank you to Samantha Drouin, Michael Landay, Ann Cavlovic and Nathan Comeau for work in the grounds.”

From Gillian Higenbottam: “Thank you to Shikai osho and Jinmyo osho for patiently answering my questions, to Jinmyo osho for the Dharma talk 'Stainless' and for the E-mirror every week which was especially fun to read when I was away, to Chunen ino for important reminders to breathe and for reminding me to practice not just when I'm sitting, to Mishin tando for help of all sorts, to Saigyo chiden for samu projects outdoors, and to the Roshi for having made so many teachings available for us to practice with.”

From Sean Moreland, “Thank you to Roshi and Jinmyo osho for the preparation of delicious and nourishing meals and to Shikai osho for the preparation of delectable refreshments during my retreat and the Dharma assembly. Thank you to Jinmyo osho for presenting the strikingly instructive Dharma talk, 'Stainless', and for precise and insightful instruction during daisan, and also for helpful computer advice. Thank you to Chunen ino, Saigyo chiden and Mishin tando for great encouragement, vivid and very humorous instruction and patient review of forms during practice interviews. Thank you to Senbo shuso for samu instruction.”

 

 


 

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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