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Nanyue Huairang
eMirror Vol. 11, No. 35 Friday, August 31st, 2007 Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho
Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror
Dogen zenji concludes his text:
So I would like to ask Mazu, “What are you calling sentient beings?” If we call sentient beings “dharmata” then “what thing comes thus?” If we call sentient beings “sentient beings” it means “to say it is a thing misses the mark.” Answer quickly, quickly!
Presented to the assembly at Kippo-ji in Esshu at the beginning of winter, 1243.
Dogen refers here, as he so often does in the Shobogenzo, to a famous koan concerning Nanyue Huairang, who was Mazu’s Teacher, and the Sixth Ancestor Huineng. It appears in the Sanbyakusoku Shobogenzo as case 101. Huineng is called Caoxi here, after the place where his monastery was. The koan says,
When Zen Master Nanyue Dahui first enters into training with the Old Buddha Caoxi, the Old Buddha asked, “What thing comes thus?” Nanyue thoroughly investigated this ball of mud for eight years. At last he presented the end-play of his thorough investigation to the Old Buddha and said, “Huairang understands now why when I first came here, the Master received Huairang with, 'What thing comes thus.'” The Old Buddha Caoxi said, “How do you understand it?” Dahui said, “To call it a thing misses the mark.” The Old Buddha Caoxi asked, “Do you rely upon practice and realization or not?” Dahui said, “It is not that there is no practice and realization but that it is stainless.” Then Caoxi said, “Just this stainlessness is what the Buddhas maintain and care for. You are thus, I am thus, and the Ancestors of India were also thus.”
Whatever we call a “sentient being” or “thing” or “dharmata” or a “self” or a “foot” is not stained by our words. The practice and realization of stainlessness is maintained and cared for by aligning ourselves with what is essentially real. This means turning towards our lives as this whole moment of ten directions while tying our boots instead of just focusing and fumbling with the salt-hardened laces and grumbling to ourselves about the winter cold. When the cold air burns and the wind slashes at our faces and lungs as we squint into winter, this whole moment of ten directions is not blown away but is the aware space which hobbles on the ice “coming thus” as us. What are we calling when we speak a name? What can we really say and express about who we are? It can take all of our lives to answer this question but Dogen demands you answer it quickly. I will ask you to answer this question now and in each moment through continuously practising the samadhi of dharmata, the dharmata of samadhi, the samadhi of sentient beings, as sentient beings of dharmata. Please, this evening, enjoy yourselves.
-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, concluding 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 September 12th and 26th. The Vow of Samantabhadra will be chanted on September 5th, and September 19th.
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.
September Two-day Sesshin The September two-day sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 7th and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, the 9th. On Saturday, September 8th, 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, September 15th, 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, September 26th, which will end on Sunday the 30th, at 10:00 a.m., when he leads monastics in Acalanatha Sadhana. (Please note that these dates were not included in the Practice Calendar).
Recorded Teisho Schedule Saturday, September 1st general sitting – Turning the Wheel of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin’s commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s “Gyoji: Continuous Practice”: “The Most Important Thing” (teisho 1 of 44). Monday, September 3rd general sitting – Wild Time: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin’s commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s Uji: Being Time: “Tumbling” (teisho 4 of 10). Tuesday, September 4th formal sitting – Mikkyo-zo: Monastic Jishu: “Samayasattva Mantra” (Class 7 of 15). Thursday, September 6th associate sitting – Freedom and Tyranny: A Series of Three Mondo by Ven. Shikai Zuiko osho: “The Makeup of Coercion” (Dharma Talk 3 of 3). Saturday, September 8th general sitting – Turning the Wheel of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin’s commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji’s “Gyoji: Continuous Practice”: “Upholding Activity” (teisho 2 of 44).
Retreats Jennifer Comeau sat a two-day retreat on Saturday and Sunday (August 18th and 19th). Jane Brown sat a two-day retreat on Monday and Tuesday. Deshi Vicki Robichaud, visiting from B.C., sat a retreat at Dainen-ji, which began on Wednesday evening and will end on Friday at noon. Graham Mayeda sat a two-day retreat on Tuesday and Wednesday. Neil Porter sat a half-day retreat on Thursday. Paul Kadziora is sitting a retreat today (Friday).
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.
August Samu Weekend Report The third Samu Weekend of 2007 took place on August 25th and 26th. Thirty students offered time to work on a wide variety of projects over the two days both in the monastery and on the grounds. In addition to the very many small tasks completed here is a list of some of bigger projects that were worked on over the weekend. Two large holes were dug at the rear of the building and filled with good soil and compost. This area has mostly stone-dust back fill and is useless for planting and so the holes were dug in readiness for next year when we shall be planting some vines. The pantry was overhauled a lot of work was done to organize the furnace room supplies and the workshop. At the same time a computer workstation was created to provide a dedicated space for all of the regular maintenance done by the Ino on the monastery computer systems. A large closet in the basement was cleared and is now being utilized as a storage space for the monastery paint, varnish and other flammables. A project was started to create an inventory of the large library of books belonging to the Roshi in the Shuryo and a new section of Shuryo shelving was built, painted and is ready to be installed. An inventory of Great Matter Publications stock was taken and the storage cupboard where this is kept was cleaned and old carpet removed. The front steps were sanded, primed and painted and many improvements continued in the grounds with more herbs being planted, a new lid being build for the compost bins and much tidying done.
Thank you to the following students who attended the samu weekend and gave their time to help maintain and improve the environment of practice: Chunen ino, Mishin tando, Senbo shuso, Jido anagarika, Muryo, Tokushin, Nathan Comeau, Guillaume Albert, Phillip Martel, Samantha Drouin, Francois Fournier, Ann Cavlovic, Matthew Moher, Bill Windover, Jennifer Comeau, Paul Kadziora, Gillian Higenbottam, Pierre Trahan, Jan Elliot, Charles Enman, Jane Brown, Bruce Libman, Chantal Maheu, Carl Anderson, Denise Beaudot, Sean Moreland, Paulette Theriault, Roger Clarke and Neil Porter.
Thank you to The Roshi and Jinmyo osho for designing and creating the really wonderful meals provided for these attending and to Shikai osho for lovely refreshments enjoyed in the afternoons.
Gassho, Saigyo Chiden (shissui)
Summer Garden Work During the summer and Autumn 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 Yellow udon noodle salad with fresh blanched peas, slivered ginger, ngoc mam and tamarind sauce; fennel curry soup; salad of heritage tomatoes of various hues and shapes, sectioned, with chopped scallions and dressed with Xiaoxing wine and sesame oil; halved, small red onions roasted in black glutinous rice wine and Chinese black vinegar and mirin and squares of atsuage tofu.
Tuesday Yakuseki Mabo tofu (silken tofu squares atop braised white onion, red bell peppers, cubanelle and poblano peppers, garlic, slivered ginger, black cloud fungus, shitake mushrooms, ground lamb and beef, adzuki beans, shoyu, sesame oil, chile miso paste, Dongshan sauce [pureed roasted chiles with mirin and Xiaoxing], ground Sichuan peppercorns); mixed grain (Lundberg Farms short-grain brown rice, barley, Korean white and brown sticky rice, and gohan); stir-fried dai gai choy and rapini; slaw of carrots (slivered on benriner mandoline) with lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, and mustard pickle.
Thursday Yakuseki Caramelized white, Spanish and Vidalia onion soup seasoned with thyme and paprika; warm naan; egg salad made with scallions, toasted garlic, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise; roasted yellow and red heritage tomatoes; sliced uncooked organic tomatoes; romaine lettuce.
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 Anzan roshi, “My thanks to all who participated in the recent Samu Weekend. Your efforts benefit not only yourselves but all who come to practise at Dainen-ji now and in coming years.” From Jinmyo osho, “Thank you to Vicki Robichaud for the gift of organic coffee for the monastery kitchen.” From Chunen ino, "Thank you to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for planning, shopping for and preparing wonderful meals for over 40 students during the Samu Weekend; to Shikai osho for diverse refreshments; to Mishin tando for administrative work; to Saigyo chiden for overseeing tasks for all students during the Samu Weekend." From Mishin tando, “From Mishin tando, "Thank you to the Roshi for finding numerous Open Source Software resources so that Practice Council work can be done without resorting to being locked-in to proprietary software; to Jinmyo osho for a delicious onion soup, egg salad, and roast tomatoes in Thursday evening's evening meal; to Roger Clark for the loan of a travel book on East Africa to prepare for my work-related trip to Kenya." From Saigyo chiden, “Thank you to Guillaume Albert for offering a regular weekly commitment to do archiving work. To Nathan Comeau, Neil Porter, Graham Mayeda and Charles Enman for samu.” From Vicki Robichaud, “Thank you to the Roshi for providing a space for students to practice and for the rich, varied and instructive teisho that you give to us so freely; to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for truly first class meals; to Jinmyo osho for practical teaching on how to open around deep seated tendencies; to Mishin tando for explaining forms on bowing; to Saigyo chiden for samu assignment and for demonstrating the Great Bows.” From Sean Moreland, “Thank you to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for the preparation of delicious and nourishing meals, and Shikai osho for refreshing teas and tasty cookies during the samu weekend. Thank you to Saigyo chiden for his tireless organization and clear instruction on various samu tasks, and to Nathan Comeau for helpful tips on levelling and drilling.”
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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