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Photograph by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi
eMirror Vol. 11, No. 43 Friday, October 26th 2007 Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho
Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror
In all directions, there are always already endless possibilities of Awakening. Seeing clearly the formless vividness of a cherry blossom or the drying corpse of a dead bee or any colour at all, you can see your own nature. Hearing clearly the formless vividness of a penny dropping or a car starting or any sound at all, you can hear your own nature. Feeling clearly the formless vividness of a sore back or the swipe of a cuff against the wrist or any sensation at all, you can feel your own nature. -Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, beginning teisho 3: "Fields of Awakening" in the the teisho series "Five Fingers, Ten Directions: Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's text 'Jippo'", presented Sunday, May 13, 2001. Upcoming Events
Fusatsu and the Vow of Samantabhadra Chanting of the Precepts will take place on November 7th and November 21st. The Vow of Samantabhadra will be chanted on October 31st, November 14th and November 28th.
Dharma Assembly The next Dharma Assembly will be led by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho and will take place on October 27th. The Dharma Assembly 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 613-562-1568. 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.
Hermitage The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Wednesday, October 31st, which will end on Sunday, November 4th at 10:00 a.m. when he leads monastics in Acalanatha Sadhana.
Series of Dharma Talks: "Every Breath You Take" At the Thursday evening associate sittings, Ven. Shikai Zuiko osho's comments on"The Practice of Purity" (Book Eleven of the Avatamsaka sutra translated by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi and Ven. Shikai Zuiko osho).
Introduction to Zen Workshop Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho will present the next Introduction to Zen Workshop at Dainen-ji on Saturday, November 3rd. 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.
November Two-day Sesshin The November sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 9th and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 11th. On Saturday, November 10th, 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, November 17th, 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 November 24th and 25th. Details of samu tasks will follow. To register, please send an email to saigyo at telecomottawa dot net or telephone the Zen Centre office to leave a message at 613-562-1568.
Recorded Teisho Schedule Sunday, October 28th formal sitting - SAkN: Anatomy of Awakening: "Feeling Into Knowing: Sagara Mudra Samadhi" (teisho 9 of 9).
Monday, October 29th general sitting - Wild Time: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's Uji: Being Time: "Stonehead and Sore Knees" (teisho 10 of 11).
Tuesday, October 30th formal sitting - Mikkyo-zo: Monastic Jishu: "Offering" (class 11 of 15).
Saturday, November 3rd general sitting - Turning the Wheel of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Gyoji: Continuous Practice": "Zazen is Zazen" (teisho 8 of 44).
Residential Training Nathan Krahn began a one-month period of residential training on Thursday evening.
Retreats Nathan Krahn began a retreat on Friday morning which ended on Saturday following oryoki practice. Nathan Comeau finished a ten-day retreat on Monday. Jennifer Comeau sat a full day retreat on Monday, a half-day retreat on Tuesday, a partial retreat on Wednesday, and a full day of retreat on Thursday. Isshin sat a half-day retreat on Saturday and a full day of retreat on Wednesday in her home on Gabriola Island. Francois Fournier is sitting a one-day retreat today (Friday). Neil Porter is sitting a half-day retreat today.
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 rengezo at vianet dot ca, 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.
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 meals were prepared on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, prior to sittings:
Monday Yakuseki Seared daikon rounds with a miso glaze dusted with gomasio (toasted sesame salt); Chinese long beans, Napa cabbage, snow peas, mung bean sprouts, and rectangles of pillow tofu in a garlic chive soup with Xiaoxing wine, mirin, and lemongrass and coriander; roasted shredded oyster mushrooms and sliced cremini mushrooms with sesame oil and shoyu; sliced plum tomatoes and white onion roasted with chile oil; organic Chinese short grain brown rice.
Tuesday Yakuseki Roasted pork loin centre chops, thickly hand sliced, rubbed with chile miso; stir-fried strips of leeks, Chinese scallions, dai gai choy stalks, Shanghai bok choy with lime; mixed grain (Chinese organic short grain brown rice, millet, pearled wheat, arborio, buckwheat groats); roasted strips of cubanelle and red bell peppers with Sichuan peppercorns; salad of daikon and Lebanese cucumber spears with ngoc mam atop garlic stem kimchi.
Thursday Yakuseki Golden fingerling potatoes and red onion roasted with extra virgin olive oil and white mustard seeds; oyster and baby cremini mushroom soup with red wine and Dijon mustard and thyme; atsuage tofu with sweet chile sauce; Brussels sprouts and whole garlic cloves roasted with extra virgin olive oil and roasted chiles; salad of halved baby roma tomatoes and barrel cut Lebanese cucumbers with Xiaoxing wine and lime.
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.
Ubuntu Linux 7.10 On October 18th the newest version of the Free and Open Source computer operating system Ubuntu was released. Ubuntu comes with a suite of FOSS programs such as Firefox, Open Office, Rhythmbox and so on with thousands of others available online in the Ubuntu repositories. It is distributed by free Live Cds which allow one to boot up into Ubuntu and try it out as well as to install it into a partition or into the entire drive. WWZC has burned ten copies and has ordered another twenty for students to take home with them or to distribute to associates. There are absolutely no liscencing isues and so software piracy (as well as viruses, spyware, malware, crapware and bloated loggy and proprietary locked-in systems) are not an issue. The Dainen-ji LAN is composed primarily of Ubuntu computers.
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, but be sure to type "eMirror" in the subject line.
From Mishin tando, Thank you to the Roshi for the three CDs of various LInux flavours that he gave me to take to Kenya. During the training workshop, the three Kenyan trainees who are the computer geeks at their institution were talking about the difficulties with not having enough computers and problems with viruses. They said it was the price of software that restricted them from getting more computers up and running, since the hardware is getting a lot cheaper and is less of a cost-problem. I told them about Linux and my experience switching away from Windows, and about finding cost-free and open-source software for many applications. One of the three knew a bit about Linux though he'd never had a chance to try it out, and was very keen to try it. He talked enthusiastically to the others about the benefits, and the lack of virus problems is a big one. They have big headaches with this, and although most of their machines have McAfee or Norton, they can't always connect easily to the internet everyday to get the updates. They were extremely appreciative when I gave the 3 CDs to them the next day, and were looking forward to trying it out. They were amazed that there was a Swahili option. There are some data analysis programs they have to use that probably require Windows (SPSS and QSR) but they have many boxes that get used mostly for word processing and internet. One of the people from South Africa is also going to look into it. The computing environment is very restrictive in South Africa, and their institution monitors closely what can or can't be put on each of the machines. He didn't want to take a CD because he felt they would be more precious to the Kenyans (fewer resources here) but is going to download the version that lets him try it out on his Windows system at home. He was very interested in learning more about what Mark Shuttleworth is up to, since he has quite a reputation as a success story in South Africa. He hadn't heard about the One Laptop Per Child initiative but is going to check out their web site. From Saigyo chiden, Thank you to Neil Porter for samu on the 3rd floor fish pond and for purchasing some trim to complete the work. To Samantha Drouin, Guillaume Albert and Carl Anderson for archiving samu. From Nathan Comeau, Thank you to the Roshi for founding Dainen-ji, for allowing me to practice in such a beautiful and amazing practice environment, and for always asking me to practice; thank you to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for beautifully presented and nourishing meals that are fun to eat and are the best food I have ever had; thank you to Shikai osho for concise Daisan and deliciously satisfying refreshment each day during my retreat; thank you to Jinmyo osho for funny Daisan that clarifies many details; thank you to Chunen ino for practice interviews and for making sure guests are comfortable during our stay at Dainen-ji; thank you to Saigyo chiden for humorous practice interviews, for ceaseless samu and for leading samu periods each day; thank you to Senbo shuso for cheerful pointers; thank you to all of the Practice Council for the great care taken with student's practice; thank to all of the residents of Dainen-ji for arranging their busy schedules to allow students to sit retreats; thank you to all who helped establish and maintain the practice environment. Comings and Goings Mishin tando will be in Kenya co-leading a work-related project from Saturday, October 13th until Sunday, October 28th.
Ongoing
Training Sessions and Short Residential Training Periods for Associate and General Students There are a number of options available to associate and general students who wish to practice more intensively, such as sitting a full or partial retreat for one or several days, or extending their practice at home to include two or three rounds. In addition, associate or general students may register for a "training session". This requires making a commitment to a one-week, month-long, or three month period during which they would attend all of the formal sittings at the monastery, morning and evening with the exception of Tuesday evening and Sunday morning (which are reserved for formal students and monastics) while continuing to live at home. The training sessions are intended to allow students to experience what it is like to participate in the monastery’s full schedule. Formal sittings are led by Roshi and include chanting practice and more extensive use of the forms. Students engaging in a training session would also have more opportunities to meet with Dharma Teachers or practice advisors to discuss their practice. At the end of a training session, students would return to their normal schedule. There would be no extra dana involved in practising a training session. With the Undo serving as a dormitory space students can register for periods of residential training at Dainen-ji for anywhere from overnight to several weeks. This involves attending the practice schedule, evening meals, participation in regular soji (cleaning the practice halls) and samu (care-taking). During the days one would go to one’s job or could do extra sitting and study outside of a retreat schedule. The dana for this is $40 a day; work scholarships can also be arranged. To register for a training session or residential training, please send an email to schedule at wwzc dot org or telephone the Zen Centre office at (613) 562-1568 and leave a message. When scheduling a training session, please remember not to include dates that fall within a sesshin or an O-sesshin.
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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