Sanmon (Mountain Gate), Thursday Feb. 14, 7 a.m.,

photograph by Ven. Shikai Zuiko osho

 

eMirror Vol. 12, No. 7

Friday, February 15th, 2008

Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho

 


 

Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror

 

Nonetheless, this metaphor was very common in Tang and Song China. The compilations of the recorded Teachings of the early Chan Masters were called Records of the Lamp. For example, a text which I quote from a great deal and which was a resource for later Teachers such as Eihei Dogen zenji and for the various collections of koan is the Jingde Chuandenglu, known in Japanese as the Keitoku Dentoroku. Chuandenglu means "Records of the Lamp" and Jingde refers to the era in which it was compiled. Keizan Jokin zenji also compiled such a record along with his own teisho and verses on the cases called the Denkoroku, which means Record of the Transmission of ko, Luminosity.

There is a famous story in Chuandenglu 10 that we have encountered many times before, especially in Dogen zenji's text "Komyo" and my commentaries on it.

            Zen Master Changsha Jingcen ascended the hall and addressed the assembly, saying, "If I were to give some Teachings to you, then weeds will flourish in this hall, ten feet deep. But this cannot be stopped. So I say to you, the whole world of ten directions is reflected in this monk's eye. The whole world of ten directions is contained in everyday talk. The whole world of ten directions fills this monk's body. This whole world of ten directions is pervaded by your own luminosity. This whole world of ten directions is within your own luminosity. And throughout all worlds in the ten directions there is no one that is not you. This is what I have been Teaching you when I say that all of the Buddhas, dharmas, all sentient beings of the three worlds are the great luminosity of perfect knowing.

            "But before this light shined, where were you? Before this light shined, before Buddhas and before sentient beings, from where did mountains, rivers, the great earth come?"

            A monk asked, "What is this monk's eye?"

            Changsha said, "So vast and wide you can never leave it." Then Changsha also said, "Those who become Buddhas and Ancestors cannot leave it. The six realms cannot leave it."

            The monk said, "I don't understand what it is that they can't leave."

            Changsha said, "Throughout the day, see the sun. Throughout the night, see the moon."

            The monk said, "I don't understand."

            Changsha said, "The high mountains are piled blue upon blue."

 

            Dogen zenji only uses the first part of Master Changsha's Teaching. We will consider all of this in a little while.

-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing teisho 5: "Sun and Moon, Hands and Eyes" in the the teisho series "Five Fingers, Ten Directions: Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's text 'Jippo'", presented Tuesday, May 15, 2001.

 

Upcoming Events

 

Fusatsu and the Vow of Samantabhadra

Chanting of the Precepts will take place on February 20th, March 5th and March 19th. The Vow of Samantabhadra will be chanted on February 27th, March 12th and March 26th.

 

Oryoki for General Students

On Saturday, February 16th, 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 first Samu Weekend of 2008 will be held on February 23rd and 24th. The activities for the weekend are yet to be finalized. Please pencil these dates into your calender. To register, please send an email to Saigyo chiden at saigyo at telecomottawa dot net or telephone the office answering machine at 613-562-1568 to leave a message.

 

Hermitage

The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Wednesday, February 27th, which will end at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 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, March 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.  

 

March Two-day Sesshin

The March two-day sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 7th and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 9th. On Saturday March 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, March 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.

 

Keizan-ki

March 21st is the memorial for Keizan Jokin zenji.

 

Dharma Assembly

On Saturday, March 22nd, Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho will lead a Dharma Assembly entitled "the Dragon in His Waters,

 the Tiger in Her Mountains" 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, February 16th general sitting - Turning the Wheel of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Gyoji: Continuous Practice": "Traces of Tracelessness" (teisho 17 of 44).

Sunday, February 17th formal sitting – SAkN: Tathagatagarbha: "Does a Dog Have Buddha Nature?" (teisho 1 of 4).

Monday, February 18th general sitting - The Landscape of Reality: "Here We Are" (teisho 1 of 12).

Tuesday, February 19th formal sitting - Being Between-Being: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Teachings on practicing throughout the process of death: "Full Moon Fades" (teisho 1 of 5).

 

Current Teisho Series

 

 

Continuing the teisho series "Doing Not-Doing part two: Zen

 Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Kyojukaimon"

 and "Fusatsu", the Roshi presented the following teisho during the Nehan O-sesshin:

 

Teisho 17: Nanquan and the cat Itself (February 9, 2008)

Teisho 18: Breaking and Severing (February 10, 2008)

Teisho 19: Receiving and Renewing (February 11, 2008)

Teisho 20: Bowing, Chanting, and the Formless Gate (February 12, 2008)

Teisho 21: Beginningless, Endless, Vast, Wondrous (February 13, 2008)

Teisho 22: Proclaiming (February 14, 2008)

 

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 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.

 

Training Sessions

For Students Living in Ottawa:

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.

For Public Students:

            This requires making a commitment to a one-week, month-long, or three-month period during which public students sit zazen according to the following schedule:

Monday morning: 6:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m.; Monday evening: 7:30 to 9:10 p.m.

Tuesday morning: 6:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m.

Wednesday morning: 6:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m.

Thursday morning: 6:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m.; Tuesday evening: 7:30 to 9:10 p.m.

Friday morning 6:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m. (Friday is Hossan and there are no scheduled sittings at the monastery, but students are expected to sit at home).

Saturday morning: 6:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m.

Sunday morning: 6:00 a.m. to 7:25 a.m.

            Public students who wish to do a Training Session should send an email to schedule at wwzc dot org to state their intention and specify the duration and schedule of their Training Session. After completing the Training Session, please send an email to Jinmyo osho at rengezo at gmail dot com to confirm that you have fulfilled your commitment and notice of it will be included in the eMirror.

 


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. The following meals were prepared by her during the O-sesshin:

 

Saturday Breakfast: Deep-fried tofu, shitake mushrooms, chopped onions, chopped cubanelles and red bell peppers in a tamarind-tomato sauce; Shanghai noodles with shoyu and roasted chili oil.

Saturday Lunch: Gohan (Japanese short-grain white rice); miso shiru with silken tofu and Shanghai bokchoy; takuan (pickled daikon) and gari (pickled ginger).

Saturday Supper: Roasted rutabaga, turnips, Yukon gold potatoes, russet potatoes and carrots; a salad of cooked baby bokchoy and leeks seasoned with salt, pepper and lime juice; chipotle-seasoned sliced gardine (soy and glutin) with seared red bell pepper strips.

 

Sunday Breakfast: Mixed-grain congee (Lundberg Farm short-grain brown rice, barley, Korean white and brown sticky rice, Chinese rice, Thai white and brown rice, gohan, arborio rice, pearled wheat, toasted and untoasted kasha, untoasted and toasted sorghum, millet, red and white quinoa, white and brown basmati rice) with scallions; scrambled eggs.

Sunday Lunch: Thai rice; spicy wakame seaweed soup with silken tofu; kimchi.

Sunday Supper: Lundberg Farm short-grain brown rice with peas, seasoned with butter, salt and pepper; Mushroom soup (King mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, shitake mushrooms and porcini mushrooms) with diced red bell pepper and onion; grape tomatoes, collosal black olives, fruilano cheese drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme.

 

Monday Breakfast: Fried rice with deep fried tofu.

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

Monday Supper: Pasta with batonettes of yellow, red, cubanelle and banana peppers in a butter/garlic sauce with Parmesan cheese; sauteed fennel and celery with red and white kidney beans seasoned with salt, pepper and red balsamic vinegar; large red plum tomatoes halved, roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper and basil.

 

Tuesday Breakfast: Mushroom congee with scrambled eggs.

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

Tuesday Supper: Roasted Yukon gold potatoes; sauteed gai lan; Large squares of deep-fried tofu coated in chili sauce and roasted.

 

Wednesday Breakfast: Fried rice (gohan, Chinese rice, chopped gai lan, red bell pepper and onion with deep fried tofu, garnished with peanuts).

Wednesday Lunch: Gohan; miso shiru with silken tofu and baby bokchoy; takuan and ginger.

Wednesday Supper: Gohan topped with cremini mushroom/chickpea/red bell pepper curry (the curry base was rendered-down onion and plum tomatoes, ginger, garlic, red bird chilis, cayenne, cardamom, garam masala, hing, popped mustard seeds and cumin seeds); daal (red lentils, diced onion, diced cubanelle and yellow peppers, coconut milk, cayenne, roasted mustard seeds, cumin  seeds and chili flakes, chipotle in adobo sauce, tomato concentrate, corriander, salt, pepper, and lime juice); cucumber salad dressed with yogurt mixed with lime pickle, salt and pepper.

 

Thursday Breakfast: Sauteed Paris mushrooms, diced potato and chopped chinese celery mixed with gohan; scrambled eggs.

Thursday Lunch: Gohan; wakame seaweed soup with silken tofu; kimchi.

Thursday Supper: Pasta with garlic, fresh parsley, tomato, red kidney beans and small cubes of fruilano cheese; blended butternut squash/rutabaga/onion soup; sauteed king mushrooms.

 

Friday Breakfast: Lentil congee.

 

Refreshments Prepared During the week of O-sesshin

Saturday-oatcakes with Brie, cheddar, and double Gloucester, cheese

 

Sunday-ginger and cheddar mini-muffins

 

Monday- cheese stuffed eggs and whipped eggs with garlic toast

 

Tuesday-brie and plum, bitter orange and labney, and mincemeat with labney, in phyllo dough packages

 

Wednesday- guacamole with freshly baked corn chips

 

Thursday-feta biscuits

 

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, but be sure to type  "eMirror" in the subject line.

 

From Shikai osho: Thank you to the Roshi for the on-going sesshin and O-sesshin teisho series “Doing Not-Doing”; Monks on the third floor who check the third floor printer and bring down recipes and articles printed remotely from my computer on the first floor; Senbo shuso for graphic design input on a couple of projects and for filling the bird feeder every day; Jido anagarika for maintaining the fish habitats on the third floor, for an extra special cleaning of the aquarium in the first-floor Osho-ryo and for letting me use his power drill; Jennifer Comeau for books and errands; Nicole Lewis for having a VHS transferred to DVD.

From Jinmyo osho: Thank you to the Roshi for founding Dainen-ji and for  the incalculable hours he has spent researching and presenting the immense collection of teisho, texts and other resources which form the basis of our study and have set the standards and style with which the Teachings are presented by Dharma Teachers and practice advisors; to Shikai osho for leading students in chanting the Vow of Samantabhadra each evening during O-sesshin and for designing and preparing refreshments each day. Thank you to Chunen ino for preparing the Rota (list of assignments and tasks) each day.

From Mishin tando, Thank you to the Roshi for the elegance, intensity of practice, exposure, and fun of the Nehan O-sesshin, and for the six teisho presented during the O-sesshin, continuing the series "Doing Not-Doing part two" about the precepts of Being Wisdom; to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for shopping for, designing, and preparing the many colourful and delicious meals served to practitioners over the past seven days; to Shikai osho for the range of tasty and rejuvenating afternoon refreshments prepared during O-sesshin especially the devilled eggs with pomegranate seeds and guacamole with handmade corn chips; to Jinmyo osho for clarifying the forms of oryoki practice; to  Chunen ino, Saigyo chiden, Senbo shuso, and Jido anagarika for recording, copying and auditing the teisho presented each night during O-sesshin.

 


 

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 in 2007, was again delayed due to the necessity of a urgent roof repair to the west side of the roof. This repair 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 fund raise 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 spring and the improved facilities will be available in early 2008. 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. Many hundreds of dollars has been collected so far both in loose change and Canadian tire money which has been put towards the building maintenance fund. If anyone would like to contribute to this fund, each penny will be appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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