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photograph by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi
eMirror Vol. 12, No. 11 Friday, March 14th, 2008 Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho
Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror
Dogen zenji continues,
All the ragged presencing of experiences of the ten directions are contained within this Eye. It is all points of view and contains all eyes.
All of the ups and downs and itches and scratching and bright and dark and space and stars of the ten directions are contained within your eye, within your fingertip, within each and every point of space. When you understand this, you can see from many points of view simultaneously instead of a blinkered and heavy-handed manner. With the words "nyoko-ta-gen", Dogen is making reference here to another famous koan, which appears as Sanbyakusoku Case 105: Yunyan's "Hands and Eyes All Over."
Yunyan asked Daowu, "What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use all of those hands and eyes for?" Daowu said, "It's like someone reaching out and groping for a pillow in the night." Yunyan said, "I understand." Daowu said, "How do you understand it?" Yunyan said, "There are hands and eyes all over the body." Daowu said, "You have said much but only brought out about eight-tenths of it." Yunyan said, "What would you say, elder brother?" Daowu said, "The whole body is hands and eyes."
Seeing clearly with this eye which reflects the whole world of ten directions, the whole world of ten directions becomes open eyes and open hands. The whole body, intimate with the whole world, released past itself, past the world is hands and eyes. Whatever is done, whatever is seen, is a bringing forth of wholeness and liberation for all beings because it is done as the activity of the whole world or skilful means. Daowu compared this to someone who is sleeping, reaching out for a pillow in the night, as an example of unselfconscious, unplanned, natural activity. I would say that it's more like flowers are blooming and [ACHOO!] you sneeze because there is pollen drifting in the air. Kanno-doku, the call and answer between event and appropriate action is like this. Shinchi Jozan daiosho said, "This flower pushes forth the three worlds, the ten directions. Without trading nostrils, you wear my skin, I wear yours."
Please, this evening, enjoy yourselves.
Upcoming Events
Fusatsu and the Vow of Samantabhadra Chanting of the Precepts will take place on March 19th, April 2nd and April 23rd. The Vow of Samantabhadra will be chanted on March 26th, April 9th, 16th and 30th.
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. Hermitage The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Wednesday, April 2nd, which will end at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 6th 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, April 5th. 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.
Hanamatsuri Two-day Sesshin The Hanamatsuri two-day sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, April 11th and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 13th. On Saturday, April 12th, 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 On Saturday, April 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.
Dharma Assembly On Saturday, April 26th, 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, March 15th general sitting - Turning the Wheel of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Gyoji: Continuous Practice": "Body of Joy" (teisho 20 of 44). Sunday, March 16th formal sitting – SAkN: Tathagatagarbha: "Bodhicitta" (teisho 4 of 4).
Monday, March 17th general sitting - The Landscape of Reality: "What the Wind Wants" (teisho 5 of 12).
Tuesday, March 18th formal sitting - Being Between-Being: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Teachings on practicing throughout the process of death: "Death is Unthinkable" (teisho 2 of 6).
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 March sesshin:
Teisho 23: Another and Another (March 9, 2008)
Current Dharma Talk
On Thursday, March 13th, Ven. Shikai Zuiko osho presented the 15th Dharma Talk in the series "Every Breath You Take".
Media Site Updates
The following teisho series have been added to the Media Site:
The Lions Roar Discourse of Queen Srimala. 18 classes presented by Zen Master Anzan Hoshin in 1995.
Aligned with the Way. Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on Dogen Zenji's "Hotsu Mujoshin". Six teisho presented in 1995.
Flowers and Worms: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's commentaries on the Maharahulovada sutta. Seven teisho presented in 1992 .
Retreats and Training Sessions Chiso anagarika began a retreat on Monday afternoon which ended on Wednesday morning.
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.
Address Updates for Charitable Tax Receipts Tax receipts for dana contributions made between January-December 2007 will be ready before the end of February. If you have moved in the past year, or are not certain that we have your current address on file, please email your address information to me at mishin at trytel dot com. Thank you to the Sangha for your generosity with dana contribution. - Gassho, Mishin tando, treasurer.
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, prior to evening sittings:
Monday Yakuseki Noodle and onion frittata with gojuchang sauce (Korean chile miso with vinegar); red cabbage and eryingi mushrooms braised in tamarind and mirin broth; stirf-fried Shanghai bok choy with Meyer lemon; roasted plum tomatoes and red bell peppers with Sichuan peppercorns.
Tuesday Yakuseki Twenty-four mixed grains (Lundberg Farms short-grain brown rice, Thai and Korean sticky white rice, white and brown basmati rice, sushi rice, Thai long-grain white and brown rice, millet, toasted and untoasted sorghum, glutinous millet, red and white quinoa, toasted and untoasted kasha, amaranth, pearled wheat, arborio rice, gohan, Korean and Thai brown sticky rice, freek); beef blade roasts braised in red wine, vegetable juices, and shoyu; the braising liquor strained, seasoned, and garnished with chopped Chinese celery; red and yellow bell peppers, cubanelle peppers, and eryingi mushrooms sauteed in the fond from searing the beef roasts, dressed with shoyu and sesame oil; salad of blanched snow peas and sugar snap peas dressed with Meyer lemons, ngoc mam, and slivered ginger.
Thursday Yakuseki Mixed grain seasoned with dried coriander, garllic, bonito, salt, white pepper; laarb with "chicken" and "beef" ground soy protein, red and yellow bell peppers, cubanelle peppers, banana peppers, red bird chiles, chopped green chiles, minced lemongrass hearts, chive stems, slivered ginger, ngoc mam and mirin and garnished with fresh coriander; black trumpet mushrooms roasted with shoyu and sesame oil; chopped fennel roasted in coconut milk; salad of blanched carrot strip "noodles" dressed with Meyer lemons and ngoc mam.
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 Chunen ino: Thank you to the Roshi for thousand of teisho and Dharma Talks presented over the past decades; to Shikai osho for her Thursday evening dharma talks on “The Practice of Purity”, for reminders to practice with every breath, for researching requirements for and locating washing machines for the basement; to Jinmyo osho for overseeing transcription of the Roshi's teachings and for reviewing e-mail instruction sent by practice advisors to associate and general students; to Mishin tando for ensuring hundreds of dana contributions and bills are tracked through the year and every student gets their tax reciepts on time, to Saigyo chiden for regular shovelling of snow from the front porch roof during the recent snow storms; to Senbo shuso for checking the birds in the cedar hedge around Dainen-ji have enough to eat by keeping the bird feeder full; to Carl Anderson for archiving samu and for making trips to the UPS store; to Elizabeth Katz for donating an IBM ThinkPad laptop. From Mishin tando: Thank you to the Roshi for the teisho "Another and Another" from the series "Doing Not-Doing part two", presented during the March sesshin, and for the vividness and laughter of dokusan that show me again and again how not to take self-image seriously; to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for designing and preparing the delicious and beautiful sesshin meals; to Shikai osho for sesshin refreshment and for surprise of bright red pomegranate seeds in various refreshments that wake up the eyes and mouth; to Saigyo chiden for clearing snow off the Kaisando roof and for ensuring the gas meter and vents are kept clear; to Nathan Comeau for archiving samu. From Saigyo chiden: Thank you to the Roshi for the tender and powerful sho (brush and ink painting) of his teacher, Yasuda Joshu Dainen daiosho, which hangs in the first floor library and for opening my experience to an incredibly wide range of arts. Thank you to Shikai osho for another excellent Dharma Talk in the "Every Breath You Take" series, presented each Thursday evening. Thank you to Jinmyo osho for endless generosity and humour and for incredible mixed grain. Thank you to Muryo for her valuable work as assistant to the Shissui. Thank you to Guillaume Albert, Sophia Stevenson, Samantha Drouin and Carl Anderson for archiving samu and to Charles Enman and Graham Mayeda for samu after the morning sittings each week. Thank you to Curtis Cheslock for clearing the window wells of very deep snow and ice to help avoid problems when the thaw begins and to Elizabeth Katz and Neil Porter for samu. From Senbo shuso: Thank you to the Roshi for relentlessly reminding us of the importance to use every given opportunity to practise; to Shikai osho for always kindly pointing out how may unquestioned and seemingly unimportant behaviors are just petty little games that self-image likes to play and also for arranging to purchase a new wonderful coffee maker for the dinning hall as well as a second-hand washing machine that will be used for dyeing fabric and wash dirty rags; to Chunen ino for various errands including purchasing bird feed; to Saigyo chiden for picking up and installing the glass on the newel post at the main entrance and for preparing coffee every morning for the third floor residents.
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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