eMirror Vol 26, No. 7 (2022-02-11)

Bamboo digital painting by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, 2000s
Bamboo digital painting by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, 2000s 

eMirror Vol 26, No. 7

Friday, February 11th
Edited by the Practice Council

The White Wind Zen Community:
An international community practising and teaching Dogen’s Zen since 1985.



What he saw was the kind of thing expressed by Dogen zenji in a verse:

Ear and sound
do not block each other
and so there is no sound
and nothing said.

Despite what Dogen seems to be saying here, there is something said and there is sound. It is just that a sound does not occur out there someplace the way that people consider a sound to be. Nor does it occur within the ear. The sense base of the ear and the pebble striking the bamboo come together in the intimacy of hearing. The sound arises within the hearing. Not inside the body, not outside the body. And there is no sound as something inside or outside the hearing because hearing is not a place. The bamboo grove might be thirteen steps to the south-south east from where Xiangyan was sweeping. He might have been able to walk directly over to the bamboo and reach down and pick the pebble. But the pebble would still not be something inside or outside the bodymind because it would arise within the seeing and feeling of it. And so when we experience sound as it is, and the intimacy of no barrier between ear and sound and hearing and world, it is not that there is no sound as such, it is that this is what a sound actually is: a movement of intimacy.

This is a world which whirls within a sea of sounds and these sounds are movements of the space of hearing. Hearing is feeling the movements of these waves. Waves of vibrations move trembling through the air. A pebble striking bamboo, water being poured into water, air being expelled across the larynx, all shake the air. The tympanic membrane or eardrum and, the three tiny bones of the middle ear also vibrate. The last of these three bones, called the stirrup, wiggles a flexible layer of tissue at the base of the cochlea. This pressure sends waves rippling along the basilar membrane, stimulating some hair cells. These cells then emit a quick code of electrical movements, which are information about the frequency, the intensity, and the duration of a sound. The messages move through auditory nerve fibres running from the base of the hair cells to the centre of the cochlea, and from there to the brain. Moving through the brain, the signals reach the auditory areas of the cerebral cortex, which process and interpret them as a TOK!, or water being poured, or a human voice.

-Ven Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing Class Three: The Sea of Sounds" in the series "Zen Arts: The Flowering of the Senses", October 1999 Daruma-ki O-sesshin, Dainen-ji.
 


Upcoming Events



Fusatsu: February 16th, March 2nd and 16th

Nehan Seven-day O-sesshin:
The Nehan O-sesshin begins on Friday, February 11th, at 8:00 p.m. and will end on Friday, February 18th at noon. Students attending (or sitting at  home in alignment with the O-sesshin) are reminded to send their schedules to schedule@wwzc.org.

Nehan:
Commemoration of the Buddha’s Death (Nehan-e) February 15th.

March Two-day Sesshin:
The March two-day sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on March 11th and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday the 13th.

Keizan Ki
March 21st is the memorial for Keizan Jokin zenji.

Hermitage:
The Roshi is currently in an extended period of "self-isolation" due to underlying health issues until the COVID-19 situation clarifies.

Beginning Instruction in Zen Practice:
For information concerning our Long-distance Training Program, please visit this Web Page: https://wwzc.org/long-distance-training-program
 


Retreats and Sesshin



Rev. Chiso anagarika sat her weekly semi-retreat on Tuesday, February 8th at her home in the Berkshires. Tarik Kaya sat a half-day retreat on Saturday, February 5th at his home in Ottawa, Ontario. Thach Hoang sat a two-day retreat from Friday, February 4th to Sunday, February 6th at his home in Laval, Quebec. Beth Buerkle sat a partial retreat on Wednesday, February 9th at her home Chamcook, New Brunswick.

If you would like to sit a retreat at home please follow the schedule outlined in this page:  https://wwzc.org/retreat-schedule-public-students.  After your retreat, please send an email to schedule@wwzc.org to confirm that you sat a retreat and include the duration and location.
 


Recorded Teachings Schedule


Saturday, February 12th to Saturday, February 19th

Saturday, February 12th: "Drawn In, Moving Forth": Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's “Bendowa: A Talk on Exerting the Way”: "The Precepts and the Endowment" (20 of 28)
Monday, February 14th: “Every Breath You Take” by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei: “Seeing People Wearing Adornments" (Dharma Talk 76)
Thursday, February 17th: "Transparent" by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei
Saturday, February 19th: "Drawn In, Moving Forth": Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's “Bendowa: A Talk on Exerting the Way”: "One Thing One Wisdom" (21 of 28)

Recorded teisho schedule for playback during the Nehan O-sesshin, February 2022

Saturday, February 12th: "Round and Bright” on Ejo zenji's Komyozo Zanmai: "Feeling is Joy" ( teisho 8 of 23)
Sunday, February 13th: "Round and Bright" on Ejo zenji's Komyozo Zanmai: "In the Hot Seat" (teisho 9 of 23)
Monday, February 14th: "Round and Bright" on Ejo zenji's Komyozo Zanmai: "The Forge" (teisho 10 of 23)
Tuesday, February 15th: "Round and Bright" on Ejo zenji's Komyozo Zanmai: "Jewels of Flames" (teisho 11 of 23)
Wednesday, February 16th:"Round and Bright" on Ejo zenji's Komyozo Zanmai: "Wind Between the Ears" (teisho 12 of 23)
Thursday, February 17th:"Round and Bright" on Ejo zenji's Komyozo Zanmai: "Falling" (teisho 13 of 23)
 


Listening to Teisho and Dharma Talks



​Associate and general students should continue to follow the recorded Teachings schedule for the sitting you were attending at the monastery, and listen to that during your home practice.

You can access the online Recorded Teachings Library at wwzc.org/recorded-teachings-schedule. 

You can also use the streaming site at app.wwzc.org to live stream recordings from the online Library. If you have forgotten your password or need assistance with accessing the recorded Teachings, please email schedule@wwzc.org.

Please note that teisho should be listened to in the correct order and with none missed out as themes, metaphors, questions raised and answered evolve in spirals throughout the series.
 


Recorded Teachings for Public Access



While most of the online Recorded Teachings library is password-protected and only accessible to students of the Lineage of Zen Master Anzan Hoshin, a small selection of MP3 recordings of teisho are accessible to the public at wwzc.org/recorded-teachings Additional recordings will be uploaded periodically. MP3 recordings of four recorded teisho by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi are currently available:

Dharma Position https://wwzc.org/dharma-position
Eyes See, Ears Hear https://wwzc.org/eyes-see-ears-hear
Embarrassment https://wwzc.org/embarrassment
Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi's reading of his translation of Eihei Dogen zenji's “Bendowa: A Talk on Exerting the Way”: https://wwzc.org/bendowa-talk-exerting-way

 


Translations and Texts



Photograph of Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi at Daijozan, mid-1980s, by Ven. Shikai Zuiko sensei
Photograph of Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi at Daijozan, mid-1980s,
by Ven. Shikai Zuiko sensei

Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi has recently completed translation work on some shorter texts by Eihei Dogen zenji from the Shobogenzo. The work on these particular texts is based upon the literal translations that he worked on with Joshu Dainen roshi at Hakukaze-ji around 1977-78 followed by many years of putting them down, picking them up, and polishing. Naturally, more essential texts such as Uji, Genjokoan, Shinjin Gakudo and some 40 others were completed first and have been given extensive commentaries by the Roshi. This batch of texts includes Baike: Plum Blossoms, Ryugin: Howling Dragon, and Udonge: The Udumbara Blossoming and many others are nearing completion. Annotation details and successfully conveying them across various document formats are the issue at this point.

Work on Bussho: Buddha Nature, a very long and nuanced text by Dogen zenji, is ongoing.

Roshi is also finishing an update to the Saijo Shingi: The Deportment of Radiance, our manual of monastic training standards which is a supplement to the ancient Eihei Shingi and Keizan Shingi. 

 


Painted Cakes
(do not satisfy hunger)

Begun by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei
Finished by Rev. Fushin Comeau shramon following her death


scroll

Continuing on with “Painted Cakes: A Zen Dictionary,” a limited edition text written by Anzan Hoshin roshi in the 1980s and last revised in 1994.

Sõtõ (J); Ts'ao-tung (C) The largest Zen lineage in Japan. Also called the To transmission after Tung-shan Liang-ch'ieh (Tozan Ryokai).

Posted February 4th, 2021. New entries are posted every two weeks.
 

 

Japanese teapot on fire


Office of the Tenzo



Dogen zenji taught in the Tenzo kyokun: Instructions for the Tenzo (https://wwzc.org/dharma-text/tenzo-kyokun-instructions-tenzo) that the work of preparing and serving meals is "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. Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei serves as tenzo and Mishin godo and Saigyo ino offer assistance as tenzo-anja.

Monday Yakuseki:
Lundberg short-grain brown rice with butter and peas; sauteed chopped gai lan (Chinese broccoli) with seared white onion and sliced poblano peppers, mixed with some grated friulano cheese; butternut squash soup (blended cooked butternut squash, chopped white onion, lots of pepper, a dash of apple cider vinegar and a little bit of cream.

Tuesday Yakuseki:
Vegetarian meal: Crusty rolls, two kinds of hummus; coleslaw and tomato bisque (blended tomato juice, cooked carrots, onion, celery and garlic, seasoned with oregano, basil, thyme, lots of black pepper, and a bit of red balsamic vinegar. For those who wished to supplement their diet with meat: roasted sliced back bacon finished on the griddle with crusty rolls, coleslaw and tomato bisque.

Thursday Yakuseki:
Thai white and brown rice; Bulgogi tofu (sauteed cubed medium-firm tofu, chopped Spanish onion, chopped red bell peppers and jalapeno peppers, chopped gai lan, bulgogi sauce, shoyu; salad of Romaine lettuce, radicchio, chopped celery, radishes, tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion and speckled pea sprouts. 
 

Roshi bowing in gassho


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

From Jinmyo sensei:
Thank you to the Roshi for ongoing instruction and resources, the gift of a new cookbook and for menu design; to Mishin godo, Saigyo ino, Fushin shramon, Leonardo and David for the work they did during the Samu Day on Sunday. Thank you to the Ino for help with hanging curtains in the Sensei-ryo. Thank you to David Gallant for contributing the funds that made possible the purchase of a new 36” induction stove and griddle to replace the 50 year old commercial stove we have been using for the past 20 years. Thank you to Mishin godo for researching stoves to find one that would best suit our needs and for sourcing extra racks, pans and induction-ready pots for the new stove. Thank you to Saigyo ino for overseeing the electrical work needed for the stove and for finding a moving company to remove the very large commercial oven. Thank you to Ryoshin for transcription. Thank you to Senbo for updating the Practice Calendar every six months, for transcribing teisho, and for maintaining our Website. Thank you to Chantal Maheu for assisting with treasurer’s work and for transcribing teisho. 

From Fushin shramon:
Thank you to Mishin godo for growing vibrant and delicious sprouts that add so much to the meals with residents. Thank you to Saigyo ino for driving out to the shops each week and to Mishin godo leading the tasks of cleaning, sorting and storing the weekly groceries.

From David Gallant:
Thank you to Roshi for creating Dainen-ji, a wonderful and enriching practice environment which I get to breathe in and out each day here during residential training. Thank you Jinmyo sensei for regular dokusan, and for the many times she has helped me steer clear of life's potholes in the past few years. Thank you to Saigyo ino for organizing the recent Samu Day for residents. 

​From the Office of the Treasurer:
Thank you to Chunen angya for a donation towards cookware suitable for the new induction stove. Thank you to Ian Richard for a donation towards renovation work in the first floor shuryo/spare rooms. Thank you to Suzy Waldman for a donation.
 

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