eMirror Vol 21, No. 50 (2017-12-15)
Photograph by Ven. Fushin Comeau shramon
(of Roshi's footprint in the snow)
eMirror Vol 21, No. 50
Friday, December 15th, 2017
Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho
The White Wind Zen Community:
An international community practising and teaching Dogen’s Zen since 1985.
Quotes from teisho are run sequentially in the eMirror
There are all kinds of ways of working with craziness. Joshu roshi's way was to take one's sense of struggle, of poverty, of fear, of anger, and rub your nose in it until you realized that it tickled, until you developed a sense of humour about how you continually caused yourself trouble.
He would say, "People are crazy: they're Buddhas but think they're assholes. Or they're assholes, and think they're Buddhas." So we left out the word 'naturally' or 'spontaneously'. And it's implied in any case: "The four elements return to their own nature like a child to its mother".
All things, all appearances, all activity, are the presentation of that which never moves. Everything that is known is completely and utterly intimate with Knowing. This is closer than the relationship between child and mother. Closer than any relationship at all because it is not a matter of one thing being related to another thing. It is the fact that there is nothing at all, and it is this which presents itself as this measureless richness of our lives.
Although there is only one thing that is ever going on, it presents itself in so many different ways: as heat, as motion, as moisture, as surfaces. For the eye, there are colours, and actually, "Manako wa iro": iro means "colour and form". So really, "Manako wa iro" would mean something like, "for (and this is implied) the eyes (then the implication of "there are", and then) colour and form." And similarly, "for ears, sounds", "for nose, fragrances", "for tongue, salty and sour tastes". But we want to emphasise the activity of seeing rather than something being seen. So: "eye sees, ear hears, nose smells, tongue tastes salt and sour".
-Continuing teisho 3: "Waking Up is Not a Matter of 'Up'," August 24th, 1996 in "Studying the Mystery," Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Shitou Xiqian's "Sandōkai"
Upcoming Events
https://wwzc.org/upcoming-events
Fusatsu: December 20th.
Hermitage
The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Monday, December 11th, which will end at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 15th, when he leads monastics in Acalanatha Sadhana.
Joya (New Year’s Celebration)
On Sunday, December 31st at 10 p.m. until Monday, January 1st at 12:00 a.m., we will celebrate Joya or New Year's. Join Zen Master Anzan Hoshin and Ven. Shikai Zuiko sensei and Ven. Jinmyo osho and the monastics of the Northern Mountain Order in ringing in the New Year with 108 recitations of the Mahaprajnaparamita Hridaya sutra mantra. Following the sitting there will be an array of shojin-ryori (Zen vegetarian cuisine) dishes for an informal feast. All students are welcome to attend. There is no better way to begin the year. Dana is $25. Please register by sending an email to schedule at WWZC dot org, or telephone the Zen Centre office (613) 562-1568.
Retreats
To Schedule a Retreat
Please visit this Web page for information about scheduling a retreat and an explanation of the different kinds of retreat (duration and timing) you can sit: https://wwzc.org/retreats. Please note that retreats should be scheduled one week in advance.
Public students sitting retreats should send an email to schedule@wwzc.org to confirm they sat a retreat so that notice of it can be included in the eMirror. Please include the location of the retreat and the duration.
Teisho
Recent Teisho
During the December 2017 Rohatsu O-sesshin, Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi continued his presentation of the series "The Lineage of Luminosity: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Keizan Jokin zenji's “Denkoroku: Record of the Transmission of Luminosity”: Part Two: The Lineage in China:
- December 4th: Zhenxie's Cleverness Vanished
- December 5th: Zhenxie Qingliao's Turning Phrases
- December 6th: Reading of Case 49: Tiantong Zongjue
- December 7th: Tiantong Zongjue and Expressing It
Recorded Teachings Schedule
- Saturday, December 16th general sitting: “The Primordially Awakened Way”: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Kobutsu-shin": “Buddhas Loose in the World” (2 of 8)
- Sunday, December 17th formal sitting: SAkN “Root Cycle One” by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi: “Working with SAkN” (teisho 5 of 6)
- Monday, December 18th general sitting: “Bodhidharma’s Eyes” by Ven. Anzan Hoshin: “No Text, No Trace, No Corpse” (3 of 13)
- Thursday, December 21st associate sitting: “Sitting Up Straight”: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Keizan Jokin zenji's "Zazen Yojinki": “It’s Just That Simple” (16 of 18)
- Saturday, December 23rd general sitting; “The Primordially Awakened Way”: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Kobutsu-shin": “Assorted Old Buddhas” (3 of 8)
Missed Sittings and Teisho
If associate students are unable to attend the Thursday evening associate sitting, they may attend one of the general sittings to make up for the sitting they missed. General sittings are held on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (first Bell is at 7:15) and Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m. (first Bell at 9:15 a.m.). Please send an email to request permission to attend one of these sittings.
Teisho presented at general and associate sittings which are part of a series need to be listened to in the correct order and with none missed out. If you miss a sitting please borrow a copy of the missed teisho from the library or download it from the WWZC Media Site as soon as possible, so that the continuity of what is being presented is not disrupted. The weekly list of recorded teisho played at sittings is posted on the web site at:
https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings-schedule
Online Access to Recorded Teachings
Students can access the password-protected online Recorded Teachings library on the WWZC website at https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings or through the streaming site at http://app.wwzc.org. The custom-built media streaming site allows students to live stream recordings from the WWZC Recorded Teachings collection. It is optimized for use on smartphones and tablets, and works with most modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It can also be used on desktops.
WWZC Website www.wwzc.org
Recorded Teachings for Public Access
While most of the online Recorded Teachings library is password-protected and only accessible to students of Zen Master Anzan Hoshin, a small selection of MP3 recordings of teisho are accessible to the public at https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings. Additional recordings will be uploaded periodically.
MP3 recordings of five teisho 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
- Yaza 2007: Sit Through the Night, the Night is Bright Right Through https://wwzc.org/yaza-2007
- 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
New Stock of Incense in Myomaku
A new shipment of incense has arrived in Myomaku (in the first floor library at Dainen-ji) with a variety of Shoyeido products available for purchase, to use in your practice space or as gifts. The selection includes an assortment of incense for daily use, several smokeless varieties, and premium incense. There are also incense gift sets, and small cloth and brocade sachets (containing powdered incense) that can be used to freshen closets. All proceeds support White Wind Zen Community.
Samu on Sundays
Each Sunday afternoon (except during O-sesshin and Sesshin), Caretaking Council (Saigyo tando, Fushin shramon and Endai shramon) do samu from 1:30p.m to 4:30p.m. on the various small projects required around the monastery. There are always a great many tasks that need to be done and so any students are welcome and encouraged to come to Dainen-ji to join the monastics in caretaking practice. If you would like to partake in the samu practice on Sundays please write to Saigyo tando at saigyo.cross@gmail.com.
Painted Cakes
(do not satisfy hunger)
by Shikai Zuiko sensei
Continuing on with “Painted Cakes: A Zen Dictionary” a limited edition text written by Anzan Hoshin roshi in 1994.
Omamaori(J); A talismanic object empowered by the teacher as a reminder of practice and an access point for transmission
Questions can be sent to me, Shikai sensei, at shikai.sensei@gmail.com.
Office of the Tenzo
Dogen zenji taught in the Tenzokyokun 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 osho serves as tenzo and Mishin ino and Saigyo tando offer assistance as tenzo-anja.
Monday Yakuseki:
Calrose and arborio rice; hot and sour soup (dark shoyu, Chinese dried black mushrooms, small dried tree ear mushrooms, dried lily buds, snow ear fungus, sliced bamboo shoots, red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, light shoyu, salt, firm tofu, sesame oil, white pepper, thinly sliced scallions, fresh coriander leaves, cornstarch); cucumbers and chopped tomatoes in kkakdugi juice, with a splash of lime juice.
Tuesday Yakuseki:
Dairy-free mashed Yukon gold potatoes (potatoes, chicken stock, nutritional yeast, vegan margarine, Dijon mustard, lots of black pepper); Roast beef tenderloin; fresh spinach.
Thursday Yakuseki:
Curried lo mein noodles with vegetables (lo mein, sauteed strips of Spanish onion, red bell pepper, poblano pepper, cubanelle and green pepper, roasted scallion paste, shoyu, ginger, cumin, cardamom, cayenne, turmeric); deep-fried tofu triangles with shitake mushrooms (shaoshing, dark shoyu, mirin, garlic); sauteed spinach stems and leaves and baby bok choy with ponzu and mirin and lots of black pepper; baechu kimchi, kkakdugi and white radish kimchi.
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 David Gallant:
Thank you to Ven. Yasuda Joshu Dainen roshi for doing what needed to be done to transmit the Way during his lifetime. Thank you to Roshi for his many years of study and practice with Joshu Dainen roshi. Thank you to Jinmyo osho for daisan this week, for a recent thoughtful suggestion on working with someone hard of hearing, and for suggesting decaf Red Rose tea, making a big difference to my sleep quality lately. Thank you to Senbo for creating a new way to assemble the weekly eMirror with an online WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor tool.
What to do if you arrive late for a sitting
You don't need to turn around and go home. Ring the bell once and then sit on the bench on the front porch. If possible, we will come and unlock the door for you right away. If we are in the middle of the chants or listening to a teisho, we will come to let you in as soon as the teisho finishes.
Ongoing Project: "All is Change"
Dainen-ji, being a 140-year-old building, is continuously in need of maintenance and the costs associated with this can be astronomical when such things as porch repairs or exterior 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. If anyone would like to contribute to this fund, each penny will be appreciated. The “All is Change” container is on the wooden wall shelf under the Sangha Board in the cloak room.