eMirror Vol 22, No. 4 (2018-01-26)

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Photograph by Jinen Boates, Wolfville Zazenkai 

eMirror Vol 22, No. 4

Friday, January 26th, 2018
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         

       

        Stonehead goes on: "Hearing the words, find the root." So:

        Koto o ukete wa subekaraku shū o e subeshi

        Koto means "like I've already said" or "the preceding words"; ukete means "to receive or listen"; subekaraku means "you should" or "definitely" or "really". Shū is "source" or "root", and is the origin of speaking and hearing. E subeshi means "to actually understand"; "to discover"; "to find".
        The root of our lives is the groundlessness, the complete lack of any reality whatsoever to our imaginations about reality, our imaginations about substance, self, other, body, mind, time, space. Our lives are lived as the ceaseless activity of that which never moves, and yet that which turns, tumbles, rises and falls as this moment, which has come from nowhere and goes nowhere at all.

-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing teisho 4: "The Root of Your Life," September 16th, 1996 in "Studying the Mystery: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Shitou Xiqian's Sandōkai"
 


This Year’s Flu Season is Nasty and Getting Worse

A Few Things You Can do to Prevent Contagion:


Prevention
We have provided paper hand towels for each washroom and in the Dining Hall to prevent the spread of infection through using cloth towels. In addition, hand sanitizer has been placed at each sink and on the shelf next to the coat rack. Please use it. As part of daily samu, handrails, door knobs and other surfaces are disinfected before each sitting. As monastics already clean the practice rooms during this time, assistance from associate or general students would be appreciated. Please contact Mishin ino at schedule@wwzc.org to arrive for sittings a few minutes early.

Hand Washing
The simple act of hand washing is the single most important means of preventing the spread of viral and bacterial infections. But hand washing requires more than a quick rinse under the tap. You need to work the soap over both hands, between your fingers and up the wrist for 15 seconds (count it out) for it to be effective. Or you can use the hand sanitizer placed at sink areas if you don't want to use soap and water. But please, clean your hands frequently.

Coughing
If you really need to cough you can do so. But to avoid spreading a cold or flu or spraying the wall, it is better to bring one hand out of the mudra, raise and then turn it so that you cough against the back of the hand rather than into the palm as we use the palm to turn door knobs, handle water glasses and so forth. When practicing in a group situation, it is helpful to be mindful of such details.

Nose Blowing
If you need to blow your nose, please feel free to blow it while sitting in zazen. You do not need to use the forms we use for changing posture in order to blow your nose. Just do it with as little muss and fuss as possible so that there is a minimum of distraction for you and for others. The only exception to this would be, for instance, during a bowing round, or during the chants while holding the chanting text. But these are brief activities and you should be able to “work it out” so that you can blow your nose before or after.

Sniffing 
Sniffing should be avoided as it is very distracting to others and does not help anything. The reason the nose runs is because the bodymind is trying to expel mucus and so sniffing it back into the nose or down the throat will only cause further irritation to the mucous membranes. It is simpler to just blow the nose.

Throat Clearing
Continuous throat clearing is possibly one of the greatest sources of irritation both for the person who does it and anyone within earshot. Constantly clearing the throat will irritate it and that will lead to even more throat clearing. Once in a while it may be necessary to do this, or it may happen spontaneously, but it should not be repetitive. It is something that can become habitual, just as sniffing can. It is advisable to perhaps cough to clear the throat if it is that congested, and balance and equalize the sensations by opening attention around them to the rest of the sensations of the body.

Missed Sittings
Associate students who need to miss a sitting because they are too ill to attend can make up the sitting they’ve missed by attending one of the two general sittings held each week (Monday evening, 7:15 to 9:10 or Saturday morning, 9:15 to 11:40) Please send an email to schedule@wwzc.org requesting permission to do so. If you are unable to attend your scheduled sitting, please send an email in advance to notify us of that as we will worry about you if you don’t arrive.

 


Upcoming Events


https://wwzc.org/upcoming-events

Fusatsu: January 31st, February 14th and 28th. 

Hermitage
The Roshi will begin a period of hermitage on Wednesday, January 31st, which will end at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, February 4th, when he leads monastics in Acalanatha Sadhana.

Introduction to Zen Workshop
The next Introduction to Zen Workshop will take place at Dainen-ji on Saturday, February 3rd. For more information please see: https://wwzc.org/introduction-zen-workshop-ottawa 
For information concerning our Long-distance Training Program, please visit this Web Page: https://wwzc.org/long-distance-training-program 

Cancelled General Sitting
The Monday, February 12th, 7:30 p.m. general sitting is cancelled due to O-sesshin.

Cancelled Associate Sitting
The Thursday, February 15th, 7:30 p.m. associate sitting is cancelled due to O-sesshin.

Nehan O-sesshin
The Nehan O-sesshin will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, February 9th, and will end on Friday, February 16th,  at noon. Formal students are reminded to send their schedules to schedule at wwzc dot org as soon as is possible.
On Saturday, February 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.

A Note to Preliminary and Public Students Concerning O-sesshin
During an O-sesshin the schedule is such that there is no time to meet face to face with preliminary students or to reply to email correspondence sent by public students. Public students are asked to send their weekly practice journals, as they will be reviewed. But unless there is something that needs an immediate reply, you will not receive an email reply until the week following the O-sesshin.
 


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


Recorded Teachings Schedule

  • Saturday, January 27th general sitting: “The Primordially Awakened Way”: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Kobutsu-shin": “Collapsing, Falling, Dropping” (7 of 8)
  • Monday, January 29th general sitting: “Bodhidharma’s Eyes” by Ven. Anzan Hoshin: “This is How We Walk” (9 of 13)
  • Thursday, February 1st associate sitting: “Being Breathed” by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei: “Being Breathed part 3” (Dharma Talk 3 of 4)
  • Saturday, February 3rd general sitting: “The Primordially Awakened Way”: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Kobutsu-shin": “The Naked Post” (8 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.


Charitable Tax Receipts for Dana Contributions



Charitable tax receipts for all donations made during 2017 will be mailed out before the end of February. If you have moved in the last year or are unsure whether we have your current address on file please confirm your mailing address with Mishin ino (mishin at gmail dot com) to ensure that you receive your tax receipt. If you have made your donations to WWZC through CanadaHelps.org, tax receipts for those donations are issued directly by CanadaHelps. Thank you to all who have offered monthly dana and special gifts over the past year to support the activities of the monastery, maintenance and renovation projects.
 


WWZC Website  www.wwzc.org


Newly Posted Recordings for Students

"Surpassing the Teacher", Memorial of Keizan Jokin zenji, by Ven Anzan Hoshin roshi (April 17, 1988, Daijozan). Direct link: https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings/surpassing-teacher

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:


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.

 

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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.

 Omote no go (J);   Surface words, straightforward words, usual speech. See also “ura no go” and “sogo”. 

Questions can be sent to me, Shikai sensei, at shikai.sensei@gmail.com.

 

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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:
Biryani (leftover Lundberg short grain brown rice, green lentils, chopped onion, diced potato, chopped red bell pepper, sultanas, seasoned with garam masala; curried butternut squash soup (blended, cooked butternut squash, carrots, celery, white onion, cayenne, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, finished with a small amount of cream; sauteed gai lan stems and greens mixed with haricots verts seasoned with lime juice, black pepper, toasted mustard and cumin seeds.

Tuesday Yakuseki:
Roasted peameal bacon; scalloped potatoes (Yukon gold potatoes layered with a cheese sauce made from flour, milk, mustard and onion powder, garlic, habanero cheddar cheese, plain cheddar cheese, topped with grated fruilano; coleslaw (grated green cabbage, carrots, daikon, white onion, lime juice, horseradish, mayonnaise, salt and black pepper. 

Thursday Yakuseki:
Lundberg short-grain brown rice cooked in leftover liquid from monastery-made Radish Water Kimchi (dongchimi 동치미); bulgogi tofu (deep-fried tofu, red, cubanelle and poblano peppers, Spanish onion, bulgogi sauce, shoyu, ginger; Shanghai bok choy, cremini and eryngii mushrooms sauteed in sesame oil, shoyu and mirin, garnished with toasted sesame seeds.

 

Gassho (bowing monk)


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 Saigyo tando:
Thank you to the Roshi for excellent reading recommendations. Thank you to Shikai sensei for the loan of a workout mat and to Jinmyo osho helping with the layout of my room and the loan of a drawer unit. Thank you to Mishin ino for all of the administrative duties she does and to Fushin shramon and Endai shramon for snow shoveling. Thank you to Sarah Goul for regular weekly samu on a variety of projects and to those students who stay behind after the evening sittings to clean the front hallway of grit and water brought into the building on snowy days. 

From Endai shramon:
Thank you to the Roshi for creating an environment for practice where students can do retreats to deepen their practice. Thank you to the Roshi and Jinmyo osho for preparing delicious yakuseki meals this week. Thank you to Jinmyo osho for leading the memorial chant for our Lineage Ancestor Daiji Tenku daiosho at the formal sitting on Monday and for instruction during my recent retreat.

From Hannah Kent:
Thank you to Jinmyo osho for daisan that opened the door to resolving a long-standing issue. Thank you to Mishin ino for a practice interview and instruction on sitting posture.

 


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.

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