eMirror Vol 26, No. 25 (2022-06-17)

Garmisch, Bavaria Photograph by Sarah Goul
Garmisch, Bavaria
Photograph by Sarah Goul


eMirror Vol 26, No. 25

Friday, June 17th
Edited by the Practice Council

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



What smells in here?

The sense base of smell is a series of chemoreceptors located in the olfactory epithelium, a patch of tissue roughly the size of a postage stamp located high in the nasal cavity. The olfactory epithelium is composed of three kinds of cells: ciliated sensory neurons, supporting cells between them, and basal cells that divide regularly producing a fresh crop of sensory neurons to replace those that die. These neurons, unlike those of the brain, renew themselves every thirty days. The cilia of the sensory neurons are bathed in a layer of mucus in which odorant molecules, molecules that we can smell, dissolve. When the molecules dissolve in the mucus they bind to receptors on the cilia which activates an enzyme in the plasma membrane. This sets up a series of chemical messenger signals which depolarizes the plasma membrane in various ways and an electrical signal moves through the olfactory nerve to the brain.

The sensory field of odours is the cloud of chemical molecules that surrounds the bodymind. Some of the molecules are oblong, some of them are round, some of them are square. Smell is a kind of touching, of feeling, just as seeing is the feeling of light and hearing the feeling of waves of vibration.

The looser that something is, the stronger its scent. Crystals such as salt break down in air much more slowly than basil leaves and so does not smell as strongly as basil. A fallen red and golden leaf from a maple tree smells much more strongly than a fresh new green leaf. Everything is always breaking down, always shedding itself. A vegetable becomes more and more fragrant as it cooks, as the fibres and cells begin to soften and break down.

And this brings us to something about the relationship between the sense of smell and the sense of taste. Smell is roughly 75% of what we call taste. This is why when you have a bad head cold, it is difficult to taste anything. Other aspects of taste have to do with texture or what is sometimes called “mouth feel” in the culinary profession, and of course the subtle variations that we call flavour.

Ven Anzan Hoshin roshi, concluding Class Five: "It Becomes You" in the series "Zen Arts: The Flowering of the Senses", October 1999 Daruma-ki O-sesshin, Dainen-ji.

 


Upcoming Events



Fusatsu: June 29th, July 13th and 27th.

Yaza
Yaza (all night sitting) will take place on Saturday, July 9th, from 10pm until Sunday,  July 10th, at 8am. Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei will lead the Yaza. 

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



Rev. Chiso anagarika sat her weekly semi-retreat on Tuesday, June 14th at her home in the Berkshires. Thach Hoang sat a two-day retreat from Friday, June 10th to Sunday, June 12th at his home in Laval, Quebec. Beth Buerkle sat a one-day retreat on Monday, June 13th at her home in 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, June 18th to Saturday, June 25th

Saturday, June 18th: "Bodymind of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Shinjin Gakudo": "A Good Morning to Wake Up" (10 of 17)
Sunday, June 19th: SAkN “Root Cycle Four” by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi: “Always Moving” (teisho 5 of 5)
Monday, June 20th: “Every Breath You Take” by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei: “Seeing People of Right Livelihood, part 2"(Dharma Talk 94)
Thursday, June 23rd: "Standing Clear" by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei 
Saturday, June 25th: "Bodymind of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Shinjin Gakudo": "Evening Comments: Practising Like a Needle" (11 of 17)
 


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

Tao (C ); Dõ (J): A term common in all Chinese thought as the principle of all things or the path. See also "Dõ".

Posted June 10th , 2022. New entries are posted every two weeks.

 

Brown egg


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 “. 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. The following meals were prepared on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings for residents:

Monday Yakuseki:
Calrose brown rice garnished with chopped scallions; bulgogi tofu (chopped poblano, cubanelle, jalapeno and red bell peppers, Spanish onion, thinly sliced ginger, deep-fried tofu, bulgogi sauce, shoyu, sesame oil); garlic-miso soup (vegetable stock, minced garlic, finely sliced ginger, shoyu, shiro miso, chopped Napa cabbage; baechu kimchi.

Tuesday Yakuseki:
Crusty rolls with butter; vegetarian option: fried eggs. For those who wished to supplement their diet with meat: roasted back bacon; selection of condiments for sandwiches; salad of Romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce, vine-ripened tomatoes, radishes, thinly sliced shallots, celery, radicchio, with a salad dressing made from equal parts of mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard, sweetened slightly with honey.

Thursday Yakuseki:
Mixed brown and white calrose rice; tamarind curry (chopped butternut squash, poblano, red bell peppers, jalapeno, Spanish onions, coconut milk, red onion, galangal, tamarind, chili, salt, turmeric, served with toasted cashews); vegetable/mushroom soup with shitake mushrooms, sliced ginger, sliced deep-fried tofu, chopped gai lan and baby bok choy. 
 

Anzan Hoshin 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 sensei at rengezo@gmail dot com, but be sure to type "eMirror” in the subject line.

From Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi:
Thank you to Jinmyo sensei and Saigyo Ino for the new stone lantern soon to be placed in the garden. To Mishin godo and Saigyo ino for assorted samu in the Hojo.

From the Office of the Treasurer:
Thank you to Jinmyo sensei for a donation for the cost of replacing the cedar hedge along the Friel Street side with yew trees. Thank you to Mishin godo for a donation for tomato, pepper, and herb plants for the monastery's roof garden. Thank you to Jinmyo sensei and Saigyo ino for donations to pay for the stone stupa and birdbath for the front garden.

From Saigyo ino:
Thank you to Stacey Loyer and Shannon Morphew for samu in the grounds. Thank you to Senbo, Abigail Lixfeld and Stacey Loyer for donating plants from their gardens to the monastery.

 

 

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