eMirror Vol 26, No. 29 (2022-07-15)

Reflexions on a wall, photograph by Ven. Mishin Roelofs godo
Photograph by Ven. Mishin Roelofs godo


eMirror Vol 26, No. 29

Friday, July 8th
Edited by the Practice Council

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



You can learn a great deal about cooking and discover many new possibilities by treating grocery shopping as something that is interesting instead of merely a task that has to be done. You could regard it as foraging. Instead of gathering all of your food in an arduous struggle once a week, when possible make several foraging expeditions weekly to Asian groceries, Italian stores, Polish, Jewish, and German delicatessens, and specialty shops. If you do not know what something is, ask. If you have no idea of how something could be cooked or what it would be served with, ask. Almost invariably, clerks at large grocery stores do not know the difference between an ancho and an Anaheim chile, between a young small carrots and the bags of “baby” carrots that are carved from the bodies of large woody carrots. In Asian and European groceries however the staff is almost invariably knowledgeable. Eventually, you might find that what you were told was inadequate but it is a start.

If you like cheddar, try British cheddar. Try fresh and ripened Italian sheep cheeses. If you like pizza, try actual mozzarella, which is made from buffalo’s milk. If you like broccoli, try Chinese broccoli which is much more like the original plant before it was distorted to produce monstrous heads of flowerets and still has tender and delicately sweet stalks. Use a vast range of grains but learn how to use them well. If you like ginger, try galangal (but be careful). Extend the range of vegetables that you buy. Do not default to the standards of broccoli, cauliflower and green beans that is as hideously ubiquitous as the ”vegetable medley” of frozen corn, peas and lima beans was in the 1960s. If you do not like something try it again and again in different ways and in different combinations. About a decade ago, fiddlehead ferns were all the rage. Now they still appear in a few market stalls but without fanfare. In any case, for a period of three years I tried them dozens of times a year prepared in various ways before I was ready to decide that I did not care for their taste.

Do not buy mayonnaise let alone salad dressings. It takes only a few moments to with one hand whip one whole egg and one yolk while drizzling a thin stream of extra virgin olive oil with the other hand.
  
-Ven Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing 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: July 27th.

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, July 5th at her home in the Berkshires. Aaron Ford sat a half-day retreat on Friday, July 8th at his home in Calgary, Alberta. Brian Lakeman sat a half-day retreat on Sunday, July 10th at his home in Brampton, Ontario. 

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, July 16th to Saturday, July 23rd 

Saturday, July 16th: "Bodymind of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Shinjin Gakudo":"The True Human Body" (14 of 17)
Sunday, July 17th: SAkN “Root Cycle Five” by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi: “Beyond the Fields” (teisho 2 of 5) 
Monday, July 18th: “Every Breath You Take” by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei: “Seeing a High Minister" (Dharma Talk 98)
Thursday, July 21st: "The Circle" by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei
Saturday, July 23rd: "Bodymind of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Shinjin Gakudo":"Evening Practice Comments: Absolute Effort" (15 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

Tathagatagarbha (S): The "matrix of Reality as a continual presencing". The capacity that each point of Knowing has to reveal itself as containing every other point of Knowing. The capacity of beings to open to their own nature.

Posted July 8th , 2022. New entries are posted every two weeks.

 

Basil by Ven. Mishin Roelofs godo
Basil by Ven. Mishin Roelofs godo


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:
Croutons made from chopped olive bread and baguettes, with bran oil, onion and garlic powder, salt and black pepper, roasted in the oven until very crunchy; lentil and pea soup (green and yellow split peas, red and green lentils, pearled barley, brown rice, long-grain white rice, chopped Spanish onion, diced carrots and celery, minced garlic, vegetable stock, tomato paste, thyme, lots of black pepper, and apple cider vinegar); friulano cheese with black olives.

Tuesday Yakuseki:
Crusty rolls with butter; egg salad (chopped boiled eggs, chopped scallions, finely chopped red onion, jalapeno and minced garlic, capers, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, lots of black pepper; tomato salad (chopped tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, bran oil, balsamic vinegar.

Thursday Yakuseki:
Mixed grain (Chinese rice, white and brown Jasmine rice); hot and sour soup (Chinese dried black mushrooms, dried tree ear mushrooms, dried lily buds, cooked lotus root, water chestnuts, Chinese dried white fungus, dark shoyu, black vinegar, light shoyu, brown sugar, sesame oil, lots of white pepper, chopped scallions, chopped fresh coriander, thickened slightly with cornstarch); daikon and garlic scape pickle. 

 

Monk in gassho - drawing

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 Mishin godo:
Thank you to the Roshi for instructions on how to upgrade my Linux computer to POP! OS operating system. Thank you to Jinmyo sensei and Saigyo ino for overseeing the work of two sets of contractors who were replacing a window in the Hojo and installing blinds in the Shuryo, and ensuring that the work is done properly.

From the Office of the Treasurer:
Thank you to Jinmyo sensei for a donation towards the purchase of yew trees so that we can replace the cedar hedge along the Friel Street side of the property.

 

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