Make Your Own Oryoki Set

[Tokan]

Hey all

I've not done oryoki since I was last at Throssel Hole Priory in the late 90's! But as part of the pre-ordination training and practice it is time I had a go. So I shall be starting with quite humble beginnings as you can see from my set of bowls. I'll get the correct bits and sew what I need to in time, but I didn't want such details to stop me starting this practice now, so much video watching and reading of all your learnings and questions to help illuminate my path to a wholesome meal!

Gassho, Tokan

satlah

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[Kotei]

Hello everyone,

there has been some interest in sewing the oryoki cloths recently.
For easier access, here are the documents, I used for sewing them:

The one from 'Kannon Do Zen Meditation Center'

https://terebess.hu/zen/szoto/oryoki-instructions.pdf

And the one from the 'Wild Flower Zendo' / Brunnenhofzendo

http://www.brunnenhofzendo.ch/index_htm_files/The%20Oryoki%20Set%20english%20in%20cm.pdf

20201014_094603.jpg

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Kotei]

Thank you Nanrin,
I like the slightly uneven look of my Hattan. The marks add some 'wabi-sabi' feeling :-).
As Shellac is basically a resinous secrete from lac bugs in alcohol, you can use alcohol on a fabric pad when it's not even enough and soften the surface with it.

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Nanrin]

Jundo,

Thank you for your quick response! I feel a little silly for repeatedly searching for "oryoki placemat" and similar terms instead of looking up the Japanese word (hattan) and searching for that. Go figure that the Treeleaf archives have all the information I need and then some. Lacquer is indeed easy to find here, although I decided to go for shellac because it was sold in smaller amounts. I wish they had the traditional natural lacquer available here, it'd be nice to learn a bit of the traditional techniques.

As far as laundry goes . . . it's a bit of a game to get clothing dry. We try to get it washed and hung out to dry when there'll be some sun or wind and no rain, but the weather is fickle. Some of the thicker items from the last batch didn't dry off before it rained, ended up stinky, and had to be washed again today. Hopefully it'll not rain until they are mostly dry. If my hut had more space we could put up a drying rack and blow a fan on the clothing to dry it indoors.

Kotei,

Thank you for the information and your pictures. I stopped by the stationary store and bought a small pack of 150g/m2 A3 paper, cut it to size and folded it, painted it with black ink, dried it, and am now applying some shellac. I don't think I'll get as even of a finish as you did though. Excellent work!

Gassho,

Nanrin

Sat today

[Kotei]

Hello Nanrin,
black construction paper with 130g/m2 lacquered (polished) with 6 layers of shellac polish (not vegan!) worked fine for me.
Pictures in this thread: https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...l=1#post174684

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Jundo]

PS - here you go. Down there, you should just be able to find some at some wood working place or the like:

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?12100-My-Experiment-Making-a-Hattan

[Jundo]

Quick question -

Although I try to eat carefully, occasionally a bit of food falls down onto the outer covering cloth. Although it's easy to wash, during the rainy season here it is often hard to get cloths to dry, so avoiding extra laundry would be nice. Has anyone made a placemat or know what sort of material they are made of? I haven't been able to think of something I could use that can be wiped clean and folded.

Gassho

Nanrin

Sat

What do you do for your t-shirts down there?

The "placemat" is lacquered paper (e.g., ordinary "construction paper" or any rather firm paper covered in laquer is fine), and should be somewhat water proof and wipeable. l believe that instructions for that are somewhere in this thread, and that there is lacquer in Thailand very easy to find.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Nanrin]

Quick question -

Although I try to eat carefully, occasionally a bit of food falls down onto the outer covering cloth. Although it's easy to wash, during the rainy season here it is often hard to get cloths to dry, so avoiding extra laundry would be nice. Has anyone made a placemat or know what sort of material they are made of? I haven't been able to think of something I could use that can be wiped clean and folded.

Gassho

Nanrin

Sat

[Souchi]

Yes, very nice

Gassho
Souchi

SatToday

[Washin]

Lovely set, Nanrin!

Gassho
Washin
stlah

[Shinshi]

Wow, those look great!

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

Looks good Nanrin! =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Nanrin]

A few weeks ago my wife and I went to a new secondhand shop that had recently received a shipment of things from Japan. I scoured the shop to find some bowls that would fit inside each other, and although they certainly aren't a traditional set, at least they neatly fit within each other. We don't have many things in our kitchen - even Jundo's does whatever works set barely worked, I think I used a plate, a bowl, and a tea cup and a small tablecloth to wrap it all.

The bowls are a funny mix of colors and materials, combined with nearly sewn scap cloths, all of different materials and colors as well.

Since getting things assembled, I've been occasionally doing a simple oryoki ceremony every few days. Quite the different experience then eating with phone in hand or having a conversation.

Gassho,

Nanrin

Sat today

PS
At the same shop, I got a new teapot as my old one was broken by my stepdaughter on accident. It was only a dollar or two. I don't have any sort of a ceremony I do all drinking tea, but it is a pleasure to slowly brew it and enjoy it without doing anything else in particular.

[Shugen]

Very nice!

Gassho,

Shugen

Sattoday/LAH


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[Washin]

Lovely! Thanks for sharing, Souchi.

Gassho
Washin
stlah