RECOMMENDED 'At Home' Liturgy

[Shinshi]

Hi Shinshi,

You are more organized than me about daily sitting! I am rather casual when on my own. Each person must find their own style. When on my own, I am more a Rakusu on (with Verse), fluff the Cushion, Bow-turn-Bow, and Sit kinda fella. Other folks like to maintain the formality of sitting in a Zendo during Zazenkai, which is good too.

We are about to cut a film on procedures for the Zendo during a formal Zazenkai. This will be helpful if I forget something.

Thank you, lovely.

Gassho, Jundo

SatTodayLAH

Well, I avoided it for so long I am kind of making up for lost time. I really resisted the whole ritual aspect for a long time - but right now I feel it connects me to the lineage. There is a kind of beauty in it that I didn't see before. Like I said in my post, sometimes I just don't have time. But I like to do the whole thing when I can.

Can't wait to see the video.

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

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[Souchi]

Thanks for writing this down, Shinshi. I did something similar when I started to attend the meetings of our local sitting group, so it seems that we share the same preference of being structured/organized It also seems to me that this is one of the possible ways to engage in rituals if you are not the type of person to jump right in. Thoroughly going through them in your mind is the first step to become acquainted with them. (Of course, the next step is to fully engage in them and act them out or otherwise it would be a pure intellectual contact.)

I also enjoy it if I have the time to completely realize the ritual at home, but usually stick to "just sitting" in the way that Jundo mentioned. I guess that is fine as long as you don't rush through things and unmindfully push your stuff around. (Although it can be a nice teaching if everybody does everything in a very formal way and then your teacher suddenly rushes in with a lot of noise, literally throws his Zafu in the corner, and finally comments on the completely confused crowd with a typical zennish quote ).

Gassho,
Stefan/Souchi

SatToday

[Chishou]

Okay, here’s my 2 pence.

Do hip stretches.
Bow before altar.
Sit in seiza.
Light candle.
Light insense, hold to forehead say “homage to buddha/dharma/sangha”.
Bow-turn-bow.
Sit.
Bow at end bells.
In gassho, Four vows and verse of atonement
Stand, fluff cushion.
Bow-turn-bow.
3 prostrations.
Extinguish candle.
Hobble away with dead leg.

Chishou.
Sat.


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[Ryudo]

Hi,
I refer to this thread regularly.
Thank you for all the valuable information.

Please note that the link to Kinhin info in the initial post is not working.

Thank you again.
Gassho
Ryudo
SatToday

[Meitou]

Shane,

Just chant from the heart and it will come with practice. I am learning the Japanese Heart Sutra, I use the chant book and listen to a recording by Zen River Temple in the Netherlands.

Just do, chant badly, but chant from the heart. Feel every word as you say it, the sounds coming out of your are just noise, the heart is what counts.

Bows,
Chishou
座りました

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Hey Chishou, would it be possible to post a link here to the River Temple chant? I'm trying to learn the Japanese too because I like the rhythm of it, being able to listen to a clear recording would be really helpful. I do love the Kissaquo version but tend to get carried away by the emotion instead of paying attention to the words
Gassho
Meitou
satwithyoualltoday/lah

[Chishou]

Know that frogs also know the Heart Sutra.

Meitou, I had to buy the Zen River chants from their website. It is 11€ via paypal. They are a little quiet, but good for mini-ceremonies at home.

With a bow,
Chishou
Sat.


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[Shinshi]

Shinshi I am curious as to your reasons for resisting the ritualistic aspects. I am in a similar place and yet open minded for sure!

Shane

Sattoday

Well, it is kind of a long answer but here goes.

You have to know two things about me. One I din't come to Zen through religion or belief - I came to Zen through Martial Arts - which led me to Kung Fu - which led me to the Shaolin Temple - which led me to Bodhidharma - which led me to Zen. The other thing is that I was a punk at that same time (well I still am <g>), played punk music, very straight edge - so I was very anti a lot of stuff.

The Zen I found on my path I liked. The whole "If you meet the Buddha on the road kill him" - Zen masters as tricksters, and non-linear thinkers, as rule breakers - really appealed to me. But the more I learned the more I realized that there were all the rituals in Zen that seemed very stylized and pointless to me. In fact I wandered away from Zen to a more Vipassana - Mindfulness version of Buddhism.

Probably the best example of my change of view wasn't in Zen so much as the ceremony of marriage. I told my girlfriend at the time that I was never going to get married. Because if you loved someone and wanted to be them you would just be with them. What did a piece of paper have to do with anything. But over time my view started to change.

I came to see marriage in a different light. I came to believe that marriage wasn't so much about the couple. Marriage was a ritual that served an important purpose.

First marriage integrates the couple into the the group that had gone before. It connects them to the experience that they share with their parents, and friends, and culture. It bonds them to a greater whole. Even more marriage allows friends and families to reconnect. And in reconnects them to something sacred, reminding them as to what is important in life. It reconnects them to the values and beliefs that they share in common with their cohort. It is a process that re-bonds people and reminds them who they are and where they come from. It is a great bringing together of old friends and new. It strengthens old bonds and forges new ones. It has an important place in community.

We move from the mundane and reconnect to the sacredness of life.

And that is how I have come to see the Zen rituals as well. It brings us all back together - to a common place. It reconnects us to those the have come before and and integrates us into the flow that is our shared existence. When we do a ritual we never do it alone - even if we are alone - because when go through the ritual we do it with everyone has have ever done it in the past, and everyone who will do it in the future.

And when we engage in ritual it helps to diminish just a bit our strong sense of self, and strengthens our sense of oneness. We are one as we behave as one. And we can move on from there to follow our path, but we start from a place of groundedness and community.

That is how I have come to see it.

Now of course, people can get narrow minded and absorbed in the ritual - and loose that connection to something greater than themselves. Ritual can be trap that becomes all about the ritual and nothing more.

Roshi eddiebear talked about this in his talk last Sunday. My take away was that talked about how Vispassina does away with the ritual but tells you exactly how to evaluate your thoughts when you meditate. Zen has a bunch of ritual but in Zen your mind is free to be. Or something to that effect.

His talk s is well worth a listen:

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?16199-ATTENTION-Special-Zazenkai-SUNDAY-with-Rev-EDWARD-ESPE-BROWN-%28The-Tassajara-Tenzo%29

Gassho, Shinshi

SaT-LaH

[Tai Shi]

Yes, very nice recommendations Jundo. AND it's time for me to return to my own home liturgy with gifts of Buddhas, and other alter pieces from family members. I will begin practicing more alone from here on. Thank you.

Tai Shi
sat today/lah
Gassho

[Jundo]

Roshi eddiebear talked about this in his talk last Sunday. My take away was that talked about how Vispassina does away with the ritual but tells you exactly how to evaluate your thoughts when you meditate. Zen has a bunch of ritual but in Zen your mind is free to be. Or something to that effect.

Well, in Zazen, we let thoughts go and let them be without grabbing on, but we also avoid to wallow in excess desires, anger and divisive thinking on or off the cushion. So, not quite complete laissez-faire.

South East Asian Buddhism, which is the actual source of Vipassana, is actually very heavy in ritual, ceremony and many other traditional practices and beliefs, as is much of Asian Buddhism. The step away from Ceremony is pretty much a modernist and Westernizing phenomenon.

Here, at Treeleaf, I take the middle way: We are minimalists on Ceremony, but the one's we do I hope mean something. Blowing out birthday candles, a wedding, a funeral, are all ceremonies which mean something to the heart too.

Sean, this Path is for a lifetime, so don't be in a hurry to stuff many things into the head right away. Better to read a Chant and recite it from all one's heart than to worry too much about memorizing it. Even the most experienced monks use a Chant Book sometimes.

Gassho, J

SatTodayLAH

[SNPII]

Does anyone have some simple start points on English chants I can start on?

I am an avid user of the insight Timer, but when it comes to the chanting ones some of the sounds are too harsh for me to focus on. I saying this please understand I do like the peaceful guitar sounds some nature and even some of the more Indian/Asian acoustics as well.

Am I making sense here?

Sattoday

Shane

[Chishou]

Does anyone have some simple start points on English chants I can start on?

I am an avid user of the insight Timer, but when it comes to the chanting ones some of the sounds are too harsh for me to focus on. I saying this please understand I do like the peaceful guitar sounds some nature and even some of the more Indian/Asian acoustics as well.

Am I making sense here?

Sattoday

Shane

Shane,

Just focus on getting a regular sitting practice. Start small and on getting your posture comfortable, then gently extend. I started about 2 years ago doing 5 mins, then increased by 5 mines until I do 35mins twice a day.

Only after taking the precepts in January did I get a small altar and start chanting the atonement and 4 vows because it felt natural to do so. 5 months on I’ve added the Japanese robe verse and heart sutra to my morning sit. Again, because the timing felt right.

When I started here at TL, I wanted to bow before I could sit (as apposed to run before walk). I felt a calling to ordain an an priest, but I was still too immature in my practice. Since then, my feelings towards ordination have grown, but I understand it will come with time, patience and practice.

Have you watched Jundo’s series on Buddha Basics? Might be a good place to start.

Chishou,
No sit, just woken up.


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[Gero]

Just something from a noob on the "bow - turn - bow" part:
To stop myself from going through the motions without any emotions, I made something up to put more meaning into my bows before sitting.

While bowing towards the zafu, my thoughts go along the lines of "Realizing that I can only walk on this Buddha Path thanks to all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Teachers and many other beings (yes, including the lady at the supermarket who stacks the shelf so I can get sustenance), I bow in gratitude. To name just one of the many, I say thanks to Manjushri Maha Bodhisattva, whose seat I am about to borrow: Namu Monju Bosatsu."

While bowing away from the zafu, I give something like a mash-up of Metta and the Vows, and as I happen to bow roughly in the direction of a Kannon statue, I say: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuuku Kanzeonbosatsu.

To keep this really heartfelt and alive, I try not to phrase it exactly the same each time.

Now I am writing about this, it made me think of the bow-turn-bow after sitting: I just came to realize that I usually just get it over and done with. I really should put some meaning into those bows from now on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write about it ... seems to help me realizing things.

Sat today, lah and good night

Gero

[Jundo]

Just something from a noob on the "bow - turn - bow" part:
To stop myself from going through the motions without any emotions, I made something up to put more meaning into my bows before sitting.

While bowing towards the zafu, my thoughts go along the lines of "Realizing that I can only walk on this Buddha Path thanks to all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Teachers and many other beings (yes, including the lady at the supermarket who stacks the shelf so I can get sustenance), I bow in gratitude. To name just one of the many, I say thanks to Manjushri Maha Bodhisattva, whose seat I am about to borrow: Namu Monju Bosatsu."

While bowing away from the zafu, I give something like a mash-up of Metta and the Vows, and as I happen to bow roughly in the direction of a Kannon statue, I say: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuuku Kanzeonbosatsu.

To keep this really heartfelt and alive, I try not to phrase it exactly the same each time.

Now I am writing about this, it made me think of the bow-turn-bow after sitting: I just came to realize that I usually just get it over and done with. I really should put some meaning into those bows from now on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write about it ... seems to help me realizing things.

Sat today, lah and good night

Gero

[Jundo]

I have added Ryaku Fusatsu and Tonglen to our recommended 'AT HOME' Liturgy above.

Gassho, J

STLah

[karlmalachut]

Hey,

I have been using the Plum Village Chant book what are your thoughts on it?

Gassho,

Karl

St