Dear All,
Some of you might not know that each month, about midway during our long Zazenkai when folks need a stretch, we engage in an ancient and esoteric Buddhist Ceremony known in Sanskrit as the "Hokey Pokey" (होकेय् पोकेय्, in Pali language, the "Hokey Cokey"). The meaning of "Hokey Pokey" is now lost in the fog of time, so many treat it as a powerful Dharani, or possibly a Mantra signifying "That's What's It's All About."
Several scholars, with too much time on their hands, link the movements with various Mudra and Yogic postures, as shown in this "wrathful" Tibetan Hokey Pokey (known there as the ཧོཀེཡ་པོཀེཡ )
One always circumambulates to the right as a reminder that we should walk the right path by leading a righteous life.(not the left unless engaged in certain "left handed" Tantra Hokey Pokey rituals, many now banned). The hand gestures may also be connected to Taoist elements, as shown in this rarely seen manuscript of the little known Tang Dynasty "Hokey Pokey Sect" of Chan (后旗裒旗禪宗) ...
This month's has a special guest teacher join us to lead. Please dance with us from home in this auspicious ritual guaranteed to bring you good health and good fortune, or at least, a smile.
Gassho, J
SatTodayLAH (Hokey Pokey'd today too)
PS - The rest of our Zazenkai is here ...
Some of you might not know that each month, about midway during our long Zazenkai when folks need a stretch, we engage in an ancient and esoteric Buddhist Ceremony known in Sanskrit as the "Hokey Pokey" (होकेय् पोकेय्, in Pali language, the "Hokey Cokey"). The meaning of "Hokey Pokey" is now lost in the fog of time, so many treat it as a powerful Dharani, or possibly a Mantra signifying "That's What's It's All About."
Several scholars, with too much time on their hands, link the movements with various Mudra and Yogic postures, as shown in this "wrathful" Tibetan Hokey Pokey (known there as the ཧོཀེཡ་པོཀེཡ )
One always circumambulates to the right as a reminder that we should walk the right path by leading a righteous life.(not the left unless engaged in certain "left handed" Tantra Hokey Pokey rituals, many now banned). The hand gestures may also be connected to Taoist elements, as shown in this rarely seen manuscript of the little known Tang Dynasty "Hokey Pokey Sect" of Chan (后旗裒旗禪宗) ...
This month's has a special guest teacher join us to lead. Please dance with us from home in this auspicious ritual guaranteed to bring you good health and good fortune, or at least, a smile.
Gassho, J
SatTodayLAH (Hokey Pokey'd today too)
PS - The rest of our Zazenkai is here ...
for positive poetry 優婆塞 台 婆
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