Sharing video about 1st temple Eiheiji

[Guest]

Hi

I try to share video about our 1st temple Eiheiji(and Buddhism at Western countries )

https://youtu.be/B2cmH0IYCMM

May be I did not share this.

Gassho
Sat today
Lah
Kakunen


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

Thank you Kakunen. I just saw this yesterday (NHK, the Japanese BBC, seems to make an Eiheiji documentary like this every few years, always almost the same because ... well, Eiheiji does not change very much),

Even though it is mostly in Japanese, it is visually very beautiful, and if anyone has a question about any content, I will do my best to answer (and I believe Kakunen spent some time there.)

Gassho, J

STLah

PS - Be sure to see:

The wake up bell about 4:00,

The face washing about 5:00,

Morning Zazen from about 6:30,

Samu work practice from about 8:30,

More Zazen from 9:30,

The way of sleeping at about 10:00,

The entrance to Master Dogen's tomb about 13:00,

The Shuso Hossenshiki (Dharma Combat Ceremony) from 14:30 ... Our version at Treeleaf, with an explanation of content, is here: https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...quiry-Ceremony),

The "Tenzo" cooking in the kitchen and serving of Oryoki meal from about 31:00,

Scenes of the Rohatsu (Buddha's Enlightenment Week) Sesshin from about 40:00 (the small food they eat at about 43:00 represents the Buddha's breaking his fast when he had earlier tried, and rejected, severe fasting).

At 43:30, the monks leave for some "Takuhatsu" ritual mendicancy.

At 45:00, is the "Tendoku" reading of the DaiHannya which is like the Tibetan practice of spinning a "prayer wheel" wherein each flip of the book and saying of the volume name equals in Karmic merit a reading of the whole Sutra.

[Inshin]

I'm dreaming a trip to Japan and would love to visit Eiheiji - apparently it is possible to stay overnight and take part in zazen even as a tourist.
Dropping time distance for an hour, "pretending" to be sitting with Dogen, and just smelling cedar trees.
Knowing the nature of dreams and reality I would probably end up siting with jetlag, mosquito bites and racing throughs - but still, wouldn't it be wonderful?

Gassho
Sat

[Jinyo]

I enjoyed this little film about Eihejii - particularly the superimposed graphics of the layout. Very beautiful in the snow but must have been very cold!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqvtJIHKLyA

Gassho

Sat today

[Meitou]

Loved this film and the companion film posted by Jinyo, perfect!
I have a couple of questions.
How authentic was the going to bed scene, do all the monks really go to bed in unison and all sleep on their right side ( like reposing Buddha?)
A couple of scenes showed a group of Westerners - how does that work, are they there for a specific time, are there private retreats?
Who was the American monk?
At the beginning of the Dharma Combat ceremony, it seemed that members of the public were there watching - is the ceremony part of another ceremony, like ordination?
Finally, and this is an odd one, Jundo did you catch the location of the Italian monastery? I understood what the monk was saying, but I don't know who he was and I couldn't make out a location, I thought I heard Milan, but also thought I heard Firenze ( Florence), From its appearance I imagine it was Northern Italy.

Thank you Kakunen for showing us this film, so beautiful visually, although I know that it's not an easy life.
Deep Bows
Meitou
sattoday lah

[Seikan]

I watched this today as well. Thank you so much for sharing!

The Dharma combat ceremony was particularly amusing as I was watching it with English-language auto-translated captions. [emoji15][emoji6]

Gassho,
Rob

-stlah-


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

Hi Meitou,

Loved this film and the companion film posted by Jinyo, perfect!
I have a couple of questions.
How authentic was the going to bed scene, do all the monks really go to bed in unison and all sleep on their right side ( like reposing Buddha?)

Yes, during their training period. Here is more about it:

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=nF4qDwAAQBAJ&q=sleep+how+to+train+in+Buddhism#v=snippet&q=sleep%20how%20to%20train%20in%20Buddhism&f=false

A couple of scenes showed a group of Westerners - how does that work, are they there for a specific time, are there private retreats?

I believe that those scenes were filmed at branch temples of Eiheiji outside Japan, in the US. I know a few foreigners who have attempted Eiheiji, but the language barriers coupled with the arcane and detailed rituals, military "boot camp" atmosphere to rival the U.S. marines, and very hard physical demands has been too much for most. In fact, I do not personally know any foreigners who trained there for more than a short period (Nishijima had one fellow who attempted it, and made it a few months before it impacted his health). Most foreigners train elsewhere.

Did I miss a foreigner in the video? Show me the part.

Who was the American monk?

The older priest shown? That was Les Kaye, a respected teacher in the Suzuki Lineage who teaches in San Jose, California.

https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/LesKaye.html

At the beginning of the Dharma Combat ceremony, it seemed that members of the public were there watching - is the ceremony part of another ceremony, like ordination?

The Dharma Combat ceremony is usually held during Ango. The Hossenshiki and becoming "Shuso" is part of the right of passage for the young monk who will inherit his family temple (where his father is usually the priest) upon graduation, so the parishioners of the temple and family members are bussed in to witness if it is a public ceremony.

Finally, and this is an odd one, Jundo did you catch the location of the Italian monastery? I understood what the monk was saying, but I don't know who he was and I couldn't make out a location, I thought I heard Milan, but also thought I heard Firenze ( Florence), From its appearance I imagine it was Northern Italy.

That is Fausto Taiten Guareschi of the Deshimaru lineage. I believe it is here, near Parma. http://www.fudenji.it/

Right now, Kakunin is in Sesshin I believe, but he will write when free.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

I watched this today as well. Thank you so much for sharing!

The Dharma combat ceremony was particularly amusing as I was watching it with English-language auto-translated captions. [emoji15][emoji6]

Gassho,
Rob

-stlah-


Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

It is written in ancient Japanese, like middle English to modern English, and is largely pre-scripted these days, memorized not spontaneous. Even the young monks don't understand much of it without translation.

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

[Margherita]

Beautiful!
Thank you for sharing the video with us, I would love to visit the temple one day, especially if full of snow.

Gassho,
Mags
ST

[Meitou]

Hi Meitou,



Yes, during their training period. Here is more about it:

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=nF4qDwAAQBAJ&q=sleep+how+to+train+in+Buddhism#v=snippet&q=sleep%20how%20to%20train%20in%20Buddhism&f=false

I believe that those scenes were filmed at branch temples of Eiheiji outside Japan, in the US. I know a few foreigners who have attempted Eiheiji, but the language barriers couple with arcane and detailed rituals, military "boot camp" atmosphere to rival the U.S. marines, and very hard physical demands has been too much for most. In fact, I do not personally know any foreigners who trained there for more than a short period (Nishijima had one fellow who attempted it, and made it a few months before it impacted his health). Most foreigners train elsewhere.

Did I miss a foreigner in the video? Show me the part.



The older priest shown? That was Les Kaye, a respected teacher in the Suzuki Lineage who teaches in San Jose, California.

https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/LesKaye.html

The Dharma Combat ceremony is usually held during Ango. The Hossenshiki and becoming "Shuso" is part of the right of passage for the young monk who will inherit his family temple (where his father is usually the priest) upon graduation, so the parishioners of the temple and family members are bussed in to witness if it is a public ceremony.



That is Fausto Taiten Guareschi of the Deshimaru lineage. I believe it is here, near Parma. http://www.fudenji.it/

Right now, Kakunin is in Sesshin I believe, but he will write when free.

Gassho, J

STLah

Thanks so much Jundo. I have that book you linked to - I really enjoyed it but wow shockingly difficult, I'm full of admiration for those guys, there were some terrible stories in that book, almost inhumane. Do you think it's harder for Westerners and why would that be, because there's less at stake for them - the guys who are inheriting dad's temple have to do this if I understand right? There were a lot of westerners at around 23.00, the part with Steve Jobs, but watching it again I'm sure you're right, they are in the US.
Yes Fudenji makes sense, that's how I heard something like Firenze.
I loved how every single thing is orchestrated, I can really understand that learning these rituals liberates the mind, because it doesn't have to concern itself with mundane stuff like where's my toothbrush etc!
Thanks again!
Gassho
Meitou
sattoday lah.

[Jundo]

Thanks so much Jundo. I have that book you linked to - I really enjoyed it but wow shockingly difficult, I'm full of admiration for those guys, there were some terrible stories in that book, almost inhumane. Do you think it's harder for Westerners and why would that be, because there's less at stake for them - the guys who are inheriting dad's temple have to do this if I understand right? There were a lot of westerners at around 23.00, the part with Steve Jobs, but watching it again I'm sure you're right, they are in the US.
Yes Fudenji makes sense, that's how I heard something like Firenze.
I loved how every single thing is orchestrated, I can really understand that learning these rituals liberates the mind, because it doesn't have to concern itself with mundane stuff like where's my toothbrush etc!
Thanks again!
Gassho
Meitou
sattoday lah.

Yes, the westerners at 23:30 are overseas at various Zen centers.

Well, when one is 20 years old and needs to inherit dad's temple (one's family home) to keep it, and dad has already trained one enough since childhood that one has already some solid familiarity with the rituals and customs at Eiheiji (so one is not coming in totally unprepared), plus is able to follow the language well enough (plus the ancient Japanese language forms) to pick up on all the arcane daily rituals and rigor, not to mention the psychological pressure of being basically isolated for months on end, the "break em'" military book camp rigor (NOT shown in that film, by the way ... they left out all the yelling and berating, not to mention sometime physical corporal punishment, yes, slapping and such), the freezing cold ...

... plus the fact that most Japanese, even today, have a much greater personality trait generally to suffer, shut up and go along with the group ...

I think that even poor Kakunen, who only trained there some weeks I think, struggled greatly with his 40+ year old body! And Kakunen is not training to inherit a temple, simply for the love of this way.

(Please hit me with a stick for running long)

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

PS - Let me add that, surprisingly, many foreigners might not find the "Zen" which they are looking for in such training temples, and might be sorely disappointed. By this I mean that there is a large emphasis on learning ceremonies in order to take over a local parish temple, and also just simply to embody one's professional identity as a Japanese Soto priest, rather than any real emphasis on learning Zen teachings or "enlightenment." The training is meant to build an army of loyal marines to man (all men there, there are separate women's monasteries now) the temples. Yes, the training itself ... pouring oneself heart and body into the physical routine, the long Zazen ... does cause one to drop ego and has definite spiritual effects ...

... However, if one is looking for a really "spiritual," Zazen centered practice as the core of Soto Zen these days, one may do much better outside Eiheiji at training places more focused on those other aspects, and even here in the west. Maybe even at Treeleaf in many ways. It is true. So, this may cause many foreigners to leave after a time. I have found western lay folks who are long time practitioners who are more serious about Zen training in important ways, and more informed and educated about Soto Zen teachings, than even many a fully credentialed Soto Zen priest in Japan. It is true.

According to some surveys, only about 20% of graduates of Eiheiji and such places maintain their Zazen practice after "graduating" and returning to their local parish temple. It is unfortunately true.

Ian Reader has argued in his classic works (1985 and 1986) that while asserting that zazen is at the core and is the essence of the teachings of Dogen (1200-1253), Sotoshu does not promote zazen to its congregation and very few of its priests actually practice it. According to Reader, the belief that zazen was a hindrance for the popularization of the sect has made patriarchs and the institution alike opt throughout the sect’s history for a functional relationship with the congregation rather than emphasis on monastic Zen practices. After Dogen's death, his successors realized that in order to expand, the sect would have to incorporate more popular customs and practices, such as funeral services and memorial rituals (Reader 1986，p. 17).
https://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2828

(Sorry, more long rant)

[Naiko]

Fascinating video, thank you for sharing. The Treeleaf Shuso Hossenshiki was very moving. Thank you for linking to it, Jundo.
Gassho,
Krista
st/lah

[Meitou]

Thank you Jundo for such a detailed response.
Gassho
Meitou
Sattoday lah

[Kokuu]

Beautiful! ありがとうございます

Even without my physical limitations, I think I would have struggled to practice at Eiheiji and preferred a smaller temple like Antaiji or Tokei-in.

It is wonderful to see all those traditions and practices still ongoing, though.

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-