Broken Bones Zen

[Shokai]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Chris;
Awesome work on the rakusu and good to hear you are feeling better
take care,

[Hoyu]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the update! Sorry to hear that you also have to deal with pneumonia on top of all else you have been through
Your Rakusu looks great! Did you follow a pattern? Please share with us some imore Info when you are feeling better.
Thanks

Gassho,
John

[ctpowers8]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

John I will post more info on how I did the Rakusu and the ring part of it when I get a chance. I will also try to post patterns. I am also going to start a a 7 panel Kesa to replace my old precepts Kesa that has not lasted the 15 years I have had it, and I will try to post video tutorials on it. Question to one and all should I post that info here or in the Rakusu sewing section?
Cheers and Gasho
Chris

[Taigu]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Hi Chris,


Thank you very much for your posts, your originality, enthusiasm and will to help.
I have to mention a few things though and I hope you won’t mind.

The kesa is not an object for the eyes…used to say a very famous Japanese Nyohoe teacher.

When I visited the Kyoto kesa exhibition a few months ago I was not amazed by the heavily decorated okesa embroided with phoenix, flowers and the likes, but by a few practice kesa of a light brownish color, all worn out and not displayed fully opened but just in a stack…The curators thought these kesa that were used by aristocrats at the Kyoto court had very little value in the eyes of textiles freaks…

The kesa is not an object for the eyes.

My favourite kesa is by far not the colourful Funzoe that took me almost a year to sew, but I treasure a few old kesa made many years ago and falling into pieces.


Now let’s have a look at the rakusu. Which pattern did you follow, which guidelines ?

I observed the following mistakes :

a)The Joro are misplaced, sewn under the fabric ( we don’t do that since the 19th century) and in the Nyohoe school Joro are overlaping the frame and keeping back and front together ( sealing the four directions).

b)The Sao on your rakusu are in the wrong position :the one with the ring should be on the top ( as you can see on this picture)

c)The ring is placed to high and wrongly attached.


d)The choice of colour is also a problem , your green is a bit too light, and if you choose something like that you should ask me if it is OK.

e)You mixed two sewing styles Nyohoe and Sotoshu Japanese style which is a no-no in our tradition. If you sew a Nyohoe : no ring. As a matter of fact, nobody apart from the priests in training should wear a rakusus with ring in this sangha.

f) The frame doesn’t look proper and straight and I sense you have struggled a lot with it.

I really appreciate your will to help but I will ask you not to post videos. You are now joining this Sangha and you should take the time it takes to learn and ask other senior students about how to sew . It takes a really long time to train in this tradition and one should not teach until one has all the sewing skills and full understanding of this tradition. If you look at my sewing videos , they look simple but it takes a mountain of skills to teach as i do.

You will understand that it is my responsibility to make sure that people here sew and wear the right thing.

I think it is a great idea to sew a seven stripes kesa . Anybody willing to do so should :

a) ask permission to Jundo or myself
b) Follow exactly the sewing rules and patterns provided on line by Katagiri sensei or the method taught by Sawaki Kodo if you have access to it
c) Make sure that no mistake is done and ask when appropriate experienced people in the Sangha
d) Once completed, receive this kesa and learn the way to put it one, put it off, take care of it…A kesa is a responsibility.


What I write here applies to everybody.

Thank you for your understanding and patience,
And please, try to develop an humble mind, bodaishin.

Take great care of yourself

Gassho


Taigu

Attached files

[ctpowers8]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Thank you Taigu for your explanation. I think I will explain some of my idiosyncrasies in the pattern. The jurro are basted in there so they can be removed easily and not lost. I would have placed them on the top as explained in your video but since I don't have the silk backing Just put them there basted for not losing sake. The color was not chosen but given and dye was not really an option because I don't want to risk staining my apartment. All the fabric I got for the Rakusu and the Kesa were given by my consumers in my meditation group. I followed your pattern except for changing minute measurements due to sizing issues as I am 6'1 and there were just a few tweaks. The ring pattern I got from another rakusu pattern on the web in your video you showed one with a ring and then said that it was difficult so weren't going to show how to do it. I made the assumption that I could do that style which shows that I still have much to learn about this tradition. I think some of the unevenness was because I have ben shaking from fever but it came out pretty straight though the first panels in the center you can really see big unevenness because I was starting my to get sick as I started that part of the rackusu. The biggest mistake was that the whole thing is upside down. I noticed it yesterday and I laughed and hurt my sides. Thank you for your critique and knowledge. I will refrain from posting anything on sewing or making videos and will get confirmation with you and Jundo for starting the Kesa and I appreciate all your help. What is your recommendation for this rakusu should I leave it as is or should I change it? I will ask a couple of other questions in other threads so they don't get bogged down in this one. Thank you again Taigu for your help.
Gasho
Chris

[Taigu]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your understanding.
Yes, you should fix the Sao properly and on the other side of the frame. Make it without a ring, plain simple. And if you receive Jukai or would like to wear this rakusu, you should ask Jundo or myself to put our black ink and seals on the back.
To start a kesa, ask Shohei to give you access (if it is not the case already) to the kesa sewing guide and thread.
And please, as you go along, ask for advice and information.

Good luck and best recovery!!!

gassho


Taigu

[Jinyu]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Hi chris

Happy to hear that you are feeling better! And thank you for your enthusiasm! :wink:

If you sew a Nyohoe : no ring. As a matter of fact, nobody apart from the priests in training should wear a rakusus with ring in this sangha.

I'm happy to have a clear statement on this matter, I believe a while ago it wasn't so clear... Now we know what is the place of these "rakusus with rings" in our Sangha!

gassho,
Jinyu

[Dosho]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Thank you for these teachings Sensei.

When you say, "Make sure that no mistake is done" I'm not sure what you mean. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't know how to make no mistakes. When I began my kesa over 2 years ago I was using stitches about .25 cm apart thinking that doing so was "better". When I began the frame, such small stitches became difficult and I nearly stopped. At that point I was able to drop some of my perfectionism and used .5 cm stitches, but was still very concerned that they be equal distance apart. I attached the two long sides of the En only to find they were too short. Ripping out all those stitches was brutal on my ego and done with a frown. I cut longer pieces, but then sewed one of them on the wrong line. Ripping out all those stitches was NOT brutal on my ego and done with a smile. After finishing the first line of sewing on each side of the frame, I flipped them over and was excited to start the second and third lines, but wanted to stop worrying so much about the distance. I am now almost done with the second line and my imperfect stitches are running at .7 cm...more or less.

If I had not made these mistakes I would not have learned so much about sewing the buddha's robe, but the opprtunity to learn so much about my self and how much I cling to it offered so much more than that. My kesa looks crooked in places, just like me. It reveals my excitement, fear, frustration, and acceptance in every single stitch. It is a perfectly imperfect embodiment of the buddha's teachings, just like me. And if it was somehow destroyed tomorrow, only the kesa itself would be lost. Everything it represents would still remain and can never be destroyed.

Perhaps these mistakes are not the type you are referring to, but when you say, "Make sure no mistake is done", I fear some people will think that you are looking for perfection. If you wish the mistakes I mentioned to be fixed I will pull out every single stitch. But when I begin another kesa, I feel strongly that any attempt to avoid mistakes would do a disservice to everything I have learned from you and Treeleaf. But if that is your wish, I will do so.

Gassho,
Dosho

[Zen_Fire]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Hi, Chris.

You are a much better human being than I am. If I got beat up like you did, the only way I would be thinking about using needles was poking the eyes of the attackers, or sticking needles into voodoo dolls made after them.

Once, I got punched in the face by a stranger for the sake of his fun. But nothing compared to what you went through.

I am really sorry for your suffering, and thank you very much for kindly teaching me with your experience and wisdom.

Get well soon,

Sunyata

[Hoyu]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

If I got beat up like you did, the only way I would be thinking about using needles was poking the eyes of the attackers, or sticking needles into voodoo dolls made after them.

:lol:
Hi Sunyata. I got quite the laugh out of this, but it is how I would feel too! I'd go the route of voodoo though, as there would be less evidence :twisted:

Gassho,
John

[Taigu]

Re: Broken Bones Zen

Hi Dosho,

Thank you for your wonderful desciption of the sewing process.
Indeed, the kesa shows what we are and much beyond.
"Make sure no mistakes is done" refers to the method. One has to be respectful of the pattern, the layout, the way to sew this, attach that. Of course, it can be done clumsily or skillfully and this doesn't matter.

gassho


Taigu