ROHATSU RETREAT - Nature Calls!!

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  • Jundo
    Treeleaf Founder and Priest
    • Apr 2006
    • 40679

    #16
    Here is the portion of Dogen's instructions about actual behavior in the stall ... The finger snapping, as I recall, is to alert any "toilet spirits" to move out of the way in the hole, cause a surprise is coming ...

    Upon entering the toilet stall, close the door with your left hand. You next pour just a little water from your bucket into the toilet basin. Next, put the bucket in front of you in the place provided for it. Then, while standing, face the basin and snap your fingers three times. Whilst snapping your fingers, your left hand is held in a fist at your left side at waist level. Next, you lift and gather up your under-skirt by its corners, face the door and, straddling the basin between your feet, squat down and relieve yourself. Do not soil either side of your garments; do not let them get stained front or back. During this time, you should remain silent. Do not talk or joke with the person in the next stall, chant, sing, or recite anything aloud. Do not spit or blow mucus from your nose onto the area around you. Do not strain or make grunting sounds excessively. You should not write on the walls. Do not dig at or draw on the ground with your toilet spatula; it should be used for cleaning yourself after you have evacuated your bowels. Also, if you use paper, you should not use old paper or paper with characters written on it.
    You should keep in mind the difference between a clean spatula and a soiled one. The spatula is eight inches long, triangular in shape. In thickness, it is the width of one’s thumb. Some are lacquered, others are not. Put your soiled spatula
    in the used spatula box. Clean ones will already be in the spatula stand. The spatula stand is kept near the sign in front of the toilet basin.
    After using a spatula or paper, the way you clean yourself is as follows: hold the bucket in your right hand and moisten your left hand well. Then, cupping some water in your left hand, you first clean off your genitals three times. Then, you wash your buttocks. This is the way you should clean yourself.
    The kind of wooden butt scrapers that Dogen is referring to are likely these, found by archaeologists in Japan although from about 500 years earlier. I suppose that splinters were a concern. No, the toilet paper rolls at the top of the picture did not exist at the time ...



    Here, by the way, is the traditional Japanese toilet design until modern times ... but squat toilets (so-called "Turkish style") are still very common, and sometimes the Western "sit down" type cannot be found especially in buildings more than 30 years old.



    More information on Japanese toilet history than you probably want or need ... here:

    The history of Japanese toilets starts with crude holes in the ground but now Japanese toilets lead the way in excitement and innovation!


    In fact, when I first came Japan about 25 years ago, the "sit down" toilet where I lived still had instructions like this (not made up) for older Japanese who might not be familiar with how to use it.



    Fortunately, if you come visit Japan and get stuck in one of those older buildings, you can find instructions like this sometimes for Westerners on the squat type:



    Here is a famous Koan by Master Un Mon (Yun Men).

    A monk asked Ummon, "What is Buddha?"
    Ummon said, "A dry shit-stick!


    Gassho, J
    Last edited by Jundo; 12-04-2013, 04:08 PM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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    • Mp

      #17
      Wow Jundo ... the toilet spatula, I think I am going to have that image stuck in my head.

      Gassho
      Shingen

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      • Joyo

        #18
        Oh my, this conversation is making me red in the face, but hilarious--you guys are hilarious!!!!!


        Treena

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