Fashion for a Clouded Mind

[Heishu]

To wear a garment to elevate our ego can come from the type of clothes we choose to wear. I can be a proud peacock sitting on my zafu whether donned in robes or my birthday suit. The truth is neither would make me feel very good about myself. When I go to the zafu I go to sit. What I have on is of little consequence. Rituals are important but rituals are not what compels me to sit. Wearing a Kesa to feel cool is to me being disrespectful of the tradition and what the Kesa represents. What would be the point of sewing a Kesa just to be proud? What would be the honor to the ancestors that sewed their Kesa.

When I sewed my Rakusu I walked the path of the ancestors and I did so humbly. My Rakusu is nothing to be proud of, it is nothing more than strips of cloth stitched together but it is the same one sewn by the ancestors of our tradition. When placed over my head I do not look into the mirror to see how it looks because I must go sit. Do I wear my Rakusu each time that I sit? No. Many times the need to sit does not allow time for the ritual of placing the Rakusu over my head. Sitting is a must. Sewing a Rakusu and wearing it is not.

Would I be a proud peacock if I were to be allowed to sew a Kesa? I would hope not. If that would be the purpose then I would rather not waste my time. If I were sewing a Kesa for the same reason that I sewed my Rakusu then I would be spending my time well. There is much to be said for this tradition that we are all a part of but we must not allow it to become some 'golden calf' to our mind.

If I am granted permission to sew a Kesa then so be it, if I am not, then I must go sit either way. The need to sit, this is what drew me to this path that we all walk together, the other traditions simply round it out in a nice way.

This is yet another reason this Sangha is so important, being able to walk together, share together, and sit together; whether we are sewing or not.

Gassho,
Heishu

[Taigu]

Dear Willow,

I very much respect your opinion and deep feeling about this tradition. You happen to be in tune with your teacher which I find very auspicious and great. As a form of respect for Jundo your teacher and my Dharma brother I won't explain here why I disagree. If at one stage you want to know, pay me a visit.
I gave a big chunk of this useless life of mine to sewing robes , offering them and wearing them in the still state. It doesn't make me superior or different from you. if you inquire about the meaning of the robe , the layers of its implications and meanings, you would maybe have a different take on this.

But yes, a robeless Zen is possible, J Beck, Tony Parker, and quite a few teachers dropped the robe, some even dropped the transmission, some dropped everything.

There is room in life for something that doesn t come from opinions, preferences and feelings. This is the very essence of Mahayana Buddhism. I don't even call it love.

take great care

gassho

Taigu ( a name I deserve fully, big stupid bloke is spot on)

PS: as a tribute to your sincere practice and the beautiful wisdom of your teacher, I will give more and more time to the sewing of the Buddhist robe and teach as widely as possible not minding about the ghosts of old religion and the fact that I put people off.

[RichardH]

I associate the kesa with ordination, and have aspired to ordain for much of my life. I associate the robe with old friends who broke this heart with their wisdom and compassion. I have felt that it would not be appropriate to wear robes until my speech and conduct can dignify them. This is why I have never stepped up, out of respect, ....and an acknowledgement of my uncooked bullshit. It won't work the other way around, with robes dignifying uncooked bullshit as crazy wisdom.

At this point I would like to sow robes ..or not. What matters is shared practice within sangha, and living a husband, father, brother, son, friend, neighbor, stranger, earthling. Tradition always begins looking like stepping away from tradition. It has always been that way in the stream of Buddhadharma. It is all good.

I'm happy to carry on here at Treeleaf, robe or no robe.


A very sleepy gassho.
Daizan.

[Jundo]

Hi,

I know that there is no right or wrong way that Taigu and I understand the Kesa, the Buddha Robes. Our Robe Chant calls ...

Robe of Liberation boundless. Field beyond both form and formless. Wearing the Tathagatha's Teachings. Vowing to save all sentient beings.

The Robe is and stands for all Endless Reality and Enlightenment. The Robe is and stands for all Objects and the Suchness which sweeps through all Objects. The Robe is and stands for the Buddha's Teachings and our vow to (however endless) rescue all the sentient beings.

The Process of Sewing is truly a lesson in Sewing our Life ... Stitch by sincere Stitch, thoughts of progress dropped in favor of each individual stitch as itself the point, mistakes accepted yet corrected as we can, the care (or lack thereof) shown in the never-finished result, the whole product never produced nor ended nor perfect yet perfectly what it is.

BUT one may also know that the true Kesa is not made of cloth, and for the sincere Buddhist is always worn when a good life is lived. My "Kesa" is not simply made of cloth, but is rather this whole world and the sky which covers me. The living of life moment by moment is also a sewing "stitch by stitch", and the needle and thread merely how we live in this instant. It is much like saying that wearing a crucifix around one's neck does not, just by that, make one a good Christian (let alone a good human being), and in the end the Cross is but two pieces of ordinary wood nailed together. Should one choose, one may find all the meaning of Jesus' Teaching in the Cross, or one may find that the True Cross is not some thing at all. Some Buddhists may come to hold faith in the Kesa in a very similar way to the Christian and his Cross.

I find that some folks ... Buddhist, Christian or of other religions ... need the pomp and ceremony, incense and costumes, mystery and dance as a doorway to the Teachings. That is fine, and such is what religions have relied upon across the centuries: The grand cathedrals and gold temples, the arcane ceremonies and language and ritual objects. Many faithful need priests, mumbling mystical formula, to conduct the way. That is good for those who need, and such is the doorway that is right for such folks.

But I also believe that the profound Truths of this Buddhist Paths are all around us, and that the most ordinary aspects of our lives are just as sacred. Free of all the above, the Power of these Teachings manifests just as powerfully ... with every blade of grass a Cathedral, your home a Temple, the daily activities of our lives a "sacred ritual" when known as such. We are each priests in our way when realized in priestly behavior. The t-shirt we wear now is a sacred "Kesa" in a Buddha's eye. Such knowing of the "ordinary miracle" of this life is a doorway for other folks.

So, in the near future, this Sangha will offer each of these Paths to folks. Individuals so suited may choose to walk one, or choose to walk the other or (perhaps the wisest course) to walk each for a time when suitable to their needs. They may even choose other Paths to combine with these (I, Jundo, would like to offer a Practice with less overtly religious elements ... and free of many superstitious beliefs and fairy tails ... and would like to continue to emphasize a way of Zen Practice that anyone ... Christian or Jewish or Muslim, Atheist or Agnostic ... might find open to them, for I truly believe that there is nothing incompatible in this Practice with any of that if someone's heart and mind is open. All good Paths.) In fact, the religious pomp and circumstance of "Buddhist Religion" ... the statues and robes and ceremonies ... can interfere with some peoples' abilities to understand and feel at home in the Practice ... even as, for others, all that is their gateway.

Different Right Paths, each suited to different feet perhaps ... but one Mountain.

Gassho, J

[Byokan]

Hi Jundo,

do you want 10,000 questions now, or do you want us to wait until you get back home and explain in more detail what these changes are?

Gassho
Lisa

[Jundo]

Yes, please wait until I get back home in a few days, and Taigu and I can begin to discuss things. The changes will not be so radical as some may anticipate.

I describe it as two chefs making two tasty bowls of soup, each suited to different tastes. However, there is only One True Taste.

Gassho, Jundo

[Nindo]

... the fact that I put people off.

Taigu, if you put people off, then Dokan's house would have been empty. I don't believe that this is the case. Speaking strictly for me, I appreciate the differences in teaching, and deeply respect both your paths.

Gassho,
Nindo

[Jika]

I feel like throwing a bread crumb into a pond and seeing a giant wave rise up.

Thank you for all of your answers, and thank you for answering what I had not known how to ask.

Yugen, thank you for your interpretation of my "disorder", I enjoy it.

Being so new (yes, that excuse again), I was first very happy to see Jundo in T-Shirt. See my introduction, about all those scary people in robes on the internet elsewhere. I'm not into ceremony for pomp.

Then, I was very intimidated by the rakusu and could not identify with it.

Now, looking for something to keep me warm, I've watched some of Taigu's talks about the kesa, and it caught me with its beauty. Not the fabric, I'm really not looking forward to wearing some strange stripes around me, but the patches.

My life is all patches, patches of body-mind, but still wholeness.


Now I'm not afraid of the rakusu any more. Wearing it or not wearing it, permitted or not permitted, my life is already it.

Sometimes it needs two bowls of soup to feed one.
Forgive me if I'm being too hungry.

Deep bows to all of you, my teachers,

Gassho,
Danny

[MyoHo]

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Gently and without hurry. Stiching life, stich by stich, breath by breath. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

Gassho

Myoho

[Jinyo]

Dear Willow,

I very much respect your opinion and deep feeling about this tradition. You happen to be in tune with your teacher which I find very auspicious and great. As a form of respect for Jundo your teacher and my Dharma brother I won't explain here why I disagree. If at one stage you want to know, pay me a visit.
I gave a big chunk of this useless life of mine to sewing robes , offering them and wearing them in the still state. It doesn't make me superior or different from you. if you inquire about the meaning of the robe , the layers of its implications and meanings, you would maybe have a different take on this.

But yes, a robeless Zen is possible, J Beck, Tony Parker, and quite a few teachers dropped the robe, some even dropped the transmission, some dropped everything.

There is room in life for something that doesn t come from opinions, preferences and feelings. This is the very essence of Mahayana Buddhism. I don't even call it love.

take great care

gassho

Taigu ( a name I deserve fully, big stupid bloke is spot on)

PS: as a tribute to your sincere practice and the beautiful wisdom of your teacher, I will give more and more time to the sewing of the Buddhist robe and teach as widely as possible not minding about the ghosts of old religion and the fact that I put people off.

Dear Taigu,

thank you for these words.

It is maybe hard to understand through a message board another's point of view. I followed the retreat in Washington and
was not 'put off' by you or any of the ceremony. The teaching session on Dogen was wonderful. I have the greatest respect for
the way in which you convey tradition, and the more mystical aspects of Zen - that you hold dear - are also close to my heart.

I also think it's lovely that you sew the Kesa, teach and give these robes to others. In my view - that is an act of love.

The robe is at the authentic centre of your heart - yes? I could not wear one unless I was certain I felt this too - it would be wrong and insincere.

These message boards can be frustrating - so much more I would like to discuss.

Take great care too,


Gassho

Willow

[Ishin]

Taigu, if you put people off, then Dokan's house would have been empty. I don't believe that this is the case. Speaking strictly for me, I appreciate the differences in teaching, and deeply respect both your paths.

Gassho,
Nindo

yes

C

[Shugen]

That is lovely!

Gassho,

[ATTACH]1871[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]1872[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]1873[/ATTACH]

Gently and without hurry. Stiching life, stich by stich, breath by breath. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

Gassho

Myoho

[Mp]

[ATTACH]1871[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]1872[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]1873[/ATTACH]

Gently and without hurry. Stiching life, stich by stich, breath by breath. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

Gassho

Myoho

Beautiful Myoho. =)

Gassho
Shingen

[Heishu]

Danny,

I am so happy that you began this thread. Inquiry, that is how we learn. As a child we ask Mom and Dad; what is that, why is that, how is that, and so much more. I am an old man now and I still seek questions of life. Danny, stay hungry my friend, we gain when we hunger for truth and knowledge.

As a Sangha we learn from each other. This Sangha is a patchwork of people, each one of us so different and yet so much alike. We come to this place as an individual but yet we are sewn together as one Sangha. Just as the patches of cloth are sewn together to make a Rakusu or Kesa, so to, each person in this Sangha helps hold together one another as we gather and discuss things together.

Our teachers our talking about changes, change is good. We grow stronger by being flexible with the many variations of life. I like what Jundo has said and I look forward to the possibilities. I like Jundo's and Taigu's way and respect them both. They are two panels of the Kesa that is called Treeleaf.

I have never looked at being Buddhist as being part of a religion, though I know that some Buddhist do. I never felt that the Buddha had formed a Church. To me his teachings are instructions he gave to help people deal with life. I like the many traditions and yet I do not see them as religious acts. I like to experience a statue of Buddha, a candle, and even the occasional scent of incense. I like to chant the Heart and Metta Sutras. I like to bow. I like that I have sewn a Rakusu. I like the experience of observing the rituals. Must I experience them each and every day? No, for then I feel that I have allowed them to become something that they are not.

Gassho,
Heihsu

[Heishu]

I associate the kesa with ordination, and have aspired to ordain for much of my life. I associate the robe with old friends who broke this heart with their wisdom and compassion. I have felt that it would not be appropriate to wear robes until my speech and conduct can dignify them. This is why I have never stepped up, out of respect, ....and an acknowledgement of my uncooked bullshit. It won't work the other way around, with robes dignifying uncooked bullshit as crazy wisdom.

At this point I would like to sow robes ..or not. What matters is shared practice within sangha, and living a husband, father, brother, son, friend, neighbor, stranger, earthling. Tradition always begins looking like stepping away from tradition. It has always been that way in the stream of Buddhadharma. It is all good.

I'm happy to carry on here at Treeleaf, robe or no robe.


A very sleepy gassho.
Daizan.

Daizan,

If we wait for our life to be perfect before we embark on sewing the Kesa, life may have ended while we waited.

Gassho,
Heishu