No Seniors, No Juniors - Just People of No Rank

[Shinzan]

(Back to the beginning of this thread) Yes, waiters in the Buddha restaurant: I once heard someone quip that wearing a rakusu is actually like tying on an apron, as in, "I'm here to serve. How can I make your life more wonderful today?"

=) Shinzan
sattoday

[Geika]

That's nice, Shinzan.

Gassho

Sat today

[Risho]

I was hoping to eventually achieve the title of Senior Clown --- sigh. lol

Gassho,

Risho
-sattoday

[michaeljc]

From a CEO of a large successful multinational company

It is nice to be important but it is more important to be nice

m

Sat 2-day

[shikantazen]

good move; i was about to raise this a few days back

should we also stop displaying number of posts? or make them private (visible only to the account holder)

Gassho,
Sam Sat Today

[Ongen]

No Seniors, No Juniors - Just People of No Rank

Cap'n Jundo somehow has a very nice ring to it - grin
I feel a song coming up... Might write it tomorrow!

Gassho

Ongen / vincent

Sat Today


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Byrne]

Thank you Jundo for clarifying to vocabulary. Growing up in a Judeo-Christian culture can sometimes cause confusion when it comes to the nature of a Buddhist community.

Gassho

Sat Today

[kidbuda]

Thanks Jundo, very interesting thread. I have two questions, maybe they have been already answered in another thread, if so, please point me to the right direction:

1.How is a regular day in the life of a Zen Monk here at our Sangha?
2. I´m having some sort of a " calling " to expand my dharma practice horizons, by helping others with my practice and the little stuff I know, not know, and becoming a monk feels right and appears to me like a powerful tool for being of service to others, anyone have any comments on this? anyone have felt the same way before?

Thanks and Gassho.

#SatToday (twice )

[Yugen]

No Seniors, No Juniors - Just People of No Rank

"How is a regular day in the life of a Zen Monk here at our Sangha?"

Perhaps this will give you some idea:

630A: Wake up - bring wife coffee (a wonderful ritual of twenty four years - our courtship was all about coffee and oreos) and wake sons up for school - check email and Treeleaf.
700A: Zazen.
815A: Drop youngest son at school
900A-100P: Work with morning clients: young men with behavioral issues and physical disabilities - social skills, homework, physical activities
100P-230P: Home for lunch; some form of exercise; usually practice kata or work outside/go for bike ride. Skype time for Treeleaf.
300P-700P: Afternoon/evening clients
730-930P (T, TH nights, Sunday AM): teach uechi ryu - my practice philosophy is "the fist and zen are one"
930P - make tea for my wife; check treeleaf, skype time.
1000P: Zazen
1100P-1200A: read philosophy/buddhist scripture when house is quiet; do some writing

I strive to live a life where my practice, work and daily activities (including martial arts, family life, and home duties) are seamless and represent my ministry in some way. Shortly following ordination, I switched careers into the social work/services area and spend time in the behavioral health area, working with adolescent males. I am pursuing professional certification and an MSW in this field (sponsored by my employer). I teach martial arts to a small group of students three times a week. On weekends I work one day and spend Sunday with my family. I am switching away from the Saturday work schedule in order to attend weekly zazenkai at Great River Zendo with Zenshin Tim Buckley. I am spending more time there, and Tim is giving me on-the-job training in zendo roles/management and performing/supporting services.

Evenings and weekends are available for skype meetings with Treeleafers, and Unsui. Sunday morning for Dokusan with Jundo. One Sunday per month I now travel to Boston to train with my Uechi sensei. I am preparing for eighth dan examination (sometime in the next two years). As the weather warms up and the sun returns, I get up early to get some time in the water / kayak. In season I keep a kayak on my car so I can put in whenever the opportunity presents itself. I volunteer with Maine Island Trail Association for daylong island cleanups in the spring and fall, and deliver food to the Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program with my youngest son once per week.

Monks at Treeleaf also have regular homework/training assignments given by Jundo, and roles/jobs in the Sangha much like monks in more traditional monasteries. The topic of training content for Treeleaf Unsui is a separate question/topic and requires its own post to be fully and properly addressed. Here I am trying to answer the question of a regular day in the life of a Treeleaf 'monk.'

This is not a traditional monastic schedule or existence. There are many ways to be a priest - the most important thing I have learned is not to try to live up to someone else's image of what a priest is - but instead to give meaning to my own priesthood in the way I live my life and serve my family, community, and Sangha.

Hope this gives you some insight - my brothers may wish to add their own 'snapshots'

The moral of the story is that there is no such thing as a regular day!

"becoming a monk feels right and appears to me like a powerful tool for being of service to others"

I have long wondered how to introduce my karate students to zen practice - they are after all one and the same - but in the West this is not an easy relationship to convey. The manner I have chosen to encourage my students in this direction is by not charging a fee for uechi class, but instead by requiring them to perform community service in a role of their choice (and we periodically discuss this service). Needless to say, I do not have many students, but I do have very committed ones.

You don't need to be a monk to be of service to others, but it certainly is a powerful commitment that deepens our purpose and lends urgency to our work. It is the direction I have chosen!

Deep bows
Yugen

[Troy]

No Seniors, No Juniors - Just People of No Rank

Thank you Yugen. I was kind of wondering what is like


..sat2day•

[Kyotai]

Wonderful Yugen. I was somewhat curious about the teacher student relationship here at treeleaf myself. Thank you and best of luck in training for your 8th Dan exam.

Gassho Kyotai
Sat today

[Theophan]

Thanks

Gassho
Theophan
Sat Today

[Mp]

"becoming a monk feels right and appears to me like a powerful tool for being of service to others"

Thank you Yugen, wonderful expression. And I too feel the exact same way! =)

Gassho
Shingen

SatToday

[kidbuda]

Ah! thanks Yugen! much clarifying. And yes, I agree, I do not need to be a monk to be of service to others, in fact,I already put some effort on doing that in the ways I can: in my everyday life with co-workers, family and friends, leading a small free of charge dharma/meditation group on wednesdays here on my city, teaching tai chi every saturday as dynamic meditation and a martial art full of zen-mind and charging a very low fee to some students, charging none to others who can´t pay, organising meditation workshops, having a blog about meditation, spiritual practice and wellness...but somehow...I feel that I can do more or aim my efforts better, with my practice and the way I serve others, getting more committed to doing that feels natural and almost necessary.

I also have a strange feeling of "needing to belong" to something bigger than me and my practice, that is our Sangha but I feel I need to do some more, don´t know if I´m making sense on this (ja ja). I hope I am.

Along with all that I also realize that after 20 years of practice, I´m only grasping how to apply dharma to the everyday life that I have tons to learn yet and I´m beginning to think that I´m no position to teach no one, that maybe my way of serving others is just simply being me and practicing dharma the best way I can in my life.

Or Probably is just my 40 year crisis arising early..

Anyway, any other thoughts on this guys? I really appreciate your comments, cause as you can imagine, it is only here and with you where I can discuss this stuff. Besides to talking to Kyonin of course, but I want to have a wider look on this.

Thanks and Gassho.

#SatToday

[Jika]

Thank you, Kidbuda, I too think you have found a wonderful expression for your dedication.

Yugen, thank you for putting some of the jigsaw parts together.

Gassho,
Danny

#sattoday