Dear all,
Jundo has asked the priests to do some year-end reading related to training and Treeleaf - I feel strongly enough about these reflections that I thought I would share them here. Many of you are undertaking, have underteken, or do not wish to undertake Jukai. These are thoughts about relationship in a sangha, zen practice, and with a teacher. Sometimes it's easy to forget that this is a place of practice and we treat it more like a social medium - not a bad thing - there is just a difference. I'd like to share my reflections with you as we practice together, and think about, the coming year.
You are all my teachers.
Content follows:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________________________
Hello all,
I've been giving these readings a lot of thought and I will not duplicate what many of you have written here, which is expressed eloquently and far better than I could have done. I am inspired by my fellow priests and in particular by those who are approaching and/or considering ordination. I pay particular attention to those who are relatively new to our ranks as you have the opportunity to make observations that come from a particularly rich point in your practice - there are times when I wish I was just starting out again, in zen as in the martial arts. I will make an analogy - I was talking with my son (who studies Uechi with me) and I told him that my years as a brown belt (prior to achieving Dan rank) were my most carefree training years. I trained hard and spontaneously - now in the martial arts I am considered a senior and teacher (whatever that means). Not quite so in zen (I'm always a beginner) but I do have some of the baggage that comes from being around a bit and having visited different lineages, zendos, and teachers as I train and I realize that people are people everywhere - they bring their biases, opinions, desires for control with them wherever they go - even in Zen - particularly in Zen! So, with these thoughts in mind, here are some reflections - in no order of importance -
1) We are all teachers - there are different ways to teach. I like to think of the "teachless teaching" - the power of example is the most simple, elegant, and powerful teaching of all. It also requires powers of observation and attention.
2) The act of teaching requires a student or students to receive, or interact. Just as the act of giving requires an act of receiving to close the loop, a teacher needs a student, and a student needs a teacher, and each one has a responsibility to the other. It is not a one-way relationship. A student makes a commitment to the teacher and the teacher makes a commitment to the student. This commitment is not one of simple obedience, it is far more subtle and profound.
3) Student/teacher relationships are not always smooth, and often go through periods of difficulty, and even silence. I would even go so far as to say that an apprentice relationship of the type we describe takes years, and this apprenticeship is incomplete without periods of difficulty (and ultimate reconciliation) -
4) The centrality of a relationship with a teacher: I cannot stress this enough. Zen is going through many changes and iterations as it slowly sheds its Asian/Japanese identity and takes on a new form in the West, in the U.S., as it moves beyond the first and second generation of Suzuki, Deshimaru, Trungpa, etc. and their senior students. Whether the medium is the internet, in person, a combination, includes transcendentalist or secular humanist influences, professional clerical credentailling, whatever - this is all secondary and a distraction from the fact that the Dharma is trasmitted in various ways for various people - and many will claim their way is the only way - but this misses the importance of a good teacher to your training and development. You will know one when you see one. And you may have more than one teacher. But I feel one root teacher is critical to your practice. Stick with this teacher for years - folloow them, question them, challenge them, fight with them. They are not your friend or father or mother or therapist. They are your teacher. Think about what this means to you - yes, a teacher can be a friend but to conflate the roles diminishes how special it is to have a teacher in your life - what is a teacher in the context of Zen, and apprenticeship? It is not necessarily what you think it is, and it is far more complex than you do. If you do not know, ask.
5) You give meaning to your priesthood. Check your thinking, your journey, your course with your teacher, with your colleagues. A good teacher sets the boundaries of your practice, the guardrails that keep you from going into the bushes off the road - sometimes your teacher pulls you back in - sometimes they let you wander. Don't be afraid to challenge your teacher. The trick is to learn how to challenge your teacher and show respect at the same time - challenge is not necessarily disrespect - but many don't understand the difference.
6) Treeleaf is not a cookie-cutter zendo or training program. Our respective paths are different and unique - Jundo's relationship and guidance for each of us will be different. There are core skills we need to have in common (priestcraft), but our respective practices will manifest differently. We will make mistakes - we will work them out - and we need to communicate to stay on track. I do not know what the future holds for us - for me - but I do know this is the place for me.
7) I'm not that big a deal. You are not that big a deal. This is very liberating. Not so easy if we are caught up in our own drama.
How is your practice manifesting?
Deep bows
Yugen
Jundo has asked the priests to do some year-end reading related to training and Treeleaf - I feel strongly enough about these reflections that I thought I would share them here. Many of you are undertaking, have underteken, or do not wish to undertake Jukai. These are thoughts about relationship in a sangha, zen practice, and with a teacher. Sometimes it's easy to forget that this is a place of practice and we treat it more like a social medium - not a bad thing - there is just a difference. I'd like to share my reflections with you as we practice together, and think about, the coming year.
You are all my teachers.
Content follows:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ ________________________
Hello all,
I've been giving these readings a lot of thought and I will not duplicate what many of you have written here, which is expressed eloquently and far better than I could have done. I am inspired by my fellow priests and in particular by those who are approaching and/or considering ordination. I pay particular attention to those who are relatively new to our ranks as you have the opportunity to make observations that come from a particularly rich point in your practice - there are times when I wish I was just starting out again, in zen as in the martial arts. I will make an analogy - I was talking with my son (who studies Uechi with me) and I told him that my years as a brown belt (prior to achieving Dan rank) were my most carefree training years. I trained hard and spontaneously - now in the martial arts I am considered a senior and teacher (whatever that means). Not quite so in zen (I'm always a beginner) but I do have some of the baggage that comes from being around a bit and having visited different lineages, zendos, and teachers as I train and I realize that people are people everywhere - they bring their biases, opinions, desires for control with them wherever they go - even in Zen - particularly in Zen! So, with these thoughts in mind, here are some reflections - in no order of importance -
1) We are all teachers - there are different ways to teach. I like to think of the "teachless teaching" - the power of example is the most simple, elegant, and powerful teaching of all. It also requires powers of observation and attention.
2) The act of teaching requires a student or students to receive, or interact. Just as the act of giving requires an act of receiving to close the loop, a teacher needs a student, and a student needs a teacher, and each one has a responsibility to the other. It is not a one-way relationship. A student makes a commitment to the teacher and the teacher makes a commitment to the student. This commitment is not one of simple obedience, it is far more subtle and profound.
3) Student/teacher relationships are not always smooth, and often go through periods of difficulty, and even silence. I would even go so far as to say that an apprentice relationship of the type we describe takes years, and this apprenticeship is incomplete without periods of difficulty (and ultimate reconciliation) -
4) The centrality of a relationship with a teacher: I cannot stress this enough. Zen is going through many changes and iterations as it slowly sheds its Asian/Japanese identity and takes on a new form in the West, in the U.S., as it moves beyond the first and second generation of Suzuki, Deshimaru, Trungpa, etc. and their senior students. Whether the medium is the internet, in person, a combination, includes transcendentalist or secular humanist influences, professional clerical credentailling, whatever - this is all secondary and a distraction from the fact that the Dharma is trasmitted in various ways for various people - and many will claim their way is the only way - but this misses the importance of a good teacher to your training and development. You will know one when you see one. And you may have more than one teacher. But I feel one root teacher is critical to your practice. Stick with this teacher for years - folloow them, question them, challenge them, fight with them. They are not your friend or father or mother or therapist. They are your teacher. Think about what this means to you - yes, a teacher can be a friend but to conflate the roles diminishes how special it is to have a teacher in your life - what is a teacher in the context of Zen, and apprenticeship? It is not necessarily what you think it is, and it is far more complex than you do. If you do not know, ask.
5) You give meaning to your priesthood. Check your thinking, your journey, your course with your teacher, with your colleagues. A good teacher sets the boundaries of your practice, the guardrails that keep you from going into the bushes off the road - sometimes your teacher pulls you back in - sometimes they let you wander. Don't be afraid to challenge your teacher. The trick is to learn how to challenge your teacher and show respect at the same time - challenge is not necessarily disrespect - but many don't understand the difference.
6) Treeleaf is not a cookie-cutter zendo or training program. Our respective paths are different and unique - Jundo's relationship and guidance for each of us will be different. There are core skills we need to have in common (priestcraft), but our respective practices will manifest differently. We will make mistakes - we will work them out - and we need to communicate to stay on track. I do not know what the future holds for us - for me - but I do know this is the place for me.
7) I'm not that big a deal. You are not that big a deal. This is very liberating. Not so easy if we are caught up in our own drama.
How is your practice manifesting?
Deep bows
Yugen
today you are my teacher.
Comment