Thank you for the link you put in your message, Jundo. It’s very interesting !
Yuki 雪
(Sat today)
Yuki 雪
(Sat today)
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Hi everybody !
I suggest for next week to read if you like, of course !
DAI-O KOKUSHI "ON ZEN"
Translated by D. T. Suzuki
(Manual of Zen Buddhism, 1935, p. 145)
There is a reality even prior to heaven and earth;
Indeed, it has no form, much less a name;
Eyes fail to see it; It has no voice for ears to detect;
To call it Mind or Buddha violates its nature,
For it then becomes like a visionary flower in the air;
It is not Mind, nor Buddha;
Absolutely quiet, and yet illuminating in a mysterious way,
It allows itself to be perceived only by the clear-eyed.
It is Dharma truly beyond form and sound;
It is Tao having nothing to do with words.
Wishing to entice the blind,
The Buddha has playfully let words escape his golden mouth;
Heaven and earth are ever since filled with entangling briars.
O my good worthy friends gathered here,
If you desire to listen to the thunderous voice of the Dharma,
Exhaust your words, empty your thoughts,
For then you may come to recognize this One Essence.
Says Hui the Brother, "The Buddha's Dharma
Is not to be given up to mere human sentiments."
(大應國師 Daiō Kokushi, 1235–1308),
This book good to read and it's free
DOC: Eloquent Zen: Daitō and Early Japanese Zen
by Kenneth Kraft
University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1992.
Have a Lovely Weekend!
Deep bows,
Life itself is the only teacher.
一 Joko Beck
STLah
安知 AnchiComment
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Merci Omom,
Of course we will read this text !
Thanks for the link too !
Yuki 雪
(Sat today)Comment
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This week program :
Sanki Raimon ( English and Japanese)
Kaikyo Ge
Hannya Shingyo
Ji ho San shi
Reading of :
DAI-O KOKUSHI "ON ZEN" Post #438
And
From a talk Sawaki gave on the Fukanzazengi (The Universal Recommendation of Zazen) in March 1936
People have many ideas about what Zen is. I’m often asked, “What is Zen?” My response is “to know the Self.”
I am an advocate of Zen Master Dogen’s teaching and have been for tens of years. I give talks about it and have been actualizing it in practice. This « knowing the Self” is beyond verbal explanation—it is beyond words and must be practiced. If I were to try to express this Self that is beyond words, I would have to say “the Self that selfs itself.”
Zen is wall gazing—you face a wall and you sit. You become yourself and only yourself. This Self that is only the Self is Buddha. So you become Buddha, the Tathagata; that is to say, you become yourself completely. Originally, we are temporary [borrowed] selves—there is a screw on the outside—it’s like a toy car that operates when the screw is turned. Only it’s not a screw on the outside—it’s the self operating the Self.
This is my zazen. I believe it is different from the usual concept of what the word zazen means. Satori is not essential, just be yourself. What do we have to do to become our selves? When we eat too much because the food is delicious, or when we refrain from eating because we don’t like the flavor, that [attitude] is not coming from our [true] Self. We are being manipulated by something outside of us. Don’t allow that to happen. What should we do to prevent that from happening? How can we act from our true Self?
Do zazen. Practicing from the true Self is the meaning of zazen.
From
Discovering the True Self
Kodo Sawaki
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Zazen
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Enmei Juku Kannon Gyo
Short dedication
Haïkus
The four vows
See you !
Yuki 雪
(Sat today)Comment
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Life itself is the only teacher.
一 Joko Beck
STLah
安知 AnchiComment
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I am setting up a weekly "Zazen with Dick" sitting schedule and would like to possibly include a chant. I have the Treeleaf Chant Book, but would like to use a recorded chant rather than "out loud" so as to not wake other sleeping householders. Do we have any recorded chants available that I might use?
Thank you
Gassho
Dick
sat/lahComment
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Hi Dick,
I don’t know if Treeleaf have recorded chants available. Sorry.
If you seek Japanese chants, you can find some on YouTube. Here are some links :
Massimo Claus
Hannya Shingyo Soto Zen School
Sandokai
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In English :
Heart Sutra
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I’m pretty sure that Jundo can help you to find appropriate chants.
You can also comes in Chanting and Zazen Circle to see and listen what we are doing here. We can accommodate you with specific chants if you lets us know in advance. Who knows : maybe we can’t try to record one or two for your specific needs.
Gassho and deep bows !
Yuki 雪
(Sat today)
Last edited by Guest; 11-25-2021, 04:40 PM.Comment
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Hi Dick
I have some of my own recorded chants and can chant to order if you need something in particular! We are in the process of providing recorded chants for here.
Also, I imagine it would be fine to snip some of the chanting out of a Zazenkai, although good to check with Jundo. I already did that with some of Jakuden's chanting.
A third alternative is not to have any chants and just the bell.
Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday/lah-Comment
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Yuki, Kokuu
Thank you for your help and suggestions. I think I was making this more complicated than necessary, especially for my first attempt at hosting. I decided to stick with a simpler 3-bells zazen sit for now. I'll keep my eye on the chanting group and if any recorded chants become available, I may add them in the future. Kokuu - Thanks for volunteering to make a chant for me. I may avail myself of this in the future.
Gassho
Dick
sat/lahComment
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Hi Dick,
I think it lovely if you wish to play a recorded Chant during your sitting. Do not do it as a formal Ceremony, but keep it simple, just playing the recording while everyone sits in Zazen Posture or stands before Zazen. Do not have any Chant leader particularly.
I would say that the English Heart Sutra that Yuki posted is very hard to hear and a bit unusual to my ear. We also do not Chant the Sandokai as in that recording. The Japanese version is rather long at 8 minutes, so I would recommend that you choose one of these lovely recordings, whichever is fine.
For the English Heart Sutra, Kokuu just made some recordings that we are finalizing, and which should be ready in a couple of days. Stay tuned!
Gassho, Jundo
STLahALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLEComment
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Life itself is the only teacher.
一 Joko Beck
STLah
安知 AnchiComment
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Hi everybody !
How about the reading of those two texts from Kodo Sawaki this week ?
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« Impermanence is this very instant as it is.
You win or lose this moment and . . . finished.
Every day you breathe out and breathe in and that’s it. And that should be the end of it.
However, we attach to things and delude ourselves.
If we have children, we think of ourselves as parents.
If we have grandchildren, we think of ourselves as grandparents . . .
The grandchild is the grandchild, period.
The grandparent is the grandparent, period.
The child is the child, period.
Here we see for the first time the flavorless, colorless reality of the sole universe.
These days, people feel dissatisfied.
It’s because the modern man feels he is unexciting and that he must do something about it.
And he thinks he can do something about it.
That is what we call delusion.
There is no other self than the one who lives with these thoughts right now.
It is the self that can’t be replaced.
There is no place where another me is.
So the thoughts and activities of our selves today are irreplaceable.
[Hence this self] must be the true Self. »
Kodo Sawaki
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« When I give myself completely to zazen, nothing any longer exists—there is no Sawaki. When there is no Sawaki, there is no deluded thinking mind. When this mind is rejected, nothing remains other than zazen. During zazen, one is in harmony with the Buddha, the Dharma, the founders, and the patriarchs. One becomes the entire universe. Through the power of the Knowing-Buddha, we enter into the unborn. This power resides in zazen. Through this knowing, illusions disappear and one immediately enters the unborn.
That’s why Zen Master Keizan says at the beginning of his Zazen Yojinki [A Record of Points to Watch in Zazen]:
“Zazen allows people to directly illumine the mind and reside comfortably in their fundamental nature. This is called revealing one’s original face and manifesting the scenery of one’s true foundation.” Again, “if you wish to illumine this mind, you must let go of all learning, throw away the Dharma of both the world and the Buddha, and set yourself apart from all delusion. When you actualize this unique true mind, the clouds of delusion will disappear and the true mind will be as clear as the bright moon.
Zazen will then wipe out ignorance, and you will attain Buddhahood as you are. So you do not realize the unborn through the power of reasoning, but rather through the power of zazen. »
Discovering the True Self
Kodo Sawaki
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See you all soon !
Yuki 雪
(Sat today)Comment
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