Dear All,
Our Sangha tends to be quite simple and minimalist on ritual and ceremony, compared to many Buddhist communities, and even many other Zen Sangha. This was Nishijima Roshi's way, inspired by his first teacher, 'Homeless' Kodo Sawaki, for both of whom the core ritual and doing remains Zazen, Zazen and Zazen.
Even so, there are times to chant this or that, and meaning embodied in some words we intone which echo from our hearts. So, we chant some great Teachings and other vows and reminders, widely cherished in the Buddhist or Soto Zen Buddhist world. These include, for example, the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyo), studied and chanted by Mahayana Buddhists from Tibet to Taiwan, Korea to Kyoto, a fathomless Teaching on the Wholeness of Emptiness, as is the 'Identity of Relative and Absolute' (Sandokai), heard in Zen temples for over 1200 years. We recite the 'Four Bodhisattva Vows' as our commitment to keep on walking this endless path, nonetheless fulfilled in each present step, and the 'Verse of Atonement,' our reflection and renewal for our too human times of falling down.
In the accompany threads (LINK), I will gather a little information collected over the years about these various texts and Chantings, including a little about their history, some trivia, and the reasons for some of the particular wordings and translations heard in our Sangha. Most of our Chants are in English, based on Japanese interpretations of Chinese, which sometimes (not always) came from Sanskrit or other Indian or Silk Road languages before that. There is no one, single way to express a Buddhist translation into English, in the same way that a translation of an ancient Chinese poem into English can come with a variety of word choices by varied translators, each unique and each accurate in its own way of conveying the meaning and feeling behind it. In other words, there is no one "right" translation, but many good translations which carry well the wisdom of the original.
If you would like to dive even deeper into the background, history and word meaning of many of the Chants valued in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition, I strongly recommend to you Okumura Roshi's book, Living by Vow, which is a rich and readable source of information:
I also mention our Treeleaf 'Recommended At Home Liturgy,' for those folks who would like to incorporate some additional small practices into their daily life, not forgetting ever Zazen, Zazen and Zazen of course!
Gassho, Jundo
sattodaylah
sorry for running long
Our Sangha tends to be quite simple and minimalist on ritual and ceremony, compared to many Buddhist communities, and even many other Zen Sangha. This was Nishijima Roshi's way, inspired by his first teacher, 'Homeless' Kodo Sawaki, for both of whom the core ritual and doing remains Zazen, Zazen and Zazen.
Even so, there are times to chant this or that, and meaning embodied in some words we intone which echo from our hearts. So, we chant some great Teachings and other vows and reminders, widely cherished in the Buddhist or Soto Zen Buddhist world. These include, for example, the Heart Sutra (Hannya Shingyo), studied and chanted by Mahayana Buddhists from Tibet to Taiwan, Korea to Kyoto, a fathomless Teaching on the Wholeness of Emptiness, as is the 'Identity of Relative and Absolute' (Sandokai), heard in Zen temples for over 1200 years. We recite the 'Four Bodhisattva Vows' as our commitment to keep on walking this endless path, nonetheless fulfilled in each present step, and the 'Verse of Atonement,' our reflection and renewal for our too human times of falling down.
In the accompany threads (LINK), I will gather a little information collected over the years about these various texts and Chantings, including a little about their history, some trivia, and the reasons for some of the particular wordings and translations heard in our Sangha. Most of our Chants are in English, based on Japanese interpretations of Chinese, which sometimes (not always) came from Sanskrit or other Indian or Silk Road languages before that. There is no one, single way to express a Buddhist translation into English, in the same way that a translation of an ancient Chinese poem into English can come with a variety of word choices by varied translators, each unique and each accurate in its own way of conveying the meaning and feeling behind it. In other words, there is no one "right" translation, but many good translations which carry well the wisdom of the original.
If you would like to dive even deeper into the background, history and word meaning of many of the Chants valued in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition, I strongly recommend to you Okumura Roshi's book, Living by Vow, which is a rich and readable source of information:
I also mention our Treeleaf 'Recommended At Home Liturgy,' for those folks who would like to incorporate some additional small practices into their daily life, not forgetting ever Zazen, Zazen and Zazen of course!
Gassho, Jundo
sattodaylah
sorry for running long
)
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