January 5th-6th, 2018 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! (Welcoming the New Year & Jukai)

[Jundo]

Today's Talk is based on some pages of Master Dogen's Diary of his Travels in China "HOKYOKI" (text below)

Please 'sit-a-long' with our MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI, netcast LIVE 8am to noon Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 6pm to 10pm, Los Angeles 3pm to 7pm (Friday night), London 11pm to 3am and Paris midnight to 54am (early Saturday morning)) ... and visible at the following link during those times ...

... to be visible on the below screen during those times and any time thereafter ...

LIVE ZAZENKAI NETCAST at YOUTUBE HANGOUT IS HERE:
CLICK ON THE TAB ON LOWER RIGHT FOR 'FULL SCREEN

Dharma Talk Audio / Podcast Episode:

https://treeleaf.podbean.com/e/january-2018-zazenkai-talk-dogen%E2%80%99s-hokyoki-part-iii/

FOR THOSE NOT ALREADY MEMBERS OF THE CIRCLE WHO WISH TO JOIN TO SIT LIVE WITH A CAMERA, INSTRUCTIONS are posted AT THIS LINK. WE ARE NOW LIMITED TO 10 INDIVIDUALS WITH CAMERAS, BUT ANY NUMBER CAN WATCH LIVE 'ONE WAY' AND SIT-A-LONG VIA THE ABOVE SCREEN. IF JOINING WITH CAMERA, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS MUTED:

The Sitting Schedule is as follows:

00:00 - 00:50 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA IN JAPANESE / SANDOKAI IN ENGLISH) & ZAZEN
00:50 - 01:00 KINHIN
01:00 - 01:30 ZAZEN
01:30 - 01:50 KINHIN

01:50 - 02:30 DHARMA TALK & ZAZEN
02:30 - 02:40 KINHIN

02:40 - 03:15 ZAZEN
03:15 - 03:30 KINHIN
03:30 - 04:00 METTA CHANT & ZAZEN, VERSE OF ATONEMENT, FOUR VOWS, & CLOSING


Our Zazenkai consists of our chanting the 'Heart Sutra' in Japanese and the 'Identity of Relative and Absolute (Sandokai)' in English (please download our Chant Book at the link below), some full floor prostrations (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), a little talk by me ... and we close with the 'Metta Chant', followed at the end with the 'Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'. Oh, and lots and lots of Zazen and walkin' Kinhin in between!

Please download and print out the Chants we will recite at the following link (PDF):

Chant Book (PDF)

or

Chant Book (SHORT VERSION HTML)

Not everyone realizes that they can join in the Chanting of the Heart Sutra, Identity of Relative & Absolute, Metta Verses, Verse of Atonement and Four Vows (although we ask that you keep your microphone down). Please follow along with the Chant Book, and let your voice ring!

I STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU POSITION YOUR ZAFU ON THE FLOOR IN A PLACE WHERE YOU ARE NOT STARING DIRECTLY AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN, BUT CAN GLANCE OVER AND SEE THE SCREEN WHEN NECESSARY. YOUR ZAFU SHOULD ALSO BE IN A POSITION WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE COMPUTER SCREEN WHILE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE ZAFU FOR THE CEREMONIES, AND HAVE ROOM FOR BOWING AND KINHIN.

ALSO, REMEMBER TO SET YOUR COMPUTER (& SCREEN SAVER) SO THAT IT DOES NOT SHUT OFF DURING THE 4 HOURS.

I hope you will join us ... an open Zafu is waiting. When we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' 'then' ... we are sitting all together!


Gassho, Jundo

[Jundo]

Our Reading Text for Today's Talk: Hokyoki (Journal of My Study In China) by Master Eihei Dogen - Part III (Pages 13 to 20)

We continue this series of talks on a text by Dogen which is not so commonly the topic of Dharma Talks, but which contains a detailed record of Dogen's own lessons and interactions with his Teacher in China, Master Tiāntóng Rújìng (天童如淨; Japanese: Tendō Nyōjo). Dogen was then a young student who went to travel (by boat, across deadly seas, not airliner) seeking an answer to many questions. This is the record of Dogen's remembrances of much of the advice and guidance he received on those questions from his own Teacher.

I thought that we might spend a few months with the text, taking it a few pages at a time. Not all the advice is something one need agree with in modern times, maybe (based on his own later Teachings) some of it even Dogen did not take to heart. However, let us see what we can find.

The most readable version is Tanhashi Sensei's translation in his book "Enlightenment Unfolds", a collection of various writings by Dogen. If you do not have the book, I created a PDF file (about 13 pages) with the entire Hokyoki, which can be used for this limited purpose.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HU_8x679myk5bd4hDpUoWnVXvqYPuW8C/view?usp=sharing

I am going to read from page 13 through 20 today if there is time. It is a grabbag of topics, so let's see what we find. I will be connecting the topics to our upcoming Jukai Ceremony this month.

Gassho, Jundo

SatToday(LAH)

[Mp]

Wonderful, thank you Jundo ... I will be there live with instruments ready! =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Kyonin]

Hi Jundo!

I'll be there with you all

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Shinzan]

I'll be there, one way or 'tother.
_/st\_ Shinzan Sekibu

[Seishin]

BAU ZOD for me, catch you on the replays.

STMIZ lah

[Mp]

Hello folks,

Here is the event link for todays zazenkai: https://hangouts.google.com/hangouts...gs74ktgzrfuf4e

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Kakunen]

I will sit on one way.

Because I am with my son now.

Sat today
Nine bows


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sekishi]

Will sit this one over the weekend. [emoji120]

Gassho,
Sekishi #sat

[RichardH]

Driving out to pick up my son from school.. its too cold for trains and buses.

Will sit in the AM..

Deep bows
Daizan

Sat today/LAH

[Mp]

Thank you Jundo, our hardcore ladies, and everyone ... way to stick it out in the cold. Great to see you and start off the new year with zazen. =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat/LAH

[Shokai]

Thank you Jundo and Shingen. I'm enjoying Dogen's Hokyoki; an interesting study of another age.

gassho, Shokai

stlah

[Onkai]

Thank you, everyone. I started late and then switched over to one-way. It is wonderful to practice together. Have a great weekend.

Gassho,
Onkai
Sat/LAH

[Shinzan]

Thanks, everyone. Drive safely on icy roads.

_/\_

[Kyousui]

Was going to sit one way here but couldn't figure out how to start from the beginning while a session is live so I did 4 hours on my own. Will have to listen later to Jundo Roshi's talk.
Sat today LAH