June 26th-27th Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - BYOB (Bring Your Own Buddha)

[Jundo]

ATTENTION: This is a BYOB (Brink Your Own Buddha) Zazenkai, and I ask everyone to place in their sitting room at home today something ... an image or thing that is ugly to the eye, harsh and human-made, something most mundane and ordinary like a rusty tin can ... even an image which is harsh, violent, scary and painful in this world or in your personal life making it hard to see "Buddha" in all the pain.

(Further explanation below in this thread.)

Hello All,

Please 'sit-a-long' with our weekly FRIDAY/SATURDAY 'LIVE FROM TREELEAF' 90 minute ZAZENKAI, netcast from 10am Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 9pm, Los Angeles 6pm (Friday night), London 2am and Paris 3am (early Saturday morning)

... and to be visible on the following screen during those times and sit-a-long-able any time thereafter ...

LIVE ZAZENKAI NETCAST IS HERE:

FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO JOIN TO SIT LIVE WITH A CAMERA, THERE lS A LlNK BELOW AT THE BOTTOM OF THlS POST. JUST CLICK AND JOIN BEFORE START TIME. 'TWO WAY' REQUIRES INDIVIDUALS WITH CAMERAS, BUT ANYONE CAN WATCH LIVE 'ONE WAY' AND SIT-A-LONG VIA THE ABOVE SCREEN. IF JOINING WITH CAMERA, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS MUTED.

'One Way' folks are also welcome to join the Zoom room, just leaving your camera and microphone turned off:

00:00 – 00:15 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA in English) and Dedication
00:15 – 00:45 ZAZEN
00:45 – 00:55 KINHIN
00:55 – 01:25 ZAZEN
01:25 – 01:30 VERSE OF ATONEMENT & FOUR VOWS

As you can see, our Zazenkai consists of chanting the 'Heart Sutra' in English (the words are at the link below), some full floor prostrations in sets of three (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), followed by our Dedication, Zazen twice for about 30 minutes each, with 10 minutes of Kinhin in between, and we end the sitting with 'The Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'.

Please join us in the Chanting of the Heart Sutra (although please keep your microphone muted). You can 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, 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!

So, please join us as soon as you can, and we will keep a Zafu open for you.

Remember, when we drop all thought of 'here' 'there' 'now' 'then' ... we are sitting all together!


Gassho, Jundo

SatTodayLAH

PS - There is no "wrong" or "right" in Zazen ... yet here is a little explanation of the "right" times to Bow (A Koan) ...

https://youtu.be/GR6POpsXh9Q

The other video I mention on Zendo decorum is this one, from our "Always Beginners" video Series:

Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (12) - Basic Zendo Decorum At Home
https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...093#post189093

HOW TO JOIN THE ZAZENKAI '2-WAY':

You can join the Zazenkai two-way in the Scheduled Sitting Room using Zoom any one of the following ways:

- Use this direct link: https://zoom.us/j/4834831244
- Open Zoom and join with this meeting id: 483 483 1244
- Go to Treeleaf NOW and select the Scheduled Sitting Room: treeleaf.org/ssr
- If prompted for a password, use: dogen

Notes:

- When you first join, you'll need to choose an audio source (usually you can simply select "Join with Computer Audio" on desktop or "Call using Internet Audio" on mobile).

- You can switch between the "speaker view" (the default view) and "gallery view" (a grid / tic-tac-toe style view):
-- On desktop, click the "gallery view" / "speaker view" toggle button on the top right
-- On mobile, swipe right for "gallery views" -- only 4 participants are shown at a time on mobile, so keep swiping right to go through different groups, swipe left to go back to the "gallery view"

- You can mute, unmute, etc. with the control bar on the bottom of the screen
-- On desktop, hover the mouse over the window and the control bar should pop up
-- On mobile, tap the screen and the control bar should pop up
-- On mobile, so that your own picture does not take up one of the four slots you see, you can tap for the control bar, then tap "... menu" and select "Remove myself from gallery view"

- If you are on a slow Internet connection and are experiencing drop-outs, try turning off video (you can always turn it on for a bit at the beginning and end to say hi and bow to everyone)

[Jundo]

EXPLANATION of our "BRING YOUR OWN BUDDHA" Zazenkai.

Dear All,

"Buddha" is a word we use in many meanings, such as the human being who lived in India long ago, but also with the meaning of "All Reality." Not just the man in India, but all events and places, people, things, and spaces are together all. Nothing is left out. This is one message taught by the fellow in India long ago and all the Zen masters since.

Thus, I sometimes try to remind folks that ... because everything and all spaces, full or empty, beautiful or where the beauty is not so apparent to the human eye, are special and sacred spaces ... are "Buddha," thus a "Buddha Statue" or Altar can be about anything.

That assumes, of course, that the heart is Wise enough to see it for more than it appears!!

Usually, on a Buddhist Altar, one sees a beautiful statue of a "Buddha," or of a Bodhisattva such as Manjushri or Kannon, to remind (re-MIND) us of Wisdom and Compassion. But sometimes it is good to see even the ugly or difficult in life with an eye of Wisdom and Compassion which can see through and beyond the ugly or difficult, even at the still heart of the ugly or difficult. An altar, a statue or stick of incense, even an empty space, can be a good reminder that this moment and place is sacred. But sometimes it is good to see even the ugly or difficult in life with an eye of Wisdom and Compassion which can see through and beyond the ugly or difficult, even amid the ugly or difficult. It is all sacred too.

Thus, a "statue" can be a Buddha or Bodhisattva, or a stone, a flower or an empty space. If the heart is sincere and wise, it could be a coca-cola bottle or a plastic panda, because ... what is not Buddha?? At heart, it is just wood, stone, glass or plastic. However, all natural wood and stones and even ugly manufactured materials are sacred.

Sometimes I like to put something to shake folks a bit: That is why I have sometimes replaced the "Buddha Statue" on our Altar in Tsukuba with a coke bottle, flower, empty space or a bag of dirty diapers. I sometimes put difficult peoples' pictures or "ugly" objects to remind folks to see beyond surface opinions and our personal preferences. After 911, I put up images of Osama Bin Laden and George Bush, side by side, on the Altar. That was harder for people to see at the time, but I asked people to see beyond the divided surface appearances of violence and war that such images represent in human terms.

All contain, below the surface, beautiful, sacred, manifestations of Buddha when the heart is open, and one can find "Buddha" beyond the ugliness, the greed, anger, violence, war, jealousy, discrimination among peoples and divided thinking.

So, please "Bring Your Own Buddha" today ... something that does not look like a Buddha, and which you would not usually consider a "Buddha," and perhaps even something ugly or an image of someone hard to see either in this world or in your own life. We will offer our Bows and a recitation of the Heart Sutra's reminders of Emptiness, peace and healing, beyond appearances and form.

Gassho, J

STLah

[Yokai]

Thanks Jundo. I will be sitting with a sound [emoji120]

Gassho, Chris satlah

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[jonathon]

Thanks Jundo,

I'm looking forward to it

Gassho,

Jonathon SatTodayLAH

[Washin]

Thank you, Jundo.
I'll be there with my bells and chant books ready as well as some Buddha-non-Buddha stuff on the Altar

Gassho
Washin
st-lah

[Jundo]

We had an old wooden pig house in the back field, maybe from the 1950s, which collapsed in a typhoon this past year. There have been no pigs there for many decades. I can only guess how many pigs might have been. It looked much like this before it fell ...



This past week, my family and I cleaned the ruins up so that it would not blow apart more in the next typhoon season. Our Buddha will be part of the old tin roof and some of the broken wooden pieces. Like this ...



Gassho, J

STLah

[Sekishi]

This past week, my family and I cleaned the ruins up so that it would not blow apart more in the next typhoon season. Our Buddha will be part of the old tin roof and some of the broken wooden pieces. Like this ...

Beautiful old wood. I'm guessing if it came down in a typhoon there wasn't necessarily much salvageable.

When we were building our house it was interesting to see how "upside down" the economics of wood was. Having trees from the property milled for use in the house really did not save much (any?) money. Sourcing "reclaimed lumber" was always more expensive than using new.

Anyhow, deep bows to the Buddha face behind all dharmas.

Gassho,
Sekishi
#sat

[Kyonin]

I'll be there live.

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Bokugan]

I have the opportunity to join live again, looking forward to it. Friday evenings I cannot sit in the same space as my altar where I normally sit, but I will be sure to have an unconventional Buddha on my altar and with me for the Zazenkai.

Gassho

Ryan
Sat Today

[Science Abbot]

I am joining live with Mr. Burns and Grandpa Simpson.

Gassho,
Mui
Sat/LAH

[Doshin]

Thank you

Doshin
St

[Nanrin]

Nice sitting with you all today.

Gassho

Nanrin

Sat today

[Onkai]

Thank you, Jundo, Washin, Sekishi, and everyone. It is lovely to practice together. Have a great weekend!

Gassho,
Onkai
Sat/LAH

[Yokai]

Thank you Jundo, Washin and everyone for sharing now and through the week.

My BYOB is the traffic noise I struggle with at times. It's a work in progress, but the light is starting to shine through. Deep bows Jundo for your teachings.

Gassho to all, Chris satlah

[Jundo]

Well, Youtube removed us for the third week in a row as a "flagged" video. We will get our backup copy posted soon, but I wonder what is happening. Hmmm. I am watching the words I use during the Talk to avoid triggering the AI. ON EXAMINATION, ONLY THE CLOSING BELLS OF SECOND ZAZEN, AND CLOSING CHANTS, ARE REMOVED. I GUESS THAT IT WAS AN OFFENSIVE BELL!

Hmmm.

Gassho, Jundo

STLah

Hi Treeleaf Sangha,

As you may know, our Community Guidelines describe which content we allow – and don’t allow – on YouTube. Your video June 26th-27th Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - BYOB (Bring Your Own Buddha) was flagged to us for review. Upon review, we’ve determined that it violates our guidelines and we’ve removed it from YouTube.

We know that this might be disappointing, but it's important to us that YouTube is a safe place for all. If content breaks our rules, we remove it. If you think we've made a mistake, you can appeal and we'll take another look. Keep reading for more details.

UPDATE: REPLACING VIDEO WITH BACK-UP RECORDING NOW.