Nov. 3rd-4th, 2023 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour Treeleaf ZAZENKAI - Europe Daylight Savings!

[Jundo]

Time has changed in Europe!

We continue our series on

Genjo Koan

'Realizing the Truth Right Here.'
(text below)

Dear All,

Please sit our Monthly 4-Hour Treeleaf Zazenkai netcast LIVE 8am to noon Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 7pm to 11pm, Los Angeles 4pm to 8pm (Friday night), London 11pm to 3am and Paris midnight to 4am (early Saturday morning)), and also sitable any time thereafter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd0VXu1XMgs

However, "one way" live sitters are encouraged to come into the Zoom sitting, and just leave the camera and microphone turned off: Join live (with or without a camera & microphone) on Zoom at: TREELEAF Now OR at DIRECT ZOOM LINK, password (if needed): dogen

Dharma Talk Audio / Podcast Episode:

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?21660-TREELAF-PODCAST-GENJO-KOAN-SERIES

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 & HOKEY-POKEY RITUAL

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

ATTENTION: Everyone, when rising for Kinhin or Ceremonies after Zazen, get up slowly, don't rush, hold something stable, you won't be "late," so TAKE YOUR TIME! Make sure you are careful getting up!

Gassho, Jundo

STLah


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

Chant Book is here for those who wish to join in: CHANT BOOK LINK

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

I also recommend a little Talk on why small rituals and procedures are so cherished in the Zendo:

SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: Small Things in the Zendo

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?18494-SIT-A-LONG-with-Jundo-Small-Things-in-the-Zendo

[Jundo]

This is the fifth in a monthly series based on my modernized translation of the Genjo Koan, from my book ...

THE ZEN MASTER’S DANCE
A Guide to Understanding Dōgen and Who You Are in the Universe
https://wisdomexperience.org/product...masters-dance/

Other translations of the Genjo can be found here for comparison: (LINK)

Today, we find enlightenment in EVERY aspect of this world, even the hard parts we do not welcome ...

And we find enlightenment in how we live in this world, finding our own role ...

So, when the Buddhist truth does not truly fill your whole
body and mind, you think the situation is already enough
and that you can stop. But when the Buddhist truth fills
your body and mind, you understand that there is always
something more, so you keep moving onward.

Don’t be one of those people who tastes a little peace and timelessness on the meditation cushion or elsewhere in life then gets puffed up with such achievement, or disappointed when it does not last forever. Better is the person of true freedom who can know a deep, abiding peace, sometimes felt and sometimes hidden like the moon, right in this world of peace and conflict, light and darkness, rain or shine. Better to be the person aware of timelessness even as the clock keeps ticking, as years pass, as youth fades, and as we grow older. Enlightenment is not a frozen event in time, but a living truth that we keep practicing in order to manifest its light. Enlightenment is like a sailing trip that continues through all weather and features, not something halted in a
shapeless sea:

For example, if someone sails in a boat out to the middle of
the ocean where no land is in sight and looks all around,
the ocean looks circular and empty, and does not look to
have other form. But the ocean is truly not round or square,
and its features are varied beyond count. It is like a palace of
endless rooms. It is like a jewel of countless facets. It only
looks circular and empty as far as seen by the eye at that
time. All things of the world are like this.

The graceful dance goes on, and it is not a matter of stopping suddenly, finished or frozen on a barren stage. Calling some round, lifeless realm as “nirvana,” as if some featureless and final ending, would be like a sailor in the open sea, surrounded by nothing but water, the bare horizon a circle in all directions, thinking that such was the whole world, and that he could stop right there forever. It is a kind of stagnation or anchoring that halts the voyage, missing true arrival at the shores of wisdom found all around. Be wise and welcome all the complexity, diversity, and impurities of this world as that same purity in a different guise. ...

Though the earthly world and the world-beyond-conditions
have so many features, we can perceive and understand
only as far as our eye can reach through practice. In order
to grasp the real nature of countless things, you must know
that the oceans and land have infinite varied features
besides their appearance as round or square. Whole worlds
are found all around. It is so, not only looking out to the
periphery, but also directly under your feet and in every drop of water.

Welcome all the diversity of this ailing and healthy, up and down world. This is where Buddhas come alive, where enlightenment is put into action, where the moon shines to let all scenes glow. Don’t try to understand it all, don’t try to master or control it. Rather, begin with your own practice, right where you sit and stand and walk and breathe. All the complex shapes of life are simplicity in another form. All the rough and sharp edges are roundness in another expression. One who understands this is truly a master.

A fish swims in its ocean, and no matter how far it swims,
the waters are without end. A bird flies through its sky, and
no matter how far it flies, the sky is without end. At the
same time, the fish and the bird have never left their water or
their sky. When their need is large their use will be large.
When the need is small their use is thus small. Thereby, each
of them totally uses its full range in each moment, and each
of them wholly brings its realm to vibrant activity. Yet, if the
bird were to leave the air, it would die at once. If the fish
were to depart from the water, it would die at once. Thus we
can conclude that water is life and air is life. Bird is life and
fish is life. Also, life is the bird and life is the fish. In this
same way, practice-enlightenment is the expression of
bounded and boundless life right here and now.

If a bird or a fish attempts to fully explore the reaches of its
field without swimming or flying in it, this bird or this fish
will never find its way or place. But when we find our place
where we are here and now, practice occurs that actualizes
the universe. When we find our way in this moment, practice
occurs that actualizes the universe.

... We are the life of this earth, and like the fish in the water and birds in the sky who bring water and sky to life, all this world is our extension, not merely our location. This is your place, your life right here, and you cannot be anywhere other than where you find yourself so long as you are alive. So please live this life well and experience this place wisely. The possibilities, if not quite endless, are greatly up to you. We human beings cannot change all the circumstances in which we find ourselves, but within our realms we have more power than we know to range freely. Please swim or fly your course with grace and skill. ... How you live, how you practice right now within this limited yet unlimited world, is where it all comes to life. ... You cannot go ahead but from right here, you cannot do but do right here, you cannot stay up or fall but from right here, you cannot fly gracefully or fly gracelessly in any sky but right here, you cannot act in peace or in anger except right here. ... Life is made real by how you live it, here and now. This is practice-enlightenment.

~ ~ ~

[Jundo]

Our Dance today will be the "Jewish-Arab Peace Song" from a few years ago ... seemingly so distant now, let us still have hope ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_i2F2LlF8

[Guest]

Hello All,
I so want to be live with you all today for zazenkai, but my wife and I are making up for our anniversary getaway that was washed out a few weeks ago with a tropical storm. I will sit with you all by way of the recording. May you all be healthy, happy, safe, and at peace.

Gassho
Daiman
St/LAH


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shade]

Hello everyone,

Many thanks to all of you who participated in last night's Zazenkai. It was good to see everyone!

Gassho,

Chukyo

ST/LAH

[Doshin]

Doshin
Stlah

[Kotei]

Thank you everyone!

Gassho,
Kotei sat/lah today.

[Tairin]

Thank you everyone. I sat with you this morning.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Houzan]

Thank you all.
Sat this one with you just now.

Gassho, Michael
Satlah