January 2nd/3rd, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI! WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR!

[Jundo]

SIT WITH US TO WELCOME 2015 and THIS EVER NEW MOMENT!!

PLEASE PRINT OUT THE SHORT NEW YEARS TALKS BY MASTER DOGEN, POSTED BELOW.

Please 'sit-a-long' with our MONTHLY 4-hour 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 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 GOOGLE+ IS HERE:
CLICK ON THE TAB ON LOWER RIGHT FOR 'FULL SCREEN

http://youtu.be/Qedz4bSwMrY

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 / 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' 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)

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]

NEW YEARS COMMEMORATIVE DISCOURSES by MASTER DOGEN, from EIHEI KOROKU [translation by Taigen Dan Leighton & Shohaku Okumura]

Buddhas Dance and Blossoms Open
1-116 New Year’s Dharma Hall Discourse [1243]
The sky covering is clear, and moisture covers the earth. So it is said,
Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges dance to exalted music,
and throughout the entire world the blossoms on the branches facing
south immediately open. I am delighted that the Spring Deity has
unlocked the time, and spring clouds and water [monks] are coming.

Delighted with Zazen
3-216. New Year’s Dharma Hall Discourse [1247]
The great master Dogen in a New Year’s dharma hall discourse said, “The ancient Buddha Hongzhi, while residing at Tiantong, in a New Year’s dharma hall discourse said, ‘In the New Year’s morning zazen the myriad things are natural. Mind after mind is beyond dichotomies. Buddha after buddha manifests presently. The snow on the river is completely pure and white. The mind of the son of Sha is satisfied while on his fishing boat. Study this."

On this great auspicious New Year’s morning I am delighted with
Zazen. Patch-robed monks engaging the way are peaceful just as they are.
Each person is joyful and at ease with a spring-like face. Noses and eyes
manifest presently. The snow on the river is completely pure and white.
The mind of the son of Xie is satisfied on his fishing boat. {Story of a monk who made great effort through his life feeling as if he was practicing side by side with Buddha.

The Smiling Face at New Year’s
4-303. New Year s Dharma Hall Discourse [1249]
After,relating Zen Master Hongzhi's New Year's Dharma Hall Discourse as
before, Dogen said the following:

On this great auspicious New Year’s morning, patch-robed monks in
zazen engage the way peacefully. Everyone has a smiling face with the
color of spring. Buddhas’ eating bowls appear, and the plum song is heard
amid the thousand snowy peaks. The mind of the son of Xie is satisfied
on his fishing boat.


The One Self at Year’s End
4-302. Dharma Hall Discourse on the Twenty-Fifth day of the Twelfth Month
The sun is setting on this year, and we meet the spring. The causes and
conditions of birth and death, how they disturb people! Take up the thou-
sand differences and ten thousand distinctions, and make them one, let-
ting go of subject and object. Although this is so, do not recognize the self as the pure dharmakaya.


Solid Rock at the Gate
8-14 Informal Meeting at New Year’s Eve
Here is a story. Yaoshan asked [his disciple] Yunyan, “Aside from your
Staying with Baizhang, where else have you been before coming here?”
Yunyan said，“I have been to Guangnan.”
Yaoshan said, “I have heard it said that the round rock outside the
East gate of the city of Guangzhou was shifted by the lord of the city. Is that so?
Yunyan said, “Not only the lord of the city, but even if all the people
in the entire country tried, they could not move it.”

Yaoshan and Yunyan have talked like this. How can I, Eihei, avoid
speaking? Not only the lord of the city, not only the entire country, but
if all the buddhas of the three times and all the ancestral teachers were to use all their strength trying to shift it, it would not budge. Why is that so?

After a pause Dogen said: Each and every thing as such has no inside or
outside; every particle is firm, set in samadhi. How wondrous and amaz-
ing! The entire body is bright and glittering, beyond the value of jewels.

[Myosha]

Participating.


Gassho,
Myosha sat today

[Kyonin]

Hi!

I'll be there live with bell and mokugyo ready

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Anshu Bryson]

I'll be there live

Gassho,

Bryson

sat today

[Shinzan]

I'll be there, sans bells.
_/\_ Shinzan
sattoday

[Mp]

I will be there live ready to ring it in! =)

Gassho
Shingen

Sat today

[Dosho]

I will be here.

Gassho,
Dosho

Sat today

[Daijo]

I won't be there live, but be with you all tomorrow morning.

Gassho,
Daijo

sat today

[RichardH]

Will be here/there.

Gassho
Daizan

Not sat yet. Been on the road.

[Dosho]

Hi all,

I believe the times listed for North America and Europe are wrong...should be 6pm East Coast/3pm West Coast in North America.

Gassho,
Dosho

Sat today

[RichardH]

Hi all,

I believe the times listed for North America and Europe are wrong...should be 6pm East Coast/3pm West Coast in North America.

Gassho,
Dosho

Sat today

Thanks for that , Dosho. I'll have to join in a bit late as I can't step away from family stuff earlier.

Gassho
Daizan

sitting this evening

[Sekishi]

Ack, could make the original time, but will have to join late if it starts at 6est. See you all soon. Gassho.

[Anshu Bryson]

Thanks Jundo, Kyonin and all!

Gassho,

Bryson

sat today

[RichardH]

Thank you


Gassho
Daizan

sat today