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August 8th-9th, 2015 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI!
It was certainly 'one of those days' today! I went to login initially, and was informed that my browser was no longer supported, so had to crank up a new browser and nearly missed the start!
Then of course we had the multiverse polyphonic feedback version of the opening ceremony, which was a little surreal...!
Then, during the talk, I got bumped out of the room and, on trying to get back in, was told it was full!
So I then went one-way, to see that someone else got bumped (leaving a spot!)! So I snuck back on in...!
So, in the end, all was well and as it should be... All part of the adventure...!
Have a great week everyone; see you all again soon!
Shakyamuni Buddha (center), Dogen Zenji (right), Keizan Zenji (left)
About the rivalry of Sojiji (Keizan's Temple) and Eiheiji (Dogen's Temple) ... not particularly during the lifetime of Keizan by the way, but after his time ...
Sōjiji‟s status as a rival to Eiheiji was not a new development.
Sōjiji led the largest network of affiliated temples in the Sōtō
school. In the sixteenth century Sōjiji repeatedly had proclaimed
itself the head temple of all Sōtō institutions.In 1560 Takeda
Shingen (1521-1573) stipulated that only Eiheiji and Sōjiji were
authorized to confer ecclesiastical honors on Zen monks in his
domains.In 1589 the imperial court officially recognized Sojiji as
the head temple of the Sōtō school, a title that the court previously
had bestowed on Eiheiji.The Tokugawa shogunate also acknowledged
both Eiheiji and Sōjiji as head temples when in 1615
it issued separate sets of regulatory codes (hatto) to each
monastery.Throughout this period Sōjiji and Eiheiji were rivals in
the true sense of the word. In each of the major Sōtō controversies
of the Tokugawa period—on questions ranging from dharma
succession to the proper manner of wearing the Buddhist robe—
Eiheiji and Sōjiji staked out opposing positions on the issues.
With the emergence of the new Meiji government,
however, Eiheiji and Sojiji concluded a formal truce. Their
compact, signed in 1872, stated that past differences and disputes
were to be resolved in accordance with “the maxims of the
founding patriarch, Dōgen, and the aspirations of the late teacher,
Keizan” (shuso Dōgen no kakun to senshi Keizan no sokai). Six
years later, in 1878, the Sōtō school published the first modern
biography of Keizan. Written by Takiya Takushu (1836-1897),
who was at that time Sōjiji‟s chief Tokyo representative, the new
biography had the clear intention of glorifying Keizan by
emphasizing his and Sōjiji‟s importance in early Sōtō history.
From Soto Zen in Medieval Japan CHAPTER 8
by historian W i l l i a m B o d i f o r d
I was only able to join in and watch live one way for the talk. I will follow through with the rest tomorrow morning.
Thank you all for your practice. Jundo, a wonderful teaching, thank you.
Also, thank you Mr. K for your question! You articulate yourself very well in English.
Gassho,
Brooks sat today.
"The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. For whomever emptiness is a view, that one has achieved nothing." - Nagarjuna
Shohaku Okumura's description of Zazen appears just about as we encourage here, and I see very little difference. Perhaps only the length he mentions is a concern ...
In our zendo we sit two 50-minute periods in the early morning, with ten minutes of walking meditation between periods. We usually sit from 5AM to 7AM six days a week. But five times a year we have a kind of a intensive retreat called sesshin. During sesshin we sit fourteen of these 50-minute periods a day, from 4 in the morning until 9 in the evening, for five days
I feel that sometimes we must sit that way, and it is good to sit long and hard. Other times, however, one may sit shorter if beyond measure of time. I just offered a talk on that too ...
So many Zen students think that the longer they sit the better. They believe 10 years surpasses 10 months or 10 days, which must be better than 10 hours, which is better than 10 minutes or seconds. They treat Zazen like a taxi meter or points to rack up, the more they sit the closer they are to the goal. They equate more and
My only other comment is I would add one more aspect to the description, which unfortunately does not always get emphasized enough by some Soto Zen Teachers to beginners (although, if you listen carefully to what Okumura Roshi is saying above and in his other writings, he says teaches the same):
One must sit with the attitude [felt in the marrow of the bones] that sitting itself is the Whole and Complete Act, the one thing to do ... the only thing in need of doing ... in that moment in all reality ... no other place to go, no other action in need of doing in such moment. ... Also, one must sit beyond judgments of good and bad, right and wrong (even as one seeks to sit right. Sitting beyond "right vs. wrong" is to sit right).
Hi,
I BELIEVE THE FOLLOWING TO BE SO VITAL, FOR NEW AND OLD, THAT I AM GOING TO MAKE A SPECIAL REPOST.
It is the "there is good Zazen, and bad Zazen ... but never any bad Zazen" post ...
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Hey All,
I would like to repost something that I think is important to
In case anyone would like to duplicate the feedback loop, all you need to do is open the Zazenkai in two windows and mute neither.... Oops!!! That was all me. [emoji4]
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