Pocket Zen Liturgy

I know we have a new chant book coming soon so this will need updating shortly, but I wanted to share it with sangha-mates. I like to carry around little pocket reminders/gathas and I created a Zen Liturgy Pocketmod. Just print onto a single sheet of paper and fold according to the instructions.



You can also head over to Pocketmod and make your own.

This is one small way I found to permeate my day with practice. I would love to hear about things you guys do, besides zazen of course.

Attached files http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/image...-pocketmod.jpg

Great idea Shinkai! I have a folded copy of the Heart Sutra I carry around in my pocket...after it goes through the wash a few times, I end up having to print up a new one. Your methods seems more carefully thought out and will have to give it a try. Thanks!

Gassho,
Jisen/BrianW

Thank you, Shinkai. Very neat and very neat.

Gassho, J

Dude, this is awesome. Thanks so much!

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Originally Posted by Shinkai

I would love to hear about things you guys do, besides zazen of course.

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Yeah. I would too. Cause lately I'm having trouble even doing zazen. My wife bought me a zafu.
That was a wonderful surprise. No more pillows!!! But then soon after getting it I got to the point
where I just didn't want to sit anymore. Not just the usual trick of the mind boredom. But a real
aversion to it. It started seeming like a big waste of time. I know. Now instead of wasting my
time sitting I usually waste it playing Donkey Kong or watching Family Guy. Not that these aren't
important parts of the Buddhist path of course :lol: . But I can't seem to get myself back on my butt.

Before that... I sat in the mornings and again before bed. I tried to be mindful or (better word)
grateful for my life in little ways. When taking a shower I gave thanks for the water. I might
say something like "May I flow with the energy of this day." When eating I tried to think of one
person in my life who was suffering and vow to try to do at least one thing differently that day
that might make my actions a force for good. Well, all this sounds noble. But for the most part
I played Donkey Kong and watched Family Guy. I write haiku which keeps me grounded and open
to the wonder of the moment. I practice noticing resistance in myself to people and situations
and then try to open myself to "things as it is," as Suzuki would say. But for the most part I
played Donkey Kong and watched Family Guy. I hope this wasn't too boring. :roll:

gassho
ghop

Shinkai,

Thank you, this is lovely! It is just what i needed today...reminders of why I practice, and how to do it better.

Gassho,
Kelly-Jinmei

Fantastic, Shinkai! I never thought of using those for liturgy. I recently picked up a copy of Thich Nhat Hahn's Stepping into Freedom which has a bunch of gathas for everything you could possibly think of. I sometimes forget the importance of gathas in our daily life so thank you again for posting this idea.

As far as everything else, I just try to see through the "you" and "I" of everything. Being home from college for the summer has been a bit of culture shock and often times I will find myself peeved by family and responsibilities I have when I'm not lounging my life away at school. When feeling a bit of "teenager angst" I just try to sit back and sit up (when I'm seething I tend to slouch and furrow my brow, sitting up straight brings back the "zazen-mind") and forget the idea of self and other. Easier said than done, I know, but one drop of water each moment will eventually fill an ocean.

Gassho
Taylor

THANK YOU!!

This is why I LOVE TL and it's members.

Many vows to you, Shinkai! :D

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Shinkai....is there a way to created one with the Heart Sutra? :oops: :wink: :| :)

Thanks Shinkai...very neat!

Gassho,


Seishin Kyrill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chicanobudista

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Shinkai....is there a way to created one with the Heart Sutra? :oops: :wink: :| :)

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Sure, here is a Heart Sutra version. The translation is from Jundo's Jukai ceremony booklet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shinkai

Sure, here is a Heart Sutra version. The translation is from Jundo's Jukai ceremony booklet.

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tee-hee! THANKS! :mrgreen:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taylor

Fantastic, Shinkai! I never thought of using those for liturgy. I recently picked up a copy of Thich Nhat Hahn's Stepping into Freedom which has a bunch of gathas for everything you could possibly think of. I sometimes forget the importance of gathas in our daily life so thank you again for posting this idea.

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I really enjoyed this book also! If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend The Dragon Who Never Sleeps: Verses for Zen Buddhist Practice by Robert Aitken. I posted a few of my favorites from the book in this thread. It's my favorite volume of gathas and it inspired me to start writing my own.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ghop

Well, all this sounds noble. But for the most part
I played Donkey Kong and watched Family Guy. I write haiku which keeps me grounded and open
to the wonder of the moment. I practice noticing resistance in myself to people and situations
and then try to open myself to "things as it is," as Suzuki would say. But for the most part I
played Donkey Kong and watched Family Guy.

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You sound like me, except replace Donkey Kong with Halo 3/Left 4 Dead and replace Family Guy with X-Files/Chuck/Fringe. :) Sometimes I make myself sit on my zafu while playing video games or watching TV.

These attachments are why I keep pushing... designing and printing out elaborate reminders, writing little snippets of gathas, saying the verse of atonement over and over again. :)

Awesome Shinkai....many bows and high fives!!! ;)

Gassho,
Dosho

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ghop

My wife bought me a zafu.
That was a wonderful surprise. No more pillows!!! But then soon after getting it I got to the point
where I just didn't want to sit anymore. Not just the usual trick of the mind boredom. But a real
aversion to it. It started seeming like a big waste of time. I know. Now instead of wasting my
time sitting I usually waste it playing Donkey Kong or watching Family Guy.

---

Donkey Kong is just as pointless as Zen practice. In fact, the game is truly pointless, while Zazen is pointless ... but with a point. The video game just has more bells and whistles, flashing lights and noise to distract the mind. If I put buzzers and sirens on the Zafu, and had it automatically award points for how long you sat there, it might have about the same effect. Donkey Kong is the self fooling itself that it is "accomplishing" something (granted, there might be minor improvements in hand eye coordination that we do not attain in Zazen ... although we do in Oryoki). The mind just fights being put "out of a job", and does not know how to drop the achieving, and getting somewhere, and winning points that the game fools the 'self' into thinking it is getting (because, of course, the points and "getting somewhere" are just electronic illusions on a screen).

Donkey Kong will get you nothing by a few hours' satisfaction ... as the games pass, and the time is killed. Both Zazen and Donkey Kong are an absolute waste of time ... though Zazen will allow one to see absolutely that there is no "time". Zazen will get you freedom in this moment ... as one realizes that there are no points awarded in life, that the obstacles and barrels to jump over are of the mind's own making, as is the ape-self who is chasing us ... as 'jumpman' realizes there is no place to jump ... as the mental rivets are removed and the Koan Kong falls into emptiness ...

Gassho, J

PS - On the other hand, "Family Guy" is funny. Maybe you could watch that between sittings though?

Thanks for this, Shinkai! I carry around the four vows and verse of atonement on a tattered 3x5 card folded in half with the verses hidden inside. Your printed version is a dream! I love to use Thich Nhat Hanh's little gatha book as inspiration - "Present Moment, Wonderful Moment." And I always say the Treeleaf meal chant before eating, no matter how small the meal. The meal chant has become enough of a habit that my husband and I recite it even at restaurants, complete with our hands in gassho. We live in Humboldt County, behind the Redwood Curtain, where it's perpetually 1975, so our little public practice doesn't get much notice :D

Gassho,
Jikyo

You and Jenn are fabulous.

Deep Gassho,

SZ

This is beautiful, and just enough room for a few pen and ink illustrations!
thank-you,

Sylvie

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Originally Posted by Silva

This is beautiful, and just enough room for a few pen and ink illustrations!

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I'm so messy I'm capable to write my shopping list on it :lol:
But Thanks Shinkai it's really nice and neat! I just printed it :roll:
And that Pocket Mod thing is very interesting!

gassho,
Luis/Jinyu

Shinkai,

Very nice, thank you!

Ron

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jundo

Both Zazen and Donkey Kong are an absolute waste of time ... though Zazen will allow one to see absolutely that there is no "time". Zazen will get you freedom in this moment ... as one realizes that there are no points awarded in life, that the obstacles and barrels to jump over are of the mind's own making, as is the ape-self who is chasing us ... as 'jumpman' realizes there is no place to jump ... as the mental rivets are removed and the Koan Kong falls into emptiness ...

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Where do you get this stuff? :lol:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jundo

If I put buzzers and sirens on the Zafu, and had it automatically award points for how long you sat there, it might have about the same effect

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Hey, now there's an idea! :shock:

You guys are great!

gassho

Love the booklet and pocketmod is pretty neat too!

Gassho Nigel

Hiyas
Firstly - AWESOME-SAUCE :D. I work/whatever @ a university print shop has a ...pfft whatever... and you, Shinkai and Jen too, have done a great job with these booklets. I must admit i still have big messes of papers sewn...yeah i stitched with needle and thread ... some of the Chant books etc. This is much nicer and portable (and presentable!!) Thank you for your efforts!

Gassho
Shohei

This is totally awesome! Thanks for doing this, Shinkai! :D

Awesome, I spend many time on plains and waiting in airports, it is of great benefit for me and it can be put away so easily,

gassho

Ensho

This is really, really cool! I've started to incorporate liturgy in my daily practice, and this makes it a lot easier to do!

Bumping this thread for n00bs and those who are looking for a portable way to increase their practice during the upcoming Ango period.

Oh how I love when gems from before my time here surface! Shinkai this is awesome!! Thank you for sharing and re-sharing this! I printed both the Heart Sutra and the Zen Liturgy and they look and work like a dream!!! Many bows for this _/_

Gassho,
John

Dear Shinkai!

Thank you so much! It is actually a very useful tool for our practice! I will have mine handy all the time :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jundo

Donkey Kong is just as pointless as Zen practice. In fact, the game is truly pointless, while Zazen is pointless ... but with a point. The video game just has more bells and whistles, flashing lights and noise to distract the mind. If I put buzzers and sirens on the Zafu, and had it automatically award points for how long you sat there, it might have about the same effect. Donkey Kong is the self fooling itself that it is "accomplishing" something (granted, there might be minor improvements in hand eye coordination that we do not attain in Zazen ... although we do in Oryoki). The mind just fights being put "out of a job", and does not know how to drop the achieving, and getting somewhere, and winning points that the game fools the 'self' into thinking it is getting (because, of course, the points and "getting somewhere" are just electronic illusions on a screen).

Donkey Kong will get you nothing by a few hours' satisfaction ... as the games pass, and the time is killed. Both Zazen and Donkey Kong are an absolute waste of time ... though Zazen will allow one to see absolutely that there is no "time". Zazen will get you freedom in this moment ... as one realizes that there are no points awarded in life, that the obstacles and barrels to jump over are of the mind's own making, as is the ape-self who is chasing us ... as 'jumpman' realizes there is no place to jump ... as the mental rivets are removed and the Koan Kong falls into emptiness ...

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Jundo,

You just gave something really serious to think. As an avid gamer all my life, I have come to realize that I no longer feel the urge to keep on playing. I like video games, but I haven't found the real reason why I have been slowing down my intake, so to speak.

Thank you.

Very cool Shinkai. I also learned from folding the Pocketmod that origami is not something that I am very good at. While it is functional its not very pretty. :P

Gassho,
Bryan

Thank you for sharing Shinkai. Very nice indeed.
Gassho

Very nice, Shinkai.
Gassho,