February 6th, 2016 - SPECIAL "NEHAN-E" 4-hour ZAZENKAI!

[Jundo]

READINGS FOR TODAY'S DHARMA TALK ARE BELOW IN THIS THREAD.

WELCOME to our Memorial & Celebration of NEHAN-E, (Pari-Nirvana) the traditional day to mark the historical Buddha's death and passing from this visible world. This is also a day for each of us to remember in our homes those family and friends who have gone before. As well, we particularly mark the passing of Nishijima Gudo Wafu and Rempo Niwa Zenji ...

During this Zazenkai, we will commence with SPECIAL CHANTS & a CEREMONY to recall our parents, grand-parents, siblings, our relatives near and distant, all our ancestors reaching back through the generations, and our dear friends and other cherished ones who have passed.

This Zazenkai will be netcast LIVE 8am to noon Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 6pm to 10pm, Los Angeles 3pm to 7pm (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

https://plus.google.com/events/c851f...tnnm1nd42749nk

Dharma talk audio / podcast episode:
http://treeleaf.podbean.com/e/februa...hour-zazenkai/

To mark this time, our Ceremony at the start of the Zazenkai will include a chanting of “The Verse of Homage to Buddha's Relics, Shariraimon” and Heart Sutra in Chinese-Japanese (to mark our "roots"). Words and details are HERE, please print out if you wish.

Our sitting schedule for the 4-hour gathering will be as follows ...

00:00 - 00:50 CEREMONY (SHARIRAIMON in ENGLISH / HEART SUTRA in JAPANESE) & ZAZEN
00:50 - 01:00 KINHIN
01:00 - 01:30 ZAZEN
01:30 - 01:40 KINHIN

01:40 - 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


For this special Zazenkai, a statue of the reclining ‘Buddha Entering Parinirvana’, and a Plaque dedicated to all past Generations of Zen Ancestors, will be given special prominence on the Altar.

As always, we close with the 'Metta Chant', followed at the end with the 'Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'.


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]

Our readings will be "Death Poems" (brighter than it sounds!) by various Zen Priests and others, some well known and some not. The writing of a poem at the time of one's death, reflecting on life and the nature of death in an impermanent, transitory world, is an old tradition in the Japanese, Korean and Chinese Zen World (most of the following translations and commentary are by Yoel Hoffman) ...

ZOSO ROYO
Died on the fifth day of the sixth month, 1276 at the age of eighty- four

I pondered Buddha's teaching
A full four and eighty years.
The gates are all now locked about me.
No one was ever here--
Who then is he about to die,
And why lament for nothing?
Farewell!
The night is clear,
The moon shines calmly,
The wind in the pines
Is like a lyre's song.
With no I and no other
Who hears the sound?

ZOSAN JUNKU
Died on the fifth day of the fifth month, 1309 at the age of seventy-six

You must play
The tune of non-being yourself--
Nine summits collapse
Eight oceans go dry.

The "tune of non-being" does not refer to death, but to a state wherein the enlightened awareness is no longer bound by such polarities as life and death (being vs. not being). "Nine summits" separated by "eight oceans" represent the world as pictured in Indian myth. The tallest mountain, Mount Shumi, stands in the center, surrounded by the eight other peaks. Death is here described as a cosmic event, together with the consciousness that the world and all within it disappears.

YAKUO TOKUKEN
Died on the nineteenth day of the fifth month, 1320 at the age of seventy-six

My six and seventy years are through.
I was not born, I am not dead.
Clouds floating on the high wide skies
The moon curves through its million-mile course.

Two days before his death, Yakuo called his fellow monks together and said, "The words of a man before he dies are no small matter. This is a barrier that all must pass through. Tell me each of you what you think about that." The monks answered in various ways, and Yakuo neither approved nor disapproved. The next day he ordered his pupils to burn his body and forbade them to hold an elaborate burial ceremony. "Tomorrow morning," he said, "I shall eat the rice porridge with you for breakfast, and at noon I shall go." The following day at noon he wrote his final words, threw the brush from his hand, and died sitting upright.

DAIDO ICHI'I
Died on the twenty-sixth day of the second month, 1370 at the age of seventy-nine

A tune of non-being
Filling the void:
Spring sun
Snow whiteness
Bright clouds
Clear wind.

UNGO KIYO
Died on the eighth day of the eighth month, 1659 at the age of seventy-seven

I came into the world after Buddha.
I leave the world before Miroku.
Between the Buddha of the beginning
and the Buddha of the end
I am not born, I do not die.

TOSUI UNKEI
Died on the nineteenth day of the ninth month, 1683 past the age of seventy

Seventy years and more
I have tasted life to its utmost.
The stench of urine sticks to my bones.
What matter all these?
Ho! Where is the place I return to?
Above the peak the moonlight whitens
A clear wind blows.

TAKUAN SOHO
Died on the eleventh day of the twelfth month, 1645 at the age of seventy-three

Lying on his deathbed, Takuan at first refused to write a death poem. At last he gave in to the entreaties of those surrounding him, took up his brush, and drew the character for "dream," .... When he finished, he threw the brush down and died. Takuan had requested beforehand that his body be burned on a mountain, that no burial service be held, and that no tombstone be put up for him.

TAIGEN SOFU
Died on the tenth day of the intercalary month, 1555 at the age of sixty

I raise the mirror of my life
Up to my face: sixty years.
With a swing I smash the reflection--
The world as usual
All in its place.

SHUN'OKU SOEN
Died on the ninth day of the second month, 1611 at the age of eighty-three

Adrift between the earth and sky
I call to the east and change it to west.
I flourish my staff and return once again
To my source.
Katsu!

MUSO SOSEKI
Died on the thirtieth day of the ninth month, 1351 at the age of seventy-seven

Thus have I rolled my life throughout
Inside and out, reclined, upright.
What is all this?
A beating drum
A trumpet's blare
No more.

MUSHO JOSHO
Died on the fifteenth day of the fifth month, 1306 at the age of seventy-three

When it comes-- just so!
When it goes-- just so!
Both coming and going occur each day.
The words I am speaking now-- just so!

The sources tell us that on the day of his death, Musho summoned the other monks, arranged for his burial service, said his last words, and died sitting upright.

"Just so!" or "Thus!" ( nyoze ) is a cry used by the Zen master to direct his pupil's attention to "things as they are" or to indicate that the student sees things clearly.

MUMON GENSEN
Died on the twenty-second day of the third month, 1390 at the age of sixty-eight

Life is an ever- rolling wheel
And every day is the right one.
He who recites poems at his death
Adds frost to snow.

KOZAN ICHIKYO
Died on the twelfth day of the second month, 1360 at the age of seventy-seven

Empty- handed I entered the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going--
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.

KOGETSU SOGAN
Died on the first day of the tenth month, 1643 at the age of seventy

Katsu !
Katsu !
Katsu !
Katsu !

The word katsu cannot really be translated conceptually. It is a sharp cry used by the Zen teacher and pupil at the moment of enlightenment. The cry appears in many Chinese and Japanese Zen writings and can be heard even today within monastery walls.

HOSSHIN
Thirteenth century

Coming, all is clear, no doubt about it.
Going, all is clear, without a doubt.
What, then, is it all?

GIZAN ZENRAI
Died on the twenty-eighth day of March, 1878 at the age of seventy-seven

I was born into this world
I leave it at my death.
Into a thousand towns
My legs have carried me,
And countless homes--
What are all these?
A moon reflected in the water
A flower floating in the sky
Ho!

"Ho!" is a translation of the word totsu, a kind of challenging cry uttered at the moment of enlightenment.

GIUN
The 5th abbot of Eiheiji. Died on the twelfth day of the tenth month, 1333 at the age of eighty-one

All doctrines split asunder
Zen teaching cast away--
Fourscore years and one.
The sky now cracks and falls
The earth cleaves open--
In the heart of the fire
Lies a hidden spring.

Dogen Zenji (d. 1253)

Fifty-four years lighting up the sky.
A quivering leap smashes a billion worlds.
Hah!
Entire body looks for nothing.
Living, I plunge into Yellow Springs.

Steve Stucky (2014)

This human body truly is the entire cosmos
Each breath of mine, is equally one of yours, my darling
This tender abiding in "my" life
Is the fierce glowing fire of inner earth
Linking with all pre-phenomena
Flashing to the distant horizon
From "right here now" to "just this"
Now the horizon itself
Drops away—
Bodhi!
Svaha.

* * *

[Kyonin]

I will be there

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Jakuden]

I am sad to be missing this, but so thankful that I will be able to sit with it next week! These poems are fascinating and moving.

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday

[Joyo]

I won't be able to join in for the entire 4 hrs, but will join in when I can.

Gassho,
Joyo
about to sit.........

[Onkai]

I will try to be there 2-way.

Gassho,
Onkai (Lauriie)

[Risho]

I'll be sitting the recorded version.

Gassho,

Risho
-sattoday

[Byokan]

I'll be joining later with the recorded version.

Love the death poems! A great read if you are interested:

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Death.../dp/0804831793

Gassho
Byōkan
sat today

[Onkai]

Thank you everyone for the Nehan-E zazenkai. A special thanks to those who restored the forums. That looks like an interesting book, Byokan.

Gassho,
Onkai (Laurie)

[Mp]

Thank you everyone, have a great weekend. =)

Gassho
Shingen

#sattoday

[Joyo]

Thank you everyone. I appreciate that I could at least get an hr of practicing with you all.

Gassho,
Joyo
sat today

[Washin]

Thank you all.

Gassho
Sergey
sat-today

[Myosha]

Thanks to all.


Gassho
Myosha sat today

[Doshin]

Thanks everyone.

Jundo, thanks for this time to pause and remember those who came before.

Biology footnote: I believe Japan has two species of crow...the giant crow like bird is probably a Raven "knocking at your door". If they are priests returning that explains a lot because they are very intelligent birds!

Gassho
Doshin
Sattoday

[Jika]

Thank you all.

Beautiful poems, certainly worth a read, thanks Byokan.

Jundo, thank you for adding frost on snow.

Gassho
Jika
#sattoday

[Jundo]

Thanks everyone.

Jundo, thanks for this time to pause and remember those who came before.

Biology footnote: I believe Japan has two species of crow...the giant crow like bird is probably a Raven "knocking at your door". If they are priests returning that explains a lot because they are very intelligent birds!

Gassho
Doshin
Sattoday

Tokyo crows are pretty smart.



Gassho, J

SatToday