Jundo
02-23-2023, 02:02 AM
Dear All,
This short video was meant just as a little tourism posting by a youtuber, but I really recommend it to folks.
Rev. Uno, the priest in the film, offers (from about 4:30 in the video) one of the better short explanations of Shikantaza that I have heard in popular media, namely that, even as we do not grab on and get caught in trains of thought, whatever happens "there is no bad Zazen, all Zazen is good," and that this very sitting beyond "good vs. bad" is Good Zazen! :encouragement: Lovely. Kinda sounds like the flavor of tea I offer around here, no? ;) Many explanations of Zazen totally miss that point, and just stop at the "don't grab thoughts" aspect, missing the need for allowing and trust that all Zazen is good Zazen ... which trust is what makes it truly Good Zazen. For example:
Right Zazen and Wrong Zazen (LINK (https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?7573-SPECIAL-REPOST-Right-Zazen-and-Wrong-Zazen))
Also, Rev. Uno offers such a very lovely take on Gassho as well. Lovely. Our member, Tomas ESP, posted it on facebook.
https://youtu.be/SHkQj9eDhio
As an aside, it is also interesting that Rev. Uno refers to the bath Bodhisattva, Battabara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battabara) and the toilet's Ususama Myoo, a wrathful manifestation of Buddha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ucchusma), both esoteric elements commonly found in the Soto Zen temple bath house and "tosu" toilet, as "Kami-sama," the Shinto expression for a deity or god (small "g"). Many in Japan do not see need to make fine distinctions about such things. Some folks may be surprised that such figures are traditionally honored around Soto Zen temples, even in Dogen's time.
Buddha Ususama-myoo symbolizes the virtue of purification, and is said to transform impurities. Here is an image of a traditional Tosu (Eastern Hall Toilet) in a Zen Monastery in Japan. As you can see, he has an Altar right in the middle of all the action.
http://image.space.rakuten.co.jp/lg01/31/0000922331/32/img8807df56zik1zj.jpeg
Gassho, Jundo
sattodaylah
PS - Tomas ESP, I always mean to ask: Are you making claim about your "extra-sensory perception" powers developed in Zazen? gassho2 :p (Actually, I know, it refers to your full name.) [happy]
This short video was meant just as a little tourism posting by a youtuber, but I really recommend it to folks.
Rev. Uno, the priest in the film, offers (from about 4:30 in the video) one of the better short explanations of Shikantaza that I have heard in popular media, namely that, even as we do not grab on and get caught in trains of thought, whatever happens "there is no bad Zazen, all Zazen is good," and that this very sitting beyond "good vs. bad" is Good Zazen! :encouragement: Lovely. Kinda sounds like the flavor of tea I offer around here, no? ;) Many explanations of Zazen totally miss that point, and just stop at the "don't grab thoughts" aspect, missing the need for allowing and trust that all Zazen is good Zazen ... which trust is what makes it truly Good Zazen. For example:
Right Zazen and Wrong Zazen (LINK (https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?7573-SPECIAL-REPOST-Right-Zazen-and-Wrong-Zazen))
Also, Rev. Uno offers such a very lovely take on Gassho as well. Lovely. Our member, Tomas ESP, posted it on facebook.
https://youtu.be/SHkQj9eDhio
As an aside, it is also interesting that Rev. Uno refers to the bath Bodhisattva, Battabara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battabara) and the toilet's Ususama Myoo, a wrathful manifestation of Buddha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ucchusma), both esoteric elements commonly found in the Soto Zen temple bath house and "tosu" toilet, as "Kami-sama," the Shinto expression for a deity or god (small "g"). Many in Japan do not see need to make fine distinctions about such things. Some folks may be surprised that such figures are traditionally honored around Soto Zen temples, even in Dogen's time.
Buddha Ususama-myoo symbolizes the virtue of purification, and is said to transform impurities. Here is an image of a traditional Tosu (Eastern Hall Toilet) in a Zen Monastery in Japan. As you can see, he has an Altar right in the middle of all the action.
http://image.space.rakuten.co.jp/lg01/31/0000922331/32/img8807df56zik1zj.jpeg
Gassho, Jundo
sattodaylah
PS - Tomas ESP, I always mean to ask: Are you making claim about your "extra-sensory perception" powers developed in Zazen? gassho2 :p (Actually, I know, it refers to your full name.) [happy]