WHAT IS ZEN? - Chap 9 - Stages of Practice - To Middles of P. 122
There are no stages on the road, yet we head down to road ...
This time, we will read until the "stage" of the middle of page 122, up to the question, "And why would a person choose to become a priest?"
Normal Fischer speaks of Jukai, and how in his community they wait for three years. Nishijima Roshi was of the view that Jukai can be undertaken right at the outset of Practice, without even much experience and familiarity with Zen Practice and the Precepts. Here at Treeleaf, we are "Middle Way" on this, offering Jukai after a minimum of a few months of study and sewing and, most importantly, sitting. In all cases, it is a matter of personal choice and, as far as I am concerned, the most important point is to live gently with or without the ceremony. The ceremony merely celebrates that fact.
Neither Jukai nor the Priesthood "raises" a person up above others who have never undertaken so. Quiet the contrary. I look at the "receiving" of the Precepts in Jukai as a kind of vow to "give" to others, and I feel that the Priesthood places one in a position of service. In Ordination as a priest, one moves from being a passenger on the ship to being a member of the crew entrusted to serve the other riders.
Gassho, J
STLah
