... and Introducing the 'Blue Mountain White Clouds Hermitage' ...
Dear All,
On Buddha Mountain, there are numerous good Paths.
On a recent thread, I posted this …
Taigu will now have his Practice Place, named by him the “Blue Mountain White Clouds Hermitage”. There, Taigu will teach in his style. The Community will be open to all from Treeleaf although, in my understanding, for a smaller group of students accepted by invitation, people with whom Taigu can work more privately. He writes …I find that some folks ... need the pomp and ceremony, incense and costumes, mystery and dance as a doorway to the Teachings. That is fine, and such is what religions have relied upon across the centuries: The grand cathedrals and gold temples, the arcane ceremonies and language and ritual objects. Many faithful need priests, intoning mystical formuli, to conduct the way. That is good for those who need, and such is the doorway that is right for such folks.
But I also believe that the profound Truths of this Buddhist Paths are all around us, and that the most ordinary aspects of our lives are just as sacred. Free of all the above, the Power of these Teachings manifests just as forcefully ... with every blade of grass a Cathedral, your home a Temple, the daily activities of our lives a "sacred ritual" when known as such. We are each priests in our way when realized in priestly behavior. The t-shirt and jeans we wear now are a sacred "Kesa" in a Buddha's eye. Such knowing of the "ordinary miracle" of this life is a doorway for other folks.
So, in the near future, this Sangha will offer each of these Paths to those called such way. Individuals so suited may choose to walk one, or choose to walk the other or (perhaps the wisest course) to walk each for a time when suitable to their needs. They may even choose other Paths to combine with these (I, Jundo, would like to offer a Practice with less overtly religious elements ... and free of many superstitious beliefs and fairy tales ... and would like to continue to emphasize a way of Zen Practice that anyone ... Christian or Jewish or Muslim, Atheist or Agnostic ... might find open to them, for I truly believe that there is nothing incompatible in this Practice with any of that if someone's heart and mind is open. All good Paths.) In fact, the religious pomp and circumstance of "Buddhist Religion" ... the statues and robes and ceremonies ... can interfere with some peoples' abilities to understand and feel at home in the Practice ... even as, for others, all that is their gateway.
Different Right Paths, each suited to different feet perhaps ... but one Mountain.
Treeleaf will continue as before, although primarily under my [Jundo's] guidance. Our Forum will continue as it is ... open to all, both "Beginners" who are at the beginningless beginning and "Beginners" well down the roadless road. I will continue to offer many of the Traditional Practices now offered (Sewing and Oryoki will continue here as before), although I would also like to offer other avenues which are more secular and suited to modern times, where the bells, robes, myths and incense are not always visible or necessary. At Treeleaf, I also want to continue to emphasize a Practice and role of Lay-Priest which fully embodies our roles as both Priest and Lay People, clergy who are also fathers and mothers and workers, where one person might fully actuate one or both as the situation calls, with our homes, offices, city streets, charitable and social responsibilities as our “monastery” of Practice. For example, I shall continue to ask folks to sew a Rakusu for Jukai (Undertaking the Precepts, absent special circumstance), and anyone may further sew and wear a Nyoho-e Kesa in that Tradition when receiving permission to do so from a Teacher. But there will also be forms of Training where the Kesa is not involved at all, for certain folks who do not find their Dharma Gate there. It is a great experiment, and we will see how it goes.… the new place is called blue mountain white clouds hermitage, it is about to open soon. We will emphasize shikantaza practice, ceremony practice as well as kito, sewing and sewing again, koan study ( no man practice except with Dainin Joko) art practice ( every member will have to take art practice) ... the possibility to explore and put to effective use other styles of practice (lojong practice, mantra recitation...) ... we will also work actively to relieve suffering in the world through action. Non profit community , I will be acting as a spiritual authority and guiding teacher but, in our retreats, other teachers will effectively teach, I will remain in the back seat. Two retreats a year, winter and summer, one in the States and one in Europe. Numerous retreats and zazenkai on line. Daily zazen offered. … We would [be] a brother sangha to Treeleaf … There will be no forum like [found at Treeleaf] but active communication and lots of meetings on skype. Treeleaf guys are most welcome but for outsiders membership will be given upon interview.
Communication will continue between our tents, with Taigu a frequent visitor here and always available to us at those times where he can offer his gifts and special insights which we Treasure. I hope I might offer something to his group as well, if there are times I might. Most importantly, we hope that there will be a well worn path between the two places, such that our students and the teachers will wander back and forth, learning from each what is to be learned.
Someone said that Taigu and I are sometimes like two chefs cooking soup … one flavoring it one way, one flavoring it another. I believe this is so. In turn, the best course is to brew up two kettles, so that students can learn the secrets of and savor each, perhaps the taste of one more or less suited to some folks. Furthermore, the True Taste is in both nutritious recipes. The same hearty ingredients can be combined in a variety of ways, each delicious!
Someone once commented that Taigu is more Traditional and I (Jundo) more Reformist. Well, I would say that, these days, most Teachers are both Traditional and Reformist ... finding new expressions of Buddhism and Zen to suit modern times. I would describe the differences between Taigu and me as tiny on a sliding scale, and Taigu quite the relative modernist himself ... a fact made clear at recent "Homeleaving" Priest Ordinations held by Taigu where one of the Ordainees briefly caught his Kesa on his wedding ring, and others thanked their wives and kids for their constant support before catching planes back home!
Someone said that Taigu and I are making two separate temples or caves on two separate mountains. I quickly corrected that, noting that we are teaching from two places that are really United and Whole, found side by side on One Mountain … whereby students may wander back and forth and avail themselves of what is offered in each. We are not dividing this community. Quite the contrary, we will stay together, walking together, and are merely diversifying the Teachings offered. The below image, of the inquirer traveling from the temple below to the cave above, may be what we have in mind.
I hope I have conveyed the sense of what is to occur. If there are any questions (I am sure there will be), please let us know and Taigu and I will do our best to address them here.
Gassho, Jundo
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Originally Posted by Myosha
Looking forward to visiting you in the future,
