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Thread: August 12th-13th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI!

  1. #1

    August 12th-13th, 2016 - OUR MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI!

    Today's Talk will bump into recent Koans from the Book of Serenity, POSTED BELOW.

    Please 'sit-a-long' with our MONTHLY 4-hour ZAZENKAI, netcast LIVE 8am to noon Japan time Saturday morning (that is New York 7pm to 11pm, Los Angeles 4pm to 8pm (Friday night), London midnight to 4am and Paris 1am to 5am (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


    FOR THOSE NOT ALREADY MEMBERS OF THE CIRCLE WHO WISH TO JOIN TO SIT LIVE WITH A CAMERA, INSTRUCTIONS are posted AT THIS LINK. WE ARE NOW LIMITED TO 10 INDIVIDUALS WITH CAMERAS, BUT ANY NUMBER CAN WATCH LIVE 'ONE WAY' AND SIT-A-LONG VIA THE ABOVE SCREEN. IF JOINING WITH CAMERA, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR MICROPHONE IS MUTED:


    The Sitting Schedule is as follows:

    00:00 - 00:50 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA IN JAPANESE / SANDOKAI IN ENGLISH) & ZAZEN
    00:50 - 01:00 KINHIN
    01:00 - 01:30 ZAZEN
    01:30 - 01:50 KINHIN

    01:50 - 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



    Our Zazenkai consists of our chanting the 'Heart Sutra' in Japanese and the 'Identity of Relative and Absolute (Sandokai)' in English (please download our Chant Book at the link below), some full floor prostrations (please follow along with me ... or a simple Gassho can be substituted if you wish), a little talk by me ... and we close with the 'Metta Chant', followed at the end with the 'Verse of Atonement' and 'The Four Vows'. Oh, and lots and lots of Zazen and walkin' Kinhin in between!

    Please download and print out the Chants we will recite at the following link (PDF):

    Chant Book (PDF)

    or

    Chant Book (SHORT VERSION HTML)

    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
    Last edited by Sekishi; 08-19-2016 at 10:59 PM. Reason: Updated podcast link.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  2. #2
    Cases from the Book of Serenity

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    CASE 58
    The Diamond Sutra's Reviling


    MAIN CASE
    Attention!
    The Diamond Sutra says if someone is reviled by others,
    It is because that person had acquired negative karma in a previous existence.
    Because of this past falling into evil ways he is reviled by people in this life,
    And in being reviled, the karma of the past will be exhausted.

    APPRECIATORY VERSE
    Success and failure bound together;
    cause and effect glued together. ...

    The Diamond Sutra Teaches two seemingly contradictory (but are they?) messages on Karma. One, that Karma (our volitional actions and their effects in this life and, perhaps, lives to come) are empty to the eye of Wisdom that can so perceive ...

    "All conditioned Dharmas
    are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows,
    Like dew drops and a lightning flash,
    Contemplate them thus."

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    CASE 59
    Seirin's Deadly Snake


    PREFACE To THE ASSEMBLY
    Leaving, yet staying,- dwelling, yet departing. Not leaving, not dwelling; he is without a country. Where can he be met? Anywhere. Everywhere. Tell me: What thing is it that can be so marvelous?

    MAIN CASE
    Attention! A monk asked Master Seirin, "How about when a student proceeds on the trail?" Seirin replied, "The dead snake hits the great road. I advise you not to bump into it." The monk said, "When it's bumped into, then what?" Seirin answered, "You lose your life!" The monk continued, "When it's not bumped into, then what?" And Seirin said, "There's no place to dodge to." The monk said, "At that very moment, then what?" Seirin replied, "It has been lost." The monk then said, "I wonder where it's gone." And Seirin responded, "The grass is so deep there's nowhere to seek." The monk replied, "Shield yourself, Osho! Then you'll be alright!" Finally Seirin clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Your poison is equal to mine!"

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    CASE 60
    Ryutetsuma's Old Cow


    Main Case
    Attention! Ryutetsuma arrive at Isan's place, and Isan said, "Old cow, you've come!" Rtutetsuma said, "There's a big feast on Mount Tai tomorrow, Osho. Are you going?" Isan lay himself down. At that, Ryutestsuma left.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    CASE 61
    Kempo's One Stroke


    PREFACE TO THE ASSEMBLY
    A roundabout explanation is easy to understand but imparts only the one hand; Straight-forward talk is hard to understand but opens every direction. I advise you not to speak too clearly. Speak too clearly, and it will be all the more difficult for you to come forth. If you don't believe so, let's have a look at this and see.



    MAIN CASE
    Attention!
    A monk asked Kempo, "The exalted saints of the ten directions have one road to the nirvana gate: I wonder where the one road is."
    Kempo made a stroke with his staff, saying, "Here it is!"
    The monk later told Master Ummon about this.
    Ummon remarked, "The fan jumps up to the thirty-third heaven, and whacks Indra's nose. When the carp of the Eastern Sea is clubbed once, the rain is like water from a tipped-over tray. Understand? Understand?"
    Last edited by Jundo; 08-12-2016 at 05:36 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  3. #3
    Mp
    Guest
    Thank you Jundo,

    I will be there live with bell and mokugyo ready. =)

    Gassho
    Shingen

    s@today
    Last edited by Mp; 08-12-2016 at 08:54 PM.

  4. #4
    Kyotai
    Guest
    Hello. I will try and join for the last hour, after work.

    Gassho, Kyotai
    ST

  5. #5
    I will be here/there live.

    Gassho
    Daizan

    Sat today

  6. #6
    Joyo
    Guest
    I will try to be there live, if not I'll be sitting with the recording this week.

    Gassho,
    Joyo
    sat today

  7. #7
    Hi Jundo!

    I'll be there live

    Gassho,

    Kyonin
    Last edited by Kyonin; 08-12-2016 at 05:00 PM.
    Hondō Kyōnin
    奔道 協忍

  8. #8
    Cyd
    Guest
    I will be either way

    Gassho
    Cyd

    Sat2day

  9. #9
    I will join live, but not with a camera, in case I have to duck out early or join in late.

    Gassho, sat today
    求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
    I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.

  10. #10
    Thank you, Jundo. I will join, live, two-way.

    Gassho,
    Onkai

  11. #11
    Mp
    Guest
    Hello everyone,

    Here is the event link if needed: https://hangouts.google.com/hangouts...-GB&authuser=0

    Gassho
    Shingen

    s@today

  12. #12
    Joining one-way! Excited to make the whole 4 hour Zazenkai, since I have today off, a rarity.

    Gassho,
    Jakuden
    SatToday

  13. #13
    I am visiting my daughter this weekend and will sit with the recording of this next week.
    Gassho,
    Marina sat today

  14. #14
    So sorry about the crumby out-of-tune bell...

    It is late here after a long day with an early start, and I am slipping into sleep.

    Deep bows and goodnight, will catch up the last part of Zazenkai on Sunday.

    Daizan

    sat today

  15. #15
    I had connectivity issues, so I'll do the Zazenkai sometime over the weekend. I was enjoying the Dharma talk, and look forward to hearing it through. It was also lovely hearing the chants, sitting and walking with everyone.

    Gassho,
    Onkai
    SatToday

  16. #16
    This was a very interesting zazenkai. Good teachers, bad teachers, robots, Hockey Pockey dance as a spiritual practice and Mr. K in the house.

    Doesn't get any better than that.

    Thank you all!

    Gassho,

    Kyonin
    #SatAndRobotDancedToday
    Hondō Kyōnin
    奔道 協忍

  17. #17
    Mp
    Guest
    Wonderful, thank you Jundo and everyone including the out of tune bell. =)

    Have a great weekend.

    Gassho
    Shingen

    s@today

  18. #18
    Wow, that was the most supremely wonderfully mediocre Zazenkai ever. So good to see Mr. K and thanks for chanting the Heart Sutra tonight! Jundo your talk resonated deeply with me, everything from teenagers (my daughter shaved her head a la Britney Spears this week, a meltdown because boyfriend going off to college) to "herding cats" (dealing with trying to lead an organization and wrestle with all the interpersonal issues)! And then the Hokey Pokey!! It's such a privilege to belong to this perfectly imperfect Sangha. Have a weekend everyone.

    Gassho,
    Jakuden
    SatToday

    P.S. I like the out-of-tune bell.
    P.P.S. And Jundo's apparently too-clear explanations.
    Last edited by Jakuden; 08-13-2016 at 03:27 AM.

  19. #19
    Thanks to all.


    Gassho
    Myosha
    sat today
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  20. #20
    Kyotai
    Guest
    Sorry I missed out. Had to stay late at work.

    Gassho, Kyotai
    ST

  21. #21
    Thank you

    Gassho
    Meishin
    sat today

  22. #22
    Thank You very much everyone. Jundo talk was very good. A wonderful moment of Zen teachings.
    I am grateful for sharing my practice with all of You.
    Gassho, David
    Sattoday

  23. #23
    I just practiced with this Zazenkai. It is wonderful to be able to tune in at a different time and be able to practice with community. Have a great weekend everyone!

    Gassho,
    Onkai
    SatToday

  24. #24
    Thank you!
    Gassho,
    Kotei sattoday.

    義道 冴庭 / Gidō Kotei.
    Being a novice priest doesn't mean my writing about the Dharma is more substantial than yours. Actually, it might well be the other way round.

  25. #25
    Thank you all.

    Nice to see Mr. K. again.
    Even if the chants are the same, may your Takuhatsu bowl bring in more good stuff than smelly.

    Gassho
    Jika
    #sattoday
    治 Ji
    花 Ka

  26. #26
    Actually, I made a joke during this month's Zazenkai talk about giving the Begging Bowl (which is also traditionally the Buddha Bowl for eating during Oryoki) an extra wash if someone donates dog poop ...

    ... but the dog poop might be cleaner than money ...

    This will have you reaching for your wallet with rubber gloves:

    All money, it turns out, could stand to be laundered: the stuff is filthy.
    http://content.time.com/time/special...914544,00.html

    Gassho, J

    SatToday, washed hands ...
    Last edited by Jundo; 08-15-2016 at 03:02 AM.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  27. #27
    Mp
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    This will have you reaching for your wallet with rubber gloves:

    http://content.time.com/time/special...914544,00.html
    OH MY!!!

    Gassho with rubber gloves =)
    Shingen

    s@today
    Last edited by Mp; 08-15-2016 at 03:06 AM.

  28. #28
    No wonder why BitCoin is the future!

    Gassho,

    Kyonin
    #SatToday
    Hondō Kyōnin
    奔道 協忍

  29. #29
    Cyd
    Guest
    Did not make the live Zenkai our Guest stayed a bit longer
    though did sit with the Youtube feed. I personally
    think we should add the Hokie Pokie!!!


    Cyd
    Sat2day

  30. #30
    Thank you all and Jundo, perfect-non-perfect teacher!

    Gassho, sat today
    求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
    I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.

  31. #31
    I just watched it. It was very meaningful to me. Believe it or not the dog poop "joke" was a Dharma arrow to my prajña eye.

    My sister in law spends a lot of time trying to put her Christian newsletters in my begging bowl. Recently she's taken to telling my sons that I am going to go to hell because of Zen Buddhism. My ten year old was crying hysterically about this to my wife and now does not want to stay with his aunt because she proselytizes so much. My thirteen year old also is irritated with her because she tells him "evolution is a lie" and "Darwin is in hell". This conflicts with his scientific approach to life so he becomes annoyed.

    To complicate it further when I express my feelings to my wife she says that her sister deeply believes that it is her Christian duty to save others and therefore her efforts to preach to my kids are actually an expression of her love for them.

    So now I have dog poop in my bowl too. What else can I do but take a moment to be grateful and then go wash my bowl?

    I am grateful to the Buddha for his teachings. I am grateful to Jundo for his dharma talk. I am grateful for my sister in law. I am grateful for my kids. I am grateful for my wife.

    Sojun Mel Weitzman of the Berkley Zen Center said "hell is just another place to practice". I am grateful for this quote!!

    So I say "thank you" for all of it. Now I will go wash my bowl and practice non-attachment.

    Gassho
    -K2
    #SatToday

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
    法 Dharma
    口 Mouth

  32. #32
    K2,

    I know how you feel. How does one argue with circular logic? You can't. I was at a cousin's wedding last weekend, and there was a lot of proselytizing, calling marriages with half-brothers and half-sisters the product of a life of sin, and an urging to find Christ at the end of every toast. What can I do but raise my glass? They deeply feel they are doing their best. To quote Norman Fischer, "Shouldn't everyone get to feel that what they are doing is the best?"

    I really love that one: "Hell is just another place to practice." I'm keeping it, thanks!

    Sat today, gassho
    求道芸化 Kyūdō Geika
    I am just a priest-in-training, please do not take anything I say as a teaching.

  33. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Geika View Post
    K2,

    I know how you feel. How does one argue with circular logic? You can't. I was at a cousin's wedding last weekend, and there was a lot of proselytizing, calling marriages with half-brothers and half-sisters the product of a life of sin, and an urging to find Christ at the end of every toast. What can I do but raise my glass? They deeply feel they are doing their best. To quote Norman Fischer, "Shouldn't everyone get to feel that what they are doing is the best?"

    I really love that one: "Hell is just another place to practice." I'm keeping it, thanks!

    Sat today, gassho
    Buddhism has always existed around other religions (even other sects of Buddhism!) that exhibited varying degrees of aggressive proselytizing, even open hostility. (You may notice that it no longer truly exists as it did in India, given the power of centuries of Muslim invasions and Hinduism. In Japan, the Shintoists tried to destroy or weaken Buddhism in the 19th century and almost succeeded. In China, the Daoists and Confucianists were often hostile (in Korea too), and the Communists turned temples into warehouses, and the monks into pig farmers).

    Wedding toasts ain't nothing!

    Many times Buddhism found ways to find common ground, even merge with or incorporate aspects of all of the above. For example, Japanese Soto Zen and all other Japanese Buddhist schools are filled with countless symbols, sacred persons and legends and some practices derived from or directly Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism and Hinduism! You can't shake a stick without hitting an India god or a Confucian flavor of temple life. Most Buddhist temples I know have a Shinto Shrine or two somewhere on the premises. Most ordinary Japanese consider themselves both Shinto and Buddhist, and really don't consider the matter much at all (they say Shinto for weddings, Buddhism for the funerals ... and not much in between).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinbutsu-sh%C5%ABg%C5%8D

    Furthermore, as we have discusses many times around here ... many folks can find common ground between Zen, Buddhism, Shikantaza and Christianity, Judaism, Atheism ... Depends on the person and the attitude.

    When this topic comes up, I say that one can practice Zen Buddhism while also a Republican, Democrat or apolitical, Baseball fan or football fan or no sports fan at all, Catholic, Jewish or Muslim, Atheist or Agnostic. I would say that, so long as it is a belief system that avoids hate, violence, excess greed and such (e.g., a "Zen Buddhist Nazi" will go a dark way), all can mix.

    Also, Some forms of Christianity and Judaism or other belief may be practiced in ways that shut out or are incompatible with other systems such as Buddhism (due to the problem of rejection and exclusivism on the other side ... "Jesus is the only way, meditation is evil" etc. ... not on the "Zen" side), but not all Christians and Jews practice in such ways. Some ways of practicing Christianity and Judaism are quite compatible and harmonious with Zen Practice.

    http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...l=1#post179963
    Gassho, J

    SatToday
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  34. #34
    Will be sitting this tonight.

    Gassho,
    Matt

  35. #35
    Treeleaf Priest / Engineer Sekishi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Hi all,

    I just wanted to let folks know that the podcast link has been updated (it originally linked to last-month's episode).

    Gassho,
    Sekishi

    #sattoday
    Sekishi | 石志 | He/him | Better with a grain of salt, but best ignored entirely.

  36. #36
    Sat this one today. Thank you everyone.

    Gassho
    Washin

  37. #37
    Just finished sitting this : Thank you all and especially Jundo, a great talk; yes, how lucky we are
    Gassho,
    Marina
    Sat Today

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