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Thread: Chanting & Zazen Circle (Mo thru Sa)

  1. #351
    If you can, please may I ask that we dedicate some of our practice this week to the families and the victims of suicide? Where I live - Lincoln - now has the highest suicide rate across England and Wales after a rise in numbers during the pandemic.

    Bows

    Seiko
    stlah
    Gandō Seiko
    頑道清光
    (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

    My street name is 'Al'.

    Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

  2. #352
    Quote Originally Posted by Seiko View Post
    If you can, please may I ask that we dedicate some of our practice this week to the families and the victims of suicide? Where I live - Lincoln - now has the highest suicide rate across England and Wales after a rise in numbers during the pandemic.

    Bows

    Seiko
    stlah
    Of course Seiko, and perhaps a few days each week we can build in some Metta practice, which is a beautiful practice anyway.

    Stay cool my brother,

    Ryokudo

    SAT/LAH
    Last edited by Ryokudo; 09-14-2021 at 11:59 AM.

  3. #353
    Quote Originally Posted by Yuki View Post
    Dear Aprapti,

    I wish you a nice stay in this Benedictine abbey. We will sit with you in our mind.

    Yuki 雪

    Sat with all of you today
    Indeed Aprapti,

    Across time and space we will reach each other and the Benedictines. And of course they will reach us.

    Gassho

    Ryokudo

  4. #354


    Gassho
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  5. #355
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Ango sitting this morning with Thousand Harbours Zen folks. Sent metta to all the families and the victims of suicide.

    Yuki 雪

  6. #356
    Quote Originally Posted by Yuki View Post
    Ango sitting this morning with Thousand Harbours Zen folks. Sent metta to all the families and the victims of suicide.

    Yuki 雪
    Lovely and Omom has sent a great piece through from TNH, which we could do next week.

    The Great Bell Chant (The End Of Suffering)
    Read by Thich Nath Hanh,

    May the sound of this bell
    Penetrate deep into the cosmos
    Even in the darkest spots
    Living beings are able to hear it clearly
    So that all suffering in them cease
    Understanding come to their hearts
    And they transcend the path
    Of sorrow and death

    The universal dharma door is already open
    The sound of the rising tide is heard clearly
    The miracle happens
    A beautiful child appears in the heart
    Of a Lotus flower
    One single drop of this compassionate water
    Is enough to bring back the refreshing spring
    To our mountains and rivers

    Listening to the bell
    I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
    My mind calm, my body relax
    A smile is born on my lips
    Following the sound of the bell
    My breath brings me back
    To the safe Island of Mindfulness
    In the garden of my heart
    The flowers of Peace bloom beautifully

    The Great Bell Chant (The End Of Suffering) - YouTube

    Also I figured if people are getting bored with Sanki Raimon then we have the following alternatives, but what does everyone think?

    Three Refuges Verse (Sankie mon 三帰依文 )

    Hail refuge in buddha; hail refuge in dharma; hail refuge in sangha.

    I take refuge in buddha, honored as the highest; I take refuge in dharma, honored as the stainless; I take refuge in sangha, honored as harmonious.

    I have completely taken refuge in buddha; I have completely taken refuge in dharma; I have completely taken refuge in sangha.




    Verse in Worship of the Three Venerable Ones (Sanzon raimon 三尊礼文)


    Homage to our great benefactor and lord of the doctrine,
    the Original Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha.
    Homage to the High Patriarch Dogen.
    Homage to the Eminent Patriarch Keizan.
    We gather up and receive your great compassionate pity.
    May we encounter and obtain it from life to life in every world.

  7. #357
    Quote Originally Posted by aprapti View Post
    dear friends,

    i will be in a benedictine abbey for a week, without internet reach. But i will sit at the same time as you guys (and girls )..



    aprapti


    sat
    Ah Aprāpti,
    This sounds lovely. In my youth I often sat zazen alongside Jesuit monks, but not Benedictines. Never say never.

    Bows,
    Seiko, stlah
    Gandō Seiko
    頑道清光
    (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

    My street name is 'Al'.

    Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

  8. #358
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi everybody !

    Here, the text of the « Ceremony of the remembrance » we used today:
    ____________

    A Ceremony of Remembrance for Peoples who Have Died

    Because of the ceaseless action of cause and effect,
    reality appears in all its many forms.

    To know this fully liberates all those who suffer.

    All beings appear just as we all do, from the One, and pass away as we all do, after a few flickering moments or years of life, back to our Original Unborn Nature.

    Truly our lives are waves on the vast ocean of True Nature, which is not born and does not pass away.

    In gathering today we remember peoples who have died and express our love and support for their parents, family, and friends.

    Here these peoples are in complete repose, at one with the mystery that is our own birth and death, our own no-birth and no-death.
    _________________
    I add two poems about Jizo :
    _________________
    When I see
    The misery
    Of those in this world
    Their sadness
    Becomes mine.
    Oh that my monk’s robe
    Were wide enough
    To gather up all
    The suffering people
    In this floating world.
    Nothing makes me
    More happy than
    The vow To save everyone.
    _________________________
    I watch people in the world
    Throw away their lives lusting after things,
    Never able to satisfy their desires,
    Failing into deep despair and torturing themselves.
    Even if they get what they want,
    How long will they be able to enjoy it?
    For one heavenly pleasure they suffer ten torments of hell.
    Binding themselves more firmly to the grindstone.
    Such people are like monkeys
    Frantically grasping for the moon in the water
    And then falling into a whirlpool.
    How endlessly those caught up in the floating world suffer.
    Ryōkan
    ____________________
    And, at last, the two vows of Jizo Bodhisattva :

    « Only after the Hells are empty will I become a Buddha”

    “Only after all beings are taken across to Enlightenment will I myself realize Bodhi. »
    _________________

    See you soon,

    Yuki 雪
    (Sit, sat, sitting… today)

  9. #359
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  10. #360
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Bonjour !

    Here is the text of Takkesa Ge

    __________________

    Takkesa Ge

    Dai sai geda puku
    Muso fukuden e
    Hi bu nyorai kyo
    Kodo sho shu jo

    Ô vêtement de la Grande Libération

    Kesa du champ du bonheur illimité

    Je reçois avec foi l’enseignement du Bouddha

    Pour aider largement tous les êtres sensibles

    ______________________________________

    Oh, robe of great liberation,

    Kesa of formless happiness,

    I faithfully receive the Budhha's teaching,

    to help liberate all beings.

    ______________

    See you soon !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  11. #361
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  12. #362
    Hello friends,

    I have a poem by Rengetsu that I found moving and wished to share.

    Inishie wo
    tsuki ni towa ruru
    kokochi shi te
    fushime gachi ni mo
    naru koyoi kana.
    ----------------------
    Of bygone days
    I feel the moon
    asking me...
    and cannot help softly
    casting down my eyes this night.

    Thank you for sitting with me today.

    Gassho,
    William
    SatLAH

  13. #363
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hey all !

    Here is the link to access at « I don’t know » by Koun Franz. Good reading !
    https://dharmacrafts.com/blogs/news/...now-koun-franz


    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  14. #364
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  15. #365
    Quote Originally Posted by Yuki View Post
    Hey all !

    Here is the link to access at « I don’t know » by Koun Franz. Good reading !
    https://dharmacrafts.com/blogs/news/...now-koun-franz


    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)
    Thank you William

  16. #366
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Quote Originally Posted by Shinshin View Post
    Hello friends,

    I have a poem by Rengetsu that I found moving and wished to share.

    Inishie wo
    tsuki ni towa ruru
    kokochi shi te
    fushime gachi ni mo
    naru koyoi kana.
    ----------------------
    Of bygone days
    I feel the moon
    asking me...
    and cannot help softly
    casting down my eyes this night.

    Thank you for sitting with me today.

    Gassho,
    William
    SatLAH
    I long for your next presence ; I hope to listen this poem read by you.


    Yuki 雪
    ( …and yes, Sat today)

  17. #367
    Quote Originally Posted by Shinshin View Post
    Hello friends,

    I have a poem by Rengetsu that I found moving and wished to share.

    Inishie wo
    tsuki ni towa ruru
    kokochi shi te
    fushime gachi ni mo
    naru koyoi kana.
    ----------------------
    Of bygone days
    I feel the moon
    asking me...
    and cannot help softly
    casting down my eyes this night.

    Thank you for sitting with me today.

    Gassho,
    William
    SatLAH
    Thank you William

  18. #368
    Hey All,

    Omom sent through a poem called Desiderata last week I has flavours of zen despite not being a "zen text".


    Desiderata

    GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste,
    and remember what peace there may be in silence.
    As far as possible,
    without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
    Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
    and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
    Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
    If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter,
    for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
    Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
    Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
    it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
    Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
    But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
    many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
    Be yourself.
    Especially do not feign affection.
    Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
    Take kindly the counsel of the years,
    gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
    Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
    But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
    Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
    Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
    You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
    And whether or not it is clear to you,
    no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
    Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
    And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
    With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
    it is still a beautiful world.
    Be cheerful.
    Strive to be happy.


    By Max Ehrmann © 1927
    Original text

    We could maybe include it as a reading one day.

    Gassho,

    Ryokudo

  19. #369
    As we are discussing poetry, I feel moved to give you this old thing _/\_

    Hakuin Zenji's Song of Zazen
    Hakuin Ekaku 白隠 慧鶴,
    January 19, 1686 – January 18, 1769


    All beings by nature are Buddha
    As ice by nature is water.
    Apart from water there is no ice;
    Apart from beings, no Buddha.

    How sad that people ignore the near
    And search for truth afar:
    Like someone in the midst of water
    Crying out in thist;
    Like a child of a wealthy home
    Wandering among the poor.

    Lost on dark paths of ignorance,
    We wander through the six worlds;
    From dark path to dark path-
    When shall we be freed from birth and death?

    For this the zazen of the Mahayana
    Deserves the highest praise:
    Generosity, patience, self-discipline,
    The many paramitas_
    All rise within zazen

    Even those with proud attainments
    Wipe out their old deluded ways.
    Where are all the dark paths then?
    The pure land itself is near.

    Much more, if you dedicate yourself to practice
    And confirm your own true nature,
    True nature that is no nature.
    You are far beyond mere dogma.

    Here effect and cause are the same,
    The way is neither two nor three,
    With form that is no form
    Going and coming -never astray
    With thought that is no thought
    Singing and dancing are the voice of the law.

    Boundless and free is the sky of samadhi
    Bright the full moon of wisdom,
    Truly, is anything missing now
    Nirvana is right here before our eyes;
    This very place is the lotus land,
    This very body, the Buddha.
    Gandō Seiko
    頑道清光
    (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

    My street name is 'Al'.

    Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

  20. #370
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi Seiko,

    Your timing is excellent !
    Yesterday, we read Hakuin Zenji’s Song of Zazen as translated in Treeleaf Sangha Chant Book.
    Today, I wanted to read the Robert Aitken translation, the one you just published in your post.
    Thank you for giving us this opportunity!

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  21. #371
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  22. #372
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hey all !

    Later this week, it would be interesting to chant Hakuin Zenji’s Song of Zazen in Japanese. Here is the Japanese text. The first syllable of the words in capitals are lightly accentuated when chanting so it could rythm the chant.

    HAKUIN ZENJI ZAZEN WASAN

    shu jo hon RAI HOTO KENA ri
    MIZU to ko RINO GOTO KUNI te
    MIZU o HANA RETE ko RINA ku
    SHUJO ONO HOKA ni HOTO KENA shi
    SHUJO o CHIKA KIO SHIRA ZUSHI te
    to ku MOTO MURU HAKA NASA yo
    TATO EBA MIZU no NAKA ni ITE
    KATSU o SAKE BUGA GOTO KUNA ri
    cho JANO IE no KOTO NARI te
    hin RINI MAYO ONI KOTO NARA zu
    ROKU shu rin NENO in nen wa
    ONO REGA GUCHI no YAMI JINA ri
    YAMI JINI YAMI JIO FUMI SOE te
    ITSU ka sho JIO HANA RUBE ki
    SORE MAKA en no zen jo wa
    sho tan SURU ni AMA RIA ri
    FUSE ya JIKA INO SHOHA RAMI tsu
    nem BUTSU san ge SHUGYO OTO
    o SONO SHINA o ki SHOZE ngyo
    o MINA KONO NAKA ni KISU RUNA ri
    ICHI ZANO ko o NASU HITO mo
    TSUMI shi MURYO ONO TSUMI HORO bu
    AKU shu IZU KUNI ARI NUBE ki
    jo do SUNA WACHI to KARA zu
    KATA JIKE NAKU mo KONO NORI o
    HITO TABI MIMI ni FURU RUTO ki
    san tan ZUI ki SURU HITO wa
    FUKU o URU KOTO KAGI RINA shi
    IWA nya MIZU KARA EKO OSHI te
    JIKI ni JISHO o SHO SURE ba
    JISHO o SUNA WACHI MUSHO ONI te
    SUDE ni KERO no HANA RETA ri
    in ga ICHI NYONO mon HIRA ke
    MUNI MUSA nno MICHI NAO shi
    MUSO ONO so o so TOSHI te
    YUKU mo KAE RUMO YOSO NARA zu
    MUNE nno nen o nen TOSHI te
    UTA UMO MAU mo NORI NOKO e
    zan MAI MUGE no SORA HIRO ku
    SHICHI em myo no TSUKI SAE n
    KONO TOKI NANI OKA MOTO MUBE ki
    JAKU METSU gen zen SURU YUE ni
    to sho SUNA WACHI ren GEKO ku
    KONO mi SUNA WACHI HOTO ke na ri


    See you soon !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  23. #373
    Both cats sat with us tonight. The well one and the sick one. Both turned up as I began to sign in to Treeleaf, and both stayed quietly to the end of Chanting and Zazen Circle without fighting each other.

    Gassho
    Seiko
    stlah ok
    Gandō Seiko
    頑道清光
    (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

    My street name is 'Al'.

    Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

  24. #374
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Quote Originally Posted by Seiko View Post
    Both cats sat with us tonight. The well one and the sick one. Both turned up as I began to sign in to Treeleaf, and both stayed quietly to the end of Chanting and Zazen Circle without fighting each other.

    Gassho
    Seiko
    stlah ok
    Your cats should have the Buddha’s nature, after all !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  25. #375
    Hi everybody !

    As we are in the Ango period, I suggest for next week to read if you like .

    Meihō Sotetsu: Zazen
    Translated by Lucien Stryk & Takashi Ikemoto,

    '' Zazen ''

    Zen-sitting is the way of perfect tranquillity: inwardly
    not a shadow of perception, outwardly not a
    shade of difference between phenomena. Identified
    with yourself, you no longer think, nor do you seek enlightenment
    of the mind or disburdenment of illusions.
    You are a flying bird with no mind to twitter, a mountain
    unconscious of the others rising araund it.
    Zen-sitting has nothing to do with the doctrine of
    "teaching, practice, and elucidation" or with the exercise
    of "commandrnents, contemplation, and wisdom."
    You are like a fish with no particular design of remaining
    in the sea. Nor do you bother with sutras or ideas.
    To control and pacify the mind is the concern of lesser
    men: Sravakas, Pratyeka-Buddhas, and Hinayanists.
    Still less can you hold an idea of Buddha and Dharma.
    If you attempt to do so, if you train improperly, you
    are like one who, intending to voyage west, moves east.
    You must not stray.
    Also you must guard yourself against the easy conceptions
    of good and evil: your sole concern should be
    to examine yourself continually, asking who is above
    either. You must remember too that the unsullied essence
    of life has nothing to do with whether one is
    priest or layman, man or woman. Your Buddha-nature,
    consummate as the full moon, is represented by your
    position as you sit in Zen. The exquisite Way of Buddhas
    is not the One or Two, being or non-being. What
    diversífies it is the limitations of its students, who can
    be divided into three cIasses -- superior, average, inferior.
    The superior student is unaware of the coming into
    the world of Buddhas or of the transmission of the non-
    transmittable by them: he eats when hungry, sleeps
    when sleepy. Nor does he regard the world as himself.
    Neither is he attached to enlightenment or illusion.
    Taking things as they come, he sits in the proper manner,
    making no idle distinctions.
    The average student discards all business and ignores
    the external, giving himself over to self-examination
    with every breath. He may probe into a koan, which he
    puts mentally on the tip of his nose, finding in this way
    that his "original face" (fundamental being) is beyond
    life and death, and that the Buddha-nature of all is not
    dependent on the discriminating intellect but is the un-
    conscious consciousness, the incomprehensible understanding:
    in short, that it is clear and distinct for alI
    ages and is alone apparent in its entirety throughout
    the universe.
    The inferior student must disconnect himself from
    all that is external, thus liberating himself from the duality
    of good and evil. The mind, just as it is, is the
    origin of all Buddhas. In zazen his legs are crossed so
    that his Buddha-nature will not be led off by evil
    thoughts, his hands are linked so that they will not take
    up sutras or implements, his mouth is shut so that he
    refrains from preaching a word of dharma or uttering
    blasphemies, his eyes are half shut so that he does not
    distinguish between objects, his ears are closed to the
    world so that he will not hear talk of vice and virtue,
    his nose is as if dead so that he will not smell good or
    bad. Since his body has nothing on which to lean, he is
    indifferent to likes and dislikes. He negates neither being
    nor non-being. He sits like Buddha on the pedestal,
    and though distorted ideas may arise from him, they do
    so idly and are ephemeral, constituting no sin, like reflections
    in a mirror, leaving no trace.
    The five, the eight, the two hundred and fifty commandments,
    the three thousand monastic regulations,
    the eight hundred duties of the Bodhisattva, the Buddha-
    nature and the Bodhisattvahood, and the Wheel of
    Dharma -- all are comprised in Zen-sitting and emerge
    from it. Of all good works, zazen comes first, for the
    merit of only one step into it surpasses that of erecting
    a thousand temples. Even a moment of sitting will enable
    you to free yourself from life and death, and your
    Buddha-nature will appear of itself. Then all you do,
    perceive, think becomes part of the miraculous Tathata-
    suchness (true nature, thusness).
    Let it be thus remembered that tyros and advanced
    students, learned and ignorant, all without exception
    should practice zazen.


    明峰素哲 Meihō Sotetsu (1277-1350)


    Deep bows,
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  26. #376
    Quote Originally Posted by omom View Post
    Hi everybody !

    As we are in the Ango period, I suggest for next week to read if you like .

    Meihō Sotetsu: Zazen
    Translated by Lucien Stryk & Takashi Ikemoto,

    '' Zazen ''

    Zen-sitting is the way of perfect tranquillity: inwardly
    not a shadow of perception, outwardly not a
    shade of difference between phenomena. Identified
    with yourself, you no longer think, nor do you seek enlightenment
    of the mind or disburdenment of illusions.
    You are a flying bird with no mind to twitter, a mountain
    unconscious of the others rising araund it.
    Zen-sitting has nothing to do with the doctrine of
    "teaching, practice, and elucidation" or with the exercise
    of "commandrnents, contemplation, and wisdom."
    You are like a fish with no particular design of remaining
    in the sea. Nor do you bother with sutras or ideas.
    To control and pacify the mind is the concern of lesser
    men: Sravakas, Pratyeka-Buddhas, and Hinayanists.
    Still less can you hold an idea of Buddha and Dharma.
    If you attempt to do so, if you train improperly, you
    are like one who, intending to voyage west, moves east.
    You must not stray.
    Also you must guard yourself against the easy conceptions
    of good and evil: your sole concern should be
    to examine yourself continually, asking who is above
    either. You must remember too that the unsullied essence
    of life has nothing to do with whether one is
    priest or layman, man or woman. Your Buddha-nature,
    consummate as the full moon, is represented by your
    position as you sit in Zen. The exquisite Way of Buddhas
    is not the One or Two, being or non-being. What
    diversífies it is the limitations of its students, who can
    be divided into three cIasses -- superior, average, inferior.
    The superior student is unaware of the coming into
    the world of Buddhas or of the transmission of the non-
    transmittable by them: he eats when hungry, sleeps
    when sleepy. Nor does he regard the world as himself.
    Neither is he attached to enlightenment or illusion.
    Taking things as they come, he sits in the proper manner,
    making no idle distinctions.
    The average student discards all business and ignores
    the external, giving himself over to self-examination
    with every breath. He may probe into a koan, which he
    puts mentally on the tip of his nose, finding in this way
    that his "original face" (fundamental being) is beyond
    life and death, and that the Buddha-nature of all is not
    dependent on the discriminating intellect but is the un-
    conscious consciousness, the incomprehensible understanding:
    in short, that it is clear and distinct for alI
    ages and is alone apparent in its entirety throughout
    the universe.
    The inferior student must disconnect himself from
    all that is external, thus liberating himself from the duality
    of good and evil. The mind, just as it is, is the
    origin of all Buddhas. In zazen his legs are crossed so
    that his Buddha-nature will not be led off by evil
    thoughts, his hands are linked so that they will not take
    up sutras or implements, his mouth is shut so that he
    refrains from preaching a word of dharma or uttering
    blasphemies, his eyes are half shut so that he does not
    distinguish between objects, his ears are closed to the
    world so that he will not hear talk of vice and virtue,
    his nose is as if dead so that he will not smell good or
    bad. Since his body has nothing on which to lean, he is
    indifferent to likes and dislikes. He negates neither being
    nor non-being. He sits like Buddha on the pedestal,
    and though distorted ideas may arise from him, they do
    so idly and are ephemeral, constituting no sin, like reflections
    in a mirror, leaving no trace.
    The five, the eight, the two hundred and fifty commandments,
    the three thousand monastic regulations,
    the eight hundred duties of the Bodhisattva, the Buddha-
    nature and the Bodhisattvahood, and the Wheel of
    Dharma -- all are comprised in Zen-sitting and emerge
    from it. Of all good works, zazen comes first, for the
    merit of only one step into it surpasses that of erecting
    a thousand temples. Even a moment of sitting will enable
    you to free yourself from life and death, and your
    Buddha-nature will appear of itself. Then all you do,
    perceive, think becomes part of the miraculous Tathata-
    suchness (true nature, thusness).
    Let it be thus remembered that tyros and advanced
    students, learned and ignorant, all without exception
    should practice zazen.


    明峰素哲 Meihō Sotetsu (1277-1350)


    Deep bows,
    Just to let you know that the above is a very early (1963) translation, and I have a few doubts about some of the phrases. I am trying to find the Japanese original. However, other that that, it is very lovely.

    Gassho, Jundo

    STLah
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  27. #377
    Hi Jundo,

    It would be lovely to see a Japanese original.
    Thank you

    Deep bows,
    omom
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  28. #378
    Gandō Seiko
    頑道清光
    (Stubborn Way of Pure Light)

    My street name is 'Al'.

    Any words I write here are merely the thoughts of an apprentice priest, just my opinions, that's all.

  29. #379
    Hi Jundo,

    We will give I a try!

    Gassho,

    Ryokudo

    SAT/LAH

  30. #380
    Quote Originally Posted by Jundo View Post
    Just to let you know that the above is a very early (1963) translation, and I have a few doubts about some of the phrases. I am trying to find the Japanese original. However, other that that, it is very lovely.

    Gassho, Jundo

    STLah
    Thanks Jundo,

    We read it over our zazen sit and I think it went ok, although it was a bit of a mouthful in places.

    It also wasn't aided by me calling it Meihō Sotetsu when I guess that is the author, but ho hum we live and learn.

    Anyway many thanks for the suggestion and we can add it into our circulation.

    Gassho,

    Ryokudo,

    SAT/LAH

  31. #381
    Thank you, Ryokudo, for the reading yesterday. From a listener's point of view it was a great experience, and a great text.

    This post might appear off-topic (but I think it will pass). It will also be longer than three sentences.

    I want to thank you all for the inclusion I have experienced in the chanting/zazen circle. I found some old writings of mine, on the topic of feeling like an outsider, at best becoming a sort of mascot, someone to make fun of, because I am considered strange or whatever. A psychologist recently stated that I am probably not neurotypical, and I believe she is right. The pieces are beginning to fit. Or maybe she is wrong, who knows.
    What is important to me is that you have welcomed me, just as I am. You allow me to be enough, just as I am.
    I don't feel like that weird person who doesn't get the jokes, and ends up becoming the joke, when I'm with you. You make me feel like one of you, even though I sometimes work in mysterious ways, and for the first time in my life I experience belonging with a group of people. Thank you.

    Gassho,
    Rinmei

    (sat today)
    Last edited by Rinmeies; 10-06-2021 at 11:07 PM.

  32. #382
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi Rinmeies,

    Thanks for your post, your comments and your implication in Chanting and Zazen Circle. Belonging to a group is something very special and I agree with you : it allow us to be enough, just as we are.
    Chanting and Zazen Circle gives us the possibility to be as we are, without masks. Personally, it helps me to be more assured in my interventions, even if I not master English as I would like to do it. Our companions here are comprehensive, helpful and compassionate.
    I appreciate your presence, your implication and your devotion to zen life… and if I dare to chant in Japanese, it’s because I don’t feel being object of judgment… I know that if I make mistakes, everyone will try to help me. Isn’t it what you already were doing when I hesitate in reciting Sanki Raimon or Shi Gu Sei Gan Mon ?
    Thanks to you Rinmeies, and thanks to everybody in this circle ! I would like to name everyone : Ryokudo, Omom, John P., Aprapti, Herrieh, Seiko, William, Risho, Heitou, Bluemountain, Cam and, of course, Jundo… but I’m sure that I forget many peoples who came to chant with us during the last seven months.
    Deep bows to everyone !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)
    Last edited by Yuki; 10-07-2021 at 12:56 AM.

  33. #383
    Rinmeies,

    I can very much understand that feeling. Most of my life there has been a voice in my head that tells me people pretend to be nice, but secretly do not like me being around. Eventually, by sheer luck, this voice was correct. I spiraled for a while, but now am well again. I frequently feel like I speak out of turn, or that I say the wrong things. I agonize over the things I have said and how I should have said them differently.

    And yet, here at Treeleaf I also feel like I just belong. But I didn't really notice the difference until reading your post. So thank you for my realization.

    I am very sorry to say that I have not gotten to know many of you well. I work during the chanting circle (I even missed this week because I was catching up on the Zazenkai!), but I promise every day I notice the time and feel like I am missing out on spending time with all of you.

    I hope to get to know this group more over time, and I hope sincerely that you never feel alone again.
    If you ever need someone to talk to you can always message me on here, and I'm sure everyone else would say the same.

    Gassho,
    William
    Sat

  34. #384
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  35. #385
    Quote Originally Posted by Rinmeies View Post
    Thank you, Ryokudo, for the reading yesterday. From a listener's point of view it was a great experience, and a great text.

    This post might appear off-topic (but I think it will pass). It will also be longer than three sentences.

    I want to thank you all for the inclusion I have experienced in the chanting/zazen circle. I found some old writings of mine, on the topic of feeling like an outsider, at best becoming a sort of mascot, someone to make fun of, because I am considered strange or whatever. A psychologist recently stated that I am probably not neurotypical, and I believe she is right. The pieces are beginning to fit. Or maybe she is wrong, who knows.
    What is important to me is that you have welcomed me, just as I am. You allow me to be enough, just as I am.
    I don't feel like that weird person who doesn't get the jokes, and ends up becoming the joke, when I'm with you. You make me feel like one of you, even though I sometimes work in mysterious ways, and for the first time in my life I experience belonging with a group of people. Thank you.

    Gassho,
    Rinmei

    (sat today)
    thank you for sitting with us, Rinmei.



    aprapti

    sat

    hobo kore dojo / 歩歩是道場 / step, step, there is my place of practice

    Aprāpti (अप्राप्ति) non-attainment

  36. #386
    As promised! The Heart Sutra in Norwegian:

    Den hinsidige visdoms hjerte sutra

    Da den miskunnelige Avalokitesvara søkte hinsides i dypet
    av det ærede visdoms ord åpenbarte de fem elementer seg
    i sannhet å være tomhet og all lidelse utslette

    O Sariputra,

    form er ei, ei er form, det som har form er ei, det som ei er har form,
    likeså følelse - forstand - erkjennelse - bevissthet alle tilsvarende

    O Sariputra,

    all dharma likeså tomhet,
    ei født øde, ei svertet eller uplettet,
    ei øker eller avtar,
    således jeg sier dere av ei finnes ei form, ei følelse forstand -
    erkjennelse - bevissthet, ei heller øye - øre - nese - legeme og sjel,
    ei heller lyd - farge - smak - berøring eller Dharma,

    en verden grenseløs beskue,
    en verden grenseløs bekjenne,
    ei viten eller dårskap,
    ei heller alderdom og død,
    ei finnes bot for alderdom og død,
    ei finnes smerte,
    ingen karma, ingen ende,
    ingen vei å gå da der av intet er å nå,

    for den som fra erververlse befries og forlater seg
    på disse visdoms ord er i sannhet en Bodhisattva,
    i ånden befriet, og med grenseløs bevissthet
    lidelse opphøre,

    hinsides forførende bedrag Nirvana sanne,
    alle Buddha, før, nå, i all evighet
    forlater seg på disse visdoms ord,
    om forløst og uhindret forlater seg på disse visdoms ord,

    erkjenn så dette edle mantra,
    dette uforlignelige mantra,
    dette enestående mantra
    i fullkommenhet all lidelse utslette,

    se at dette mantra er visdom paramitta,

    således jeg sier dere stig inn, steg inn igjennom visdoms port,
    hinsidige åpenbaringens port, den hinsidige visdom unnfanget,
    Visdoms Hjerte Sutra.

  37. #387
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  38. #388
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Merci Rinmeies !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  39. #389
    Hi,
    I'm planning to join the Chanting and Zazen Circle. I'm not sure what we will chant. Could you clarify this? It would be great if I could prepare the text of the chants beforehand.
    Thanks in advance!
    VictorV
    SAT

  40. #390
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi Victor,

    This Saturday, we will chant Sanki Raimon (Japanese or English), Kaikyo Ge (Japanese or English), Hannya Shingyo ( Japanese), and, after Zazen, we will chant Enmei Juku Kannon Gyo ( Japanese). We will have a short dedication before Haikus reading and, finally, we will chant the Four Vows ( we always choose in which language just before doing it).

    You can find most of the texts we are using at Chanting and Zazen Circle in those threads. I wish it could be useful for you !

    Thread #12
    Sanki Raimon (English)


    Sandokai can be found in the Treeleaf Chant book - that we use for Weekly and Monthly Zazenkai.

    Maka Hannya Haramita Shin Gyo In thread #31

    Zen Master Hakuin's Chant in Praise of Zazen * (Hakuin Zenji Zazen-Wasan, a traditional Rinzai chant) In thread #70

    HAKUIN ZENJI ZAZEN WASAN (Japanese ) in thread #149

    Sanki Raimon in Japanese. in thread #115

    Shi Gu Sei Gan Mon (The Four Vows in Japanese)

    SHU JO MU HEN SEI GAN DO

    BON NO MU JIN SEI GAN DAN

    HO MON MU RYO SEI GAN GAKU

    BUTSUDO MU JO SEI GAN JO

    The four vows (French) in thread #162

    the Four Vows (Portuguese) in thread # 166

    the Four Vows (Dutch) in thread # 167

    The four vows (Norwegian) in thread #260

    Silent lllumination by Hongzhi Zhengjue (English) #163
    Silent Illumination (French) #169

    Paroles de tous les jours / Words for Each Day (French/English) #295

    And I add this short chant used for opening the Sutra verse :

    « The Dharma is deep and lovely,
    We now have a chance to see it,
    study it, and practice it.
    We vow to realize it’s true meaning. »

    Mujô jinjin mimyô hô
    hyaku senman gô nan sôgû.
    Ga kon kemmon toku juji.
    Gange nyorai shinjitsu gi.

    Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage (English) In thread #145 and (Japanese) #238

    Contemplating Mind by Hanshan Deqing (English) in thread #174


    Yuki

    See you soon,


    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)
    Last edited by Yuki; 10-09-2021 at 02:33 PM.

  41. #391
    Hey All,

    I trust you are well I just thought I would drop a quick note to say that I will be absent for the rest of the week as I am having to visit my Mum and Dad in Manchester I will try to pop in when I can but other than that Yuki should be back as of tonight. If not obviously we all know what to do anyway

    You know

    Sanki Raimon
    Maka Hannya/Reading
    Zazen
    Enmei Jukku
    Dedication
    4 vows etc

    Just so anyone knows, this week we have read Call me By My True Names and Hakuin's Song of Zazen. Obviously it also means I won't be able to make our Ango discussion on Thursday but what I would suggest is that all the Ango'ers could meet up prior or hang around after our normal session on Thursday and utilise the same room for a general discussion about any issues people may be having.

    I will also post this on our Ango What's App group and you can decide amongst yourselves.

    Gassho,

    Ryokudo

  42. #392
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi everybody !

    I’m back, yes.
    I suggest we add the following text to our practice today.

    « The Point of Zazen,” written by Zhengjiao

    « The hub of buddhas’ activity,
    the turning of the ancestors’ hub,
    is known free of forms,
    illuminated beyond conditions.

    As it is known free of forms,
    the knowledge is subtle.
    As it is illuminated beyond conditions,
    the illumination is wondrous.

    When the knowledge is subtle,
    there is no thought of discrimination.
    When the illumination is wondrous,
    there is not the slightest hint.

    Where there is no thought of discrimination,
    the knowledge is extraordinary with no comparison.
    Where there is not the slightest hint,
    the illumination has nothing to grasp.

    The water is clear to the bottom »
    « where the fish swims without moving.
    The sky is vast and boundless
    where the bird flies away and disappears. »

    Extrait de
    Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's

    See you all !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  43. #393
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  44. #394
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi !

    Today, the Dōgen’s version of Point of Zazen.

    THE POINT OF ZAZEN
    Master Dōgen

    The hub of buddhas’ activity,
    the turning of the ancestors’ hub,
    moves along with beyond thinking
    and is completed in the realm of beyond merging.

    As it moves along with beyond thinking,
    its appearing is immediate.
    As it is completed in the realm of beyond merging,
    completeness itself is realization.

    When its appearing is intimate,
    you have no illusion.
    When completeness reveals itself,
    it is neither real nor apparent.

    When you have immediacy without illusion,
    immediacy is “dropping away” with no obstacles.
    Realization, beyond real or apparent,
    is effort without expectation.

    Clear water all the way to the bottom;
    a fish swims like a fish.
    Vast sky transparent throughout;
    a bird flies like a bird. »

    Extrait de
    Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo

    See you !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  45. #395
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  46. #396
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi everybody !

    I offer you this short text, extract of a book I’ve written twelve years ago.
    —————————————-
    Ombres sereines

    Silence

    Lui, le maître, préférait toujours raconter des histoires à enseigner. Parfois, entre deux contes, récits ou anecdotes, il laissait le silence s’installer. Ces moments révélaient la qualité d’être de cet homme sans âge.

    Je me taisais. Lui faisait silence. Ce sont deux choses différentes.

    En moi, un tumulte de pensées, mi-questions, mi-réflexions. Une tempête que j’affrontais dans l’absence de paroles, dans l’attente des prochains mots qui tomberaient des lèvres de cet homme sage. Une tempête cérébrale me drossait vers des récifs d’énigmes, frêle esquif ballotté par les vagues titanesques que j’engendrais. Sans gouvernail, sans voiles, sans rames pour parer à l’urgence d’un naufrage inévitable. Me taire représentait un terrible tourment, un châtiment juste et mérité, une sanction que cette part de moi, qui cessait d’être raison pour devenir passion, s’infligeait à elle-même.

    Lui, il devenait silence. Ses yeux erraient sans tenter de voir, sans chercher à percevoir. Un regard sourd aux harmonies de l’ombre et de la lumière. Juste silence.

    La chaleur moite du soir enveloppait nos âmes comme une soie précieuse.

    Je vivais l’attente, immobile.

    «*Une ombre en mouvement, un sentier difficile, une destination inconnue. Peux-tu maintenant mesurer le poids des ombres ?*» Je méditais ces premières paroles tel un moine novice s’acharne sur un koan insoluble.

    Le temps s’écoulait et soudain, sans avertissement, le maître reprenait ses récits.


    Serene shadows

    Silence

    He, the master, always preferred to tell stories to teach. Sometimes, between two tales, stories or anecdotes, he would let silence settle in. These moments revealed the quality of being of this ageless man.

    I shut up. He was silent. Those are two different things.

    In me, a tumult of thoughts, half questions, half reflections. A storm that I faced in the absence of words, waiting for the next speech to fall from the lips of this wise man. A brain storm drove me towards reefs of enigmas, a frail skiff tossed about by the titanic waves that I generated. Without a rudder, without sails, without oars to deal with the emergency of an inevitable shipwreck. To keep silent represented a terrible torment, a just and deserved punishment, a sanction that this part of me, which ceased to be reason and became passion, inflicted on itself.

    Him, he was becoming silent. His eyes wandered without trying to see, without trying to perceive. A look deaf to the harmonies of light and shadow. Just silence.

    The moist heat of the evening enveloped our souls like precious silk.

    I lived the wait, still.

    «*A moving shadow, a difficult path, an unknown destination. Can you now measure the weight of the shadows?*» I meditated on these first words like a novice monk struggling with an insoluble koan.

    Time passed and suddenly, without warning, master resumed his tales.

    Extract of «*Ombres sereines*», page 28. My imperfect translation ( thanks Google).
    _____________________________



    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)
    Last edited by Yuki; 10-15-2021 at 06:22 PM.

  47. #397
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  48. #398
    Member Yuki's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada
    Hi !

    As promised, here is the link for the Soto Book :

    https://www.sotozen.com/eng/practice...criptures.html

    Enjoy !

    Yuki 雪
    (Sat today)

  49. #399
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  50. #400
    dear chanting sitters and sitting chanters,

    i could not make it yesterday evening and i am now going to zencenter Noorderpoort in the Netherlands for a gosesshin of 5 days.. hope to see you next Monday.



    aprapti

    sat

    hobo kore dojo / 歩歩是道場 / step, step, there is my place of practice

    Aprāpti (अप्राप्ति) non-attainment

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