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Thread: February 11th-12th Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - Nothing Special Happens

  1. #1

    February 11th-12th Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - Nothing Special Happens


    Please join us for a Zazenkai where nothing special or of note will happen.

    Dear All,

    Please sit our Treeleaf Zazenkai for 90 minutes with Zazen, Heart Sutra and more:

    10am Japan Saturday morning, NY 8pm, LA 5pm Friday night, London 1am and Paris 2am Saturday morning, or any time thereafter here:


    However, "one way" live sitters are encouraged to come into the Zoom sitting, and just leave the camera and microphone turned off: Join live (with or without a camera & microphone) on Zoom at: TREELEAF Now OR at DIRECT ZOOM LINK, password (if needed): dogen

    00:00 – 00:15 CEREMONY (HEART SUTRA in English) and Dedication
    00:15 – 00:45 ZAZEN
    00:45 – 00:55 KINHIN
    00:55 – 01:25 ZAZEN
    01:25 – 01:30 VERSE OF ATONEMENT & FOUR VOWS
    01:30 - 01:45(?) Informal Tea Time (All Welcome)

    ATTENTION: Everyone, when rising for Kinhin or Ceremonies after Zazen, get up slowly, don't rush, hold something stable, you won't be "late," so TAKE YOUR TIME! Make sure you are careful getting up!

    Gassho, Jundo

    SatTodayLah



    PS - There is no "wrong" or "right" in Zazen ... yet here is a little explanation of the "right" times to Bow (A Koan) ...


    Chant Book is here for those who wish to join in: CHANT BOOK LINK

    The other video I mention on Zendo decorum is this one, from our "Always Beginners" video Series:

    Sit-a-Long with Jundo: Zazen for Beginners (12) - Basic Zendo Decorum At Home
    https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...093#post189093

    I also recommend a little Talk on why small rituals and procedures are so cherished in the Zendo:

    SIT-A-LONG with Jundo: Small Things in the Zendo

    https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/show...s-in-the-Zendo
    Last edited by Sekishi; 02-12-2022 at 01:02 AM. Reason: Youtube video added.
    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

  2. #2
    I feel like this is a challenge. I would like to ask for permission to fall over during or after zazen, just to make things “special”

    Sat Today (but not special, just ordinary zazen)
    Bion
    -------------------------
    When you put Buddha’s activity into practice, only then are you a buddha. When you act like a fool, then you’re a fool. - Sawaki Roshi

  3. #3
    Treeleaf Priest / Engineer Sekishi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Youtube and Zoom stuffs ready.

    I'll see you all after knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, and hanging a horseshoe over the door. Because "nothing special happens" just seems like an invocation of Murphy's Law!

    Deep bows and crossed fingers,
    Sekishi
    #sat #lah
    Sekishi | 石志 | He/him | Better with a grain of salt, but best ignored entirely.

  4. #4
    Treeleaf Unsui Nengei's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Minnesota's Driftless Area
    Quote Originally Posted by Sekishi View Post
    Youtube and Zoom stuffs ready.

    I'll see you all after knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, and hanging a horseshoe over the door. Because "nothing special happens" just seems like an invocation of Murphy's Law!

    Deep bows and crossed fingers,
    Sekishi
    #sat #lah



    I will sit with the recording. We will be LAHing, doing food prep for a family quarantined with the 'rona.

    Gassho,
    Nengei
    Sat today. LAH.

  5. #5
    Thank you, everyone. "Nothing Special/Everything is Special" was a grounding teaching for me today (in a good way). So glad to practice with everyone.

    Gassho,
    Onkai
    Sat/lah
    美道 Bidou Beautiful Way
    恩海 Onkai Merciful/Kind Ocean

    I have a lot to learn; take anything I say that sounds like teaching with a grain of salt.

  6. #6
    Thank you all friends.

    Gassho,
    Nengyoku
    Sat
    Thank you for being the warmth in my world.

  7. #7
    The most normal of things now, Saturday early morning spent with all of you, while the world around me sleeps, is truly special! So I thank you and I thank HD Jundo as well! May you have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

    Sat Today
    Bion
    -------------------------
    When you put Buddha’s activity into practice, only then are you a buddha. When you act like a fool, then you’re a fool. - Sawaki Roshi

  8. #8
    Once again lovely to see and sit with you fine folks. Looking forward to our normal time and normal place next week

    Gassho,
    Koushi
    STLaH
    理道弘志 | Ridō Koushi

    Please take this novice priest-in-training's words with a grain of salt.

  9. #9
    Thank you Jundo and everyone for Nothing Special!
    Gassho, Kiri
    Sat/Lah
    希 rare
    理 principle
    (Nikolas)

  10. #10
    Was just doing a bit of evening reading and came across this. I thought it was quite relevant to this morning's Zazenkai. It might be something you recognise

    "the most magical of mystical powers is not to levitate, walk on water, or foresee the future — assuming we could do any of these — but simply to perform countless ordinary and natural actions which, when we reflect on it, are truly amazing. How much of a miracle is it that we are here, able to breathe, laugh, cry, and drink a cup of tea? It has taken all the physics and chemistry, time, and circumstances of the universe to allow us to be here, doing a simple act like drinking a cup of tea. All the heat and light, twists and turns of the universe also work to bring us to the mysterious miracle of death. So, all of life and death are our “mystical powers.” This is especially true when we use these ordinary powers for good, such as to bring a bit more strength, kindness, and compassion into the world."

    Gassho
    Ross
    STLAH

  11. #11
    Thank you everyone. I sat with you this morning.

    Powerful message in this week’s talk. Thank you Jundo

    P.S. the new camera is great. The picture is much brighter and I like the new viewing angle. Thank you to the techies that helped set it up. Thank you to the Treeleaf donors who’s contributions help keep the lights on at Treeleaf


    Tairin
    Sat today and lah
    泰林 - Tai Rin - Peaceful Woods

  12. #12
    Such a great zazenkai! Very sincere and touching talk -- thank you, Jundo.

    The camera and sound are major upgrades! Big thanks to everyone who helped with the set up (Sekishi, Bion, Koushi, and all others).

    Gassho,

    Bokugan
    SatToday LaH
    墨眼 | Bokugan | Sumi Ink Eye
    Ryan-S | zazenlibrarian.com

  13. #13
    Member Seishin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    La Croix-Avranchin, Basse Normandie, France
    Deep bows for the new tech ! Nothing special.
    Thank you all.

    Sat


    Seishin

    Sei - Meticulous
    Shin - Heart

  14. #14
    Thank you for this special 'nothing special' sit. It is always lovely to sit with the sangha.

    The quote is indeed from Peter Matthiessen but a different book - The Nine-Headed Dragon River, on page 39.

    Gassho
    Kokuu

  15. #15
    Life itself is the only teacher.
    一 Joko Beck


    STLah
    安知 Anchi

  16. #16
    Member Kaisui's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Australia (past username - coriander)
    Sat with you all this morning, it was very special / nothing special

    Gassho,
    Kaisui
    sat&lah

  17. #17
    Thank you all for your practice. Nothing special, yet incredibly special

    Gassho, Tomás
    Sat

  18. #18
    Hi all!

    In our effort to be as inclusive as possible, I will start posting transcriptions of each week's Zazenkai talk in that week's thread. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or feedback.

    ——

    So I said our theme today was nothing special, no theme. We recently had many Zazenkai trying to focus on some special something. Our heavy metal Zazenkai, next week, we're going to have a memorial service for all the electronics that have passed its eight years that has kept us going here. But we don't always need to have something special. I think if a Zen teacher wants to leave you with one insight, one great wisdom, in your heart, it's that everything is special. Everything. I mean everything. Even the things that don't seem special at all.

    We live in a world where everything is marketed, and has to have a slogan, and has to be the shiniest thing on the shelf: So it jumps out at you and makes you feel special for buying it. But Zen is a little different. It says "Everything is a shiny thing." Even the things that are old and rusty. Things that appear so ordinary that we don't even notice. Things too that displease us: all Special. Special moment. Special person. Special grain of sand, Special flower. Special rusty tin can on the side of the road, like that. It's all Special.

    And a bit of homework I assign to you is, some time during each day, just look around—look at everything and just look at one thing. Doesn't have to be anything special you look at. And just for a moment remember: this is incredible. This is amazing. It is here and you are here. And it is Special. Even the things you don't want to see: the moments you don't welcome. Take a moment and remember it is Special.

    And if you can't for some reason summon in your heart a feeling that "This is Special." Do me a favor and take it on trust. You can say to yourself; "Well, it doesn't feel very Special to me right now. But if Jundo said it is so, it must be." You can do that. But do that just a couple of times during the day, completely random moments. Looking at completely random things: a scratch on the wall, a crumpled piece of paper, a tax form you have to fill out—whatever it is—and remember how amazing, unique, this is.
    --
    Today I attended, by zoom of course, the memorial service—the 49th day memorial service—for my mentor, Doshin Cantor, who you know left this world. It's typical, traditional, in Buddhism that on the 49th day you have a memorial because in traditional beliefs, that's the day that one leaves the Bardo, the middle world, and finds a new rebirth.

    So we all gathered, all his old friends from the dojo in Florida, and his other friends from many places and we remembered Mitch. He was nothing special. And he was everything. He was just another man, it was just another memorial service, for another person. Just like anyone, just like all of us, nothing special and everything special. Beautiful.

    So there one of his friends, one of my dear friends, Jiho Abramowitz who's also a Soto Zen priest, read a poem by Doshin's teacher. Doshin's teacher was Peter Matthiessen. I met him a couple of times: just a very ordinary, wonderful, fellow who just happened to be a famous, best selling, novelist. But when he was a Zen fellow, he was just the guy next to you, sitting next to you, like that.

    And one of his books is The Snow Leopard, about his time in the Himalayas. He was kind of an adventurer, Peter Matthiessen: looking for the snow leopard. And it's a beautiful book, I recommend it to everyone. And there was a poem read, which, by the way, I cannot find in the book but I'm gonna read it anyway. It says it's from the book and I could not find it, but I can imagine it is; because, you think going to the Himalayas is something fantastic. It's a great adventure! I'm sure it is.

    But sometimes, it's just life and death terror if you read that book, literally: they're on the edge of a cliff about to tumble over. And other times it's just so tedious, so boring. So dull. Imagine: you're just walking in the snow, day after day, occasional rock, and more snow, and maybe some animal—more snow—it can be incredibly tedious, nothing special, after a while.

    But he has this quote about sitting zazen somewhere on this trip. And I get the feeling it was written when it was just nothing special. Nothing is happening. So he's sitting zazen, nothing is happening, and he writes this, Peter Matthiessen:

    "And gradually breathing subsides, becomes natural, until I subsist on sips of air. And all is still. Within this altered state, breathing takes over. The universe takes over. In a rush of imminence comes the knowing that everything is right here now. There is nothing outside this present moment. At the same time this everything is gathering. Something is happening."
    And my friend Jiho added to that:

    "Something, whatever this moment is, is happening. We don't always have to ask what. As a matter of fact: we can just greet it with silence. Something, something big, is happening. And we don't have to know or say what."
    Let us sit.

    ——

    Gassho,
    Koushi
    STLaH
    理道弘志 | Ridō Koushi

    Please take this novice priest-in-training's words with a grain of salt.

  19. #19
    Koushi. As someone who is hearing impaired I appreciate the effort you are making to post the transcriptions of Jundo’s dharma talks. Thank you.


    Tairin
    Sat today and lah
    泰林 - Tai Rin - Peaceful Woods

  20. #20
    Koushi, I also extend my deep gratitude for your efforts. This is so helpful! With illness and autism, sometimes sound becomes light, and light becomes sound -- and both can be very painful and "too much" at the same time. Text, I can control, however.

    Deep Bows, meian stlh

    Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
    My life is my temple and my practice.

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