Meal chant?

[Shonin]

So I have heard this mentioned before in the Ango announement ( and elsewhere for that matter), But have not actually seen the/a meal chant. Did I miss this somewhere?

Dave _/_

[miheco]

Dave,
Meal chant posted by Jundo here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1917&p=27118&hilit=meal+chant# p27118

Gassho,
Jintai

[Shonin]

Awesome , ty. Somehow I missed Jundo's post while reading the rest of the thread. : (

Aedv _/_

[Jundo]

Dave,
Meal chant posted by Jundo here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1917&p=27118&hilit=meal+chant# p27118

Gassho,
Jintai

Hi,

The next talk on the Sit-a-Long will be about the meal chant. Please look for that around Tuesday.

(Hands in Gassho) This food comes from the efforts
of all sentient beings past and present,
and is medicine for nourishment of our Practice.
We offer this meal of many virtues and tastes
to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,
and to all life in every realm of existence.
May all sentient beings in the universe
be sufficiently nourished.

Gassho, Jundo

[Shonin]

Looking forward to it, thanks Jundo!

_/_

[Shonin]

Okay I have to ask..does anyone else get giddy/warm fuzzies when they chant for the meal. It makes me feel good up till the part about "all life in every realm of existence".

At that point I am permanently implanted with silly visions of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas maybe a few Naga coming over for dinner. Where we each get a fraction of a spoon full of the soup i ate yesterday( have to ration it for everyone to get equal portions you know). Followed by me standing up and taking all the bowls and spoons and offering everyone a small forkfull of pie.

*shrugs* It's probably just me.Especially with the second part. Statements like that is usually where people lose the ability to relate to what was said. Common responses are , "Wha...?" followed by blank stares.

Dave _/_

[Jundo]

Okay I have to ask..does anyone else get giddy/warm fuzzies when they chant for the meal. It makes me feel good up till the part about "all life in every realm of existence".

At that point I am permanently implanted with silly visions of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas maybe a few Naga coming over for dinner. Where we each get a fraction of a spoon full of the soup i ate yesterday( have to ration it for everyone to get equal portions you know). Followed by me standing up and taking all the bowls and spoons and offering everyone a small forkfull of pie.

*shrugs* It's probably just me.Especially with the second part. Statements like that is usually where people lose the ability to relate to what was said. Common responses are , "Wha...?" followed by blank stares.

Dave _/_

This is a vast universe ... or, as many physicists say, one of a vast array of universes ...

And all those creatures need something for lunch. (Heck, for many of them ... we would be a good lunch)

To paraphrase Hamlet ...

There are more [Sentient Beings] in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Today's sit-a-long talk is about the Meal Verse ...

http://blog.beliefnet.com/treeleafzen/2 ... eatin.html

Gassho, Jundo

PS - Even the aliens have Buddha Nature ...

[StephanCOH]

Thanks for posting the meal-chant and thanks to ZenDave for bringing up the question.
Going to integrate that into my "everyday-off-the-cushion"-practice. Failed miserably yesterday, though ops:

[Bansho]

Hi Jundo,

Do you have any objections to folks (like me, for example ) using the Verse of 5 Contemplations (Gokan no ge) as their meal chant?

From the Treeleaf Chant Book:

First, we reflect on the labours that brought us this food and consider how it comes to us.
Second, as we receive this offering, we should consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it.
Third, we regard greed as an obstacle to freedom of mind.
Fourth, we regard this meal as medicine to sustain our life.
Fifth, to attain our Way, we now receive this food.

Gassho
Bansho

[StephanCOH]

@Bansho: Do you use the english-version or did you translate it to german?

[Bansho]

Hi Stephan,

Good question. Actually, everything I chant from memory is in German, so for consistency's sake I use this version of the Vers der Fünf Betrachtungen (Gokan no ge):

Wir bedenken die Mühe, die uns dieses Essen gebracht hat und erwägen, wie es zu uns kommt.
Wir bedenken unsere Tugend und Übung, und ob wir dieses Opfers wert sind.
Wir sehen Gier als das Hindernis geistiger Freiheit an.
Wir sehen dieses Mahl als Medizin zur Erhaltung unseres Lebens an.
Um des Erwachens willen empfangen wir nun dieses Essen.

This is basically (I prefer the term 'Erwachen' as opposed to 'Erleuchtung' which is used in the original) the version taken from Sogen Boeck's German translation of the Soto School Texts for Daily Ceremonies and Practice (Schriften der Soto-Schule für tägliche Zeremonien und Übung) from the Soto Zen Text Project, which in turn is based on the Japanese version (S?t?sh? nikka gongy? seiten) published by the Sotoshu Shumu*cho. To my knowledge, the English version of this has unfortunately never been made public by the Soto Zen Text Project. The German version (HTML and PDF) can be found here: http://www.zensplitter.de/Texte/hinweis.htm

Gassho
Bansho

[Shonin]

Jundo, oh I fully believe in such things. I just found for some reason odd imagery popped into my head at that part. Makes my chuckle. But hey, Never said I wasn't eccentric. :P

_/_

[Jundo]

Hi Jundo,

Do you have any objections to folks (like me, for example ) using the Verse of 5 Contemplations (Gokan no ge) as their meal chant?

From the Treeleaf Chant Book:

First, we reflect on the labours that brought us this food and consider how it comes to us.
Second, as we receive this offering, we should consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it.
Third, we regard greed as an obstacle to freedom of mind.
Fourth, we regard this meal as medicine to sustain our life.
Fifth, to attain our Way, we now receive this food.

Gassho
Bansho

Hi B,

No, of course, no objection. As you know, both are part of the longer Oryoki ritual, both really carrying the same message.

[Bansho]

Hi,

Hi B,

No, of course, no objection. As you know, both are part of the longer Oryoki ritual, both really carrying the same message.

OK, cool - thanks.

Gassho
Bansho

[StephanCOH]

@Bansho: Thanks for the info and the link.