Photograph by Ven. Mishin Roelofs ino
Photograph by Ven. Mishin Roelofs ino
Friday, November 9th, 2018
Edited by Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho
The White Wind Zen Community:
An international community practising and teaching Dogen’s Zen since 1985.
“The ancient and present Buddhas” or “Kobutsu-konbutsu” 古佛今佛 means Buddhas throughout time or Buddhas then and Buddhas now. When our practice is the practice of the Buddhas throughout time then through our deep penetration into the coming and going which is the heart of this moment then we understand the sutras.
When we first begin to practice, hearing the word “emptiness” can terrify us because we bring to it associations of abandonment, loneliness, hopeless despair. We do not understand that it means intimacy with the nature of all beings and all things and being free of the trap of hope and fear. We do not understand that the sutras are often very funny. We think that koan are difficult puzzles intended to make us feel stupid instead of realizing that the koan collections are the joke books of the Awakened Ancestors and we are learning how to tell the punch lines. Finally the tables turn and we realize that the joke is not “on” us. We are the joke. Everything is the joke, shining and turning, turning and shining.
Please, this evening, enjoy yourselves.
-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, concluding teisho 3: "Turning and Shining," Sunday, February 15, 2004 in the tesho series "The Thread of the Buddhas," commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's Bukkyo.
Fusatsu: November 21st.
November Two-day Sesshin
The November 2-day sesshin begins at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 9th and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 11th. Formal students are reminded to send their schedules to schedule at wwzc dot org as soon as is possible.
On Saturday, November 10th, associate and general students may attend a sitting held in the Zendo. Arrival time is 9:15 a.m. (in time for First Bell). The sitting ends at 11:30 a.m. Students attending are reminded to remain on the first floor.
Daiko-ki
November 18th is the Memorial for the death of Anzan Daiko zenji.
Dharma Assembly
On Saturday, November 17th, Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho will lead a Dharma Assembly which will begin at 9:30 a.m. (please arrive by 9:15, in time for first Bell) and will end at 9:00 p.m. Dana is $40.00, which includes two meals: lunch and supper. Participants are asked to bring clothing and shoes appropriate for samu practice. To register, please send an email to schedule at wwzc dot org or leave a message on the office answering machine at 613-562-1568. Dharma Assemblies are open to all students.
Note: The 9:30 a.m. general sitting that would ordinarily take place on November 17th is cancelled owing to the Dharma Assembly.
You don't need to turn around and go home. Ring the bell once and then sit on the bench on the front porch. If possible, we will come and unlock the door for you right away. If we are in the middle of the chants or listening to a teisho, we will come to let you in as soon as the teisho finishes.
Ceri Behar sat a one-day retreat on Saturday, November 3rd at his home in Istanbul, Turkey.
To Schedule a Retreat
Please visit this Web page for information about scheduling a retreat and an explanation of the different kinds of retreat (duration and timing) you can sit: https://wwzc.org/retreats. Please note that retreats should be scheduled one week in advance.
Public students sitting retreats should send an email to schedule@wwzc.org to confirm they sat a retreat so that notice of it can be included in the eMirror. Please include the location of the retreat and the duration.
Fundraising goal: The estimates we have received for this roof work total $30,653.63 for replacement of all three roofs. We hope to engage the contractor to do the work in spring 2019, but this will depend on whether sufficient funds have been collected.
Amount raised to date: $5,880
Three roofs at Dainen-ji are in need of replacement in the next twelve months: the roof of the Osho-ryo at the rear of the building, and the roofs of the bay windows in the first floor library and the covered balcony on the west side.
The roof above the Osho-ryo is currently covered in tar and gravel, an old roofing system that is in need of replacement with a modern membrane. UV light has (dried and) damaged quite a bit of the tar, especially at the edges of the roof, creating a danger of leaks. A leak into the Osho-ryo via the chimney flashing was patched recently. Due to sagging of the roof structure over time, water is pooling in a low spot that is no longer draining properly. This will be remedied with the installation of a new membrane. The old flashing has pulled away from the building and has been repaired many times, as you can see from the photos. Old wires and other fittings need to be removed safely or secured properly.
Detail of Osho-ryo roof showing flashing in poor repair,
unsecured wires, and the deterioration of the old tar and gravel covering
Detail of Osho-ryo roof showing failing flashing
and past patching; green is moss growing on gravel roof surface
The roofs of the bay window of the first-floor library and the covered balcony are made of metal and are very old. They are rusty, and the leaking joints and flashing have been patched with tar many times over the years. These roofs will be replaced with modern shingles or a membrane as suitable. Both roofs have sprouted leaks numerous times in recent years, damaging materials for the suiseki arrangements stored there and putting books and other materials at risk in the first floor library.
Roof of covered balcony on west side of building
showing rusting metal surface and patched seams
Roof of first-floor library bay window showing past patching and rusting metal surface
If associate students are unable to attend the Thursday evening associate sitting, they may attend one of the general sittings to make up for the sitting they missed. General sittings are held on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (first Bell is at 7:15) and Saturday mornings at 9:30 a.m. (first Bell at 9:15 a.m.). Please send an email to request permission to attend one of these sittings.
Teisho presented at general and associate sittings which are part of a series need to be listened to in the correct order and with none missed out. If you miss a sitting please borrow a copy of the missed teisho from the library or download it from the WWZC Media Site as soon as possible, so that the continuity of what is being presented is not disrupted. The weekly list of recorded teisho played at sittings is posted on the web site at:
https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings-schedule
Students can access the password-protected online Recorded Teachings library on the WWZC website at https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings or through the streaming site at http://app.wwzc.org. The custom-built media streaming site allows students to live stream recordings from the WWZC Recorded Teachings collection. It is optimized for use on smartphones and tablets, and works with most modern browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It can also be used on desktops.
While most of the online Recorded Teachings library is password-protected and only accessible to students of Zen Master Anzan Hoshin, a small selection of MP3 recordings of teisho are accessible to the public at https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings. Additional recordings will be uploaded periodically.
MP3 recordings of five teisho are currently available:
On Saturday, September 22nd, Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho-ajari presented "The Whole World is Already Ready", Dharma Talk 2 in the series "All Around, All At Once".
Direct link to transcript of Dharma Talk: https://wwzc.org/dharma-text/all-around-all-once-part-2-whole-world-already-ready
Direct link to MP3 recording (accessible to students): https://wwzc.org/recorded-teachings/all-around-all-once
Each Sunday afternoon (except during O-sesshin and Sesshin), Caretaking Council (Saigyo tando, Fushin shramon and Endai shramon) do samu from 1:30p.m to 4:30p.m. on the various small projects required around the monastery. There are always a great many tasks that need to be done and so any students are welcome and encouraged to come to Dainen-ji to join the monastics in caretaking practice. If you would like to partake in the samu practice on Sundays please write to Saigyo tando at saigyo.cross@gmail.com.
by Ven. Shikai Zuiko sensei
Continuing on with “Painted Cakes: A Zen Dictionary” a limited edition text written by Anzan Hoshin roshi in the 1980s and last revised in 1994.
-SAkN “Space, Activity, and Knowing”. The class of Teachings developed by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi to present the totality of practice through detailing the basic facets of experiencing and how to recognize and open these throughout all states. Available only to probationary formal students (deshi) and further.
Questions can be sent to me, Shikai sensei, at shikai.sensei@gmail.
Over the weekend of Saturday, October 27th and Sunday, October 28th we held our Autumn Samu Weekend. Here is a list of some of the "highlights" of the tasks completed by the 23 students who gave their time over the two days to do samu.
In the grounds, the wood shed was dismantled in preparation for the installation of air-conditioning units being installed in the Hatto and Zendo. (Work was also done inside in preparation for this). Work was also done to prepare for the winter season, including shutting down the waterfall and streams for the year, building a new shed for the snow-blower, preparing for wrapping the tender plants and doing much Autumn clean-up. Inside the building, new shelving was installed in the emergency supplies locker, the shelves in the first floor hallways were re-painted, the grab bar was re-installed on the basement stairs, extra ringers were added to improve the building's doorbell system and the summer air-conditioners and fans were cleaned and stored in the attic. The light fixtures in the Hatto were cleaned, the women's changing room shelf was varnished, some leaky windows were caulked with removable caulking and all of the building bugs screens were brought to the furnace room, labelled properly, cleaned and sorted (some will need repairs later). A small black butsudan, made by the Roshi many years ago, was repaired, sanded and painted. Sorting and cataloguing of archive materials was completed and the physical copies of the recent eMirrors were filed and added to the collection. Mishin ino completed much administration over the two days.
Thank you to Jinmyo osho for designing and preparing the wonderful midday meals, with assistance from Mishin ino and thank you to Shikai sensei for baking the excellent and very well received afternoon refreshments.
Thank you to the following students who offered samu over the weekend, partaking in the work of maintaining and improving the practice environment of Dainen-ji: Mishin ino, Fushin shramon, Isshin, Senbo, David Gallant, Ian Richard, Brandon Smith, Jean-Francois St-Louis, Leonardo Nobrega, Claude Schryer, Robin Whitehead, Louis Radakir, Tarik Kaya, Marc Valade, Hannah Kent, Kathleen Johnson, George Donovan, Jesse Steinberg, Constantine Tikhonov, Matt Broda, Alex Groarke and Sarah Goul.
Dogen zenji taught in the Tenzokyokun that the work of preparing and serving meals is "a matter for realized monks who have the mind of the Way or by senior disciples who have roused the Way-seeking mind." In alignment with this, part of Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's samu for the Community involves personally overseeing the activities of the ancient office of tenzo. Ven. Jinmyo Renge osho serves as tenzo and Mishin ino and Saigyo tando offer assistance as tenzo-anja.
Monday Yakuseki:
Noodle soup with bean sprouts and lo mein noodles; sauteed ‘pressed’ tofu with cubanelle and red bell peppers, vegetarian "oyster" sauce, garlic, ginger, shoyu; bok choy sauteed with sesame oil; baechu kimchi.
Tuesday Yakuseki:
Yellow split pea soup (yellow split peas, chopped carrots, celery and onion, tomato paste, thyme, rosemary, savoury, chipotle adobo, lots of black pepper, apple cider vinegar; Ace Bakery demi-baguettes; slaw of green cabbage, white onion, carrots, dressed with mayonnaise, Dijon, lime.
Thursday Yakuseki:
Lundberg Farms short-grain brown rice with petit green peas and butter; butternut squash soup (butternut squash and white onion cooked and then blended, seasoned with lots of black pepper, thyme, garlic, small amount of cream); friulano cheese with gherkins and lemon zest.
Baking by Shikai sensei:
Grain free Blueberry Plantain breakfast bars.
If you would like to thank someone for a contribution they have made, please feel free to send an email to Jinmyo osho at rengezo at Gmail dot com, but be sure to type "eMirror" in the subject line.
From Jinmyo osho:
Thank you to Saigyo tando for putting together an Ikea desk for the Osho-ryo.
From Mishin ino:
Thank you to the Roshi for the loan of a book by Mary Beard, "How Do We Look"; to Shikai sensei for portable blueberry breakfast bars, great for taking to work; to Jinmyo osho for many delicious soups prepared for yakuseki (evening meals before sittings), especially a wonderfully flavoured ramen broth a couple of weeks ago and this Thursday's butternut squash soup. Thank you to Saigyo tando for overseeing the recent Samu Weekend and organizing tasks for the many students who participated in samu practice. Thank you to Endai shramon for preparing the monthly documents relating to Sangha monthly pre-authorized dana contributions; to Louis Radakir for archiving samu to digitize CD recordings of teisho.
From Endai shramon:
Thank you to the Roshi for the digital artwork that accompanies the Verse of Cleansing, which is posted in various places in Dainen-ji as a reminder to practice in each moment. Thank you to Shikai sensei for the photograph of hostas and tree leaves in autumn colours that appeared in last week's eMirror. Thank you to Jinmyo osho for editing the eMirror every week. Thank you to Mishin ino and Saigyo tando for overseeing the work of the technicians who installed HVAC units with heat pumps to silently cool the Hatto and Zendo in the summer and warm them in the winter.
From the Office of the Treasurer:
Thank you to Ian Richard and Claude Schryer for donations towards the roof repair fund. Thank you to Isshin and Jean-Francois St. Louis for donations towards the Samu Weekend.
Dainen-ji, being a 140-year-old building, is continuously in need of maintenance and the costs associated with this can be astronomical when such things as porch repairs or exterior painting are needed. This is something that we cannot afford to do, yet must do and so the "All is Change" project has been created. The "All is Change" project is very simple. Most of us have a bowl or a jar or some other kind of container that we keep somewhere at home and fill up with loose change because it's too heavy to carry around. Several hundred dollars has been collected so far both in loose change and Canadian tire money which has been put towards the building maintenance fund. If anyone would like to contribute to this fund, each penny will be appreciated. The “All is Change” container is on the wooden wall shelf under the Sangha Board in the cloak room.
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