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Enso, in Faber Von Castell Midnight Blue ink on Strathmore paper, Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, 2022
Enso, in Faber Von Castell Midnight Blue ink on Strathmore paper,
Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, 2022


eMirror Vol 26, No. 17

Friday, April 22nd
Edited by the Practice Council

The White Wind Zen Community:
An international community practising and teaching Dogen’s Zen since 1985.



There are many different kinds of sensors embroidered through the skin and meat and around the bones. The most prolific give signals that we call pain, followed by those that sense differing pressures and then those that sense cold and then those that sense heat. A pain is an array of vastly different sensations. A pain in the knee is a floating cloud of sensations which shimmer and dance, with sudden arcing sparks that are like cool or heat. There are numberless sensations of pressures: rough, smooth, hard, soft, heavy, light, sudden, steady with a spectrum of each of these. Sensations of temperature vary widely throughout the area of the body.

The skin is the largest sense organ of the body and it feels a vast range of sensations.

And so what sensations are felt in the tips of the thumbs as they touch each other lightly in the Dharmadhatu mudra? Do you feel the ridges of the skin as the thumbs shift slightly? Now, of course, your sensation of you cannot feel this. You must loosen your sense of you to allow the actual sensations of the bodymind and world to present themselves. This is how you can begin to actualize the bodymind, actualize the Buddhas, actualize the Transmission.

-Ven Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing Class Three: "Touching the Sensation of the World" in the series "Zen Arts: The Flowering of the Senses", October 1999 Daruma-ki O-sesshin, Dainen-ji.
 


Upcoming Events



Fusatsu: April 27th, May 18th, June 1st.

May Sogaku-ki O-sesshin:
The May Sogaku-ki O-sesshin begins on Friday, May 13th, and will end at noon on Friday, May 20th. Students attending are reminded to send their schedules as soon as possible.

Shukke-tokudo and Shuso-hossen for Ven. Fushin shramon:
On the evening of Friday, May 20th, in a ceremony in the presence of the Sangha assembled at the Sogaku-ki O-sesshin, Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei will Transmit the Precepts of full monastic ordination to Fushin Comeau shramon. Following this, Fushin shramon will begin the major training position as "shuso" or "chief seat" in the sense of someone to be looked to as an exemplar of practice and will be referred to as  “Fushin shuso”. 
Fushin shuso began practising as an associate student in November of 2005; became a general student in December of 2006; He was accepted as a probationary formal student by Shikai Zuiko sensei in April, of 2009 and as a formal student in May of 2011; He received the Three Jewels in August of 2011 and the Sixteen Bosatsu-kai and the Forty-eight Supporting Precepts in shukke-tokudo as a postulant for monastic training from the Roshi on May 22nd, 2015. On Friday, May 20th, 2016 Ven. Fushin anagarika received Novice Monk Vows from Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi. Following the death of his Teacher, Ven. Shikai Zuiko O-sensei in October of 2020, he was accepted as a student by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei in November of 2021.

Sogaku-ki:
May 18th is the memorial for the death of Sogaku Myoshin Hakukaze daiosho.

Hermitage:
The Roshi is currently in an extended period of "self-isolation" due to underlying health issues until the COVID-19 situation clarifies.

Beginning Instruction in Zen Practice:
For information concerning our Long-distance Training Program, please visit this Web Page: https://wwzc.org/long-distance-training-program
 


Retreats



Rev. Chiso anagarika sat her weekly semi-retreat on Tuesday, April 12th at her home in the Berkshires. Thach Hoang sat a one-day retreat from Friday, April 15th to Saturday, April 16th at his home in Laval, Quebec. Aaron Ford sat a half-day retreat on Friday, April 15th at his home in Calgary, Alberta. Brian Lakeman sat a half-day retreat on Sunday, April 17th at his home in Brampton, Ontario. 

If you would like to sit a retreat at home please follow the schedule outlined in this page:  https://wwzc.org/retreat-schedule-public-students.  After your retreat, please send an email to schedule@wwzc.org to confirm that you sat a retreat and include the duration and location.

 


April 22nd Update 
East Wing Project:
Shuryo (Library and Study Hall) Under Construction



Saigyo ino has done more work on installing the bookcases this week, with the help of Fushin shramon. Adding the trim at the top and bottom is quite difficult and time-consuming as there are many pieces that make up each section. But as you can see from the photograph below, the Ino has managed to make the bookcases fit perfectly and they look as though they have always been there. 

There is also matching oak and walnut burl panelling that will go on some of the adjoining walls and oak trim that will frame the arch in front of the bay window. 

Five of the bookcases along one wall of the Shuryo
Five of the bookcases along one wall of the Shuryo

 

Photograph of the lower cabinets and trim along the east wall.
Photograph of the lower cabinets and trim along the east wall.

We anticipate that over the next two weeks, a further $3,500 will be needed to complete the first part of the Shuryo project. Materials and labour for the construction done as of April 21st have already been paid for. The additional amount is for an electric heater, wood to complete the bookcase installation and enough plywood to lay floors for the adjoining guest room and public washroom (the floors in those two rooms had to be ripped up to remove asbestos tiles and are hazardous to walk on). There will also be the expense of window coverings for privacy in the Shuryo. 

If you are able to help, any amount would be gratefully received.
 


Replacing the North Hedge (Daly Avenue side)



Saigyo ino loading the truck with yews
Saigyo ino loading the truck with yews

On Friday, April 15th, Saigyo ino and formal student, Senbo, drove to a nursery an hour’s drive past Toronto to pick up 50 four foot Hill’s yew trees. They were unloaded on Friday evening and were planted during the Samu Weekend which began the next day. 

Students working to prepare a trench to plant the yews
Students working to prepare a trench to plant the yews

We now have a beautiful new Yew hedge which will grow to be very bushy and tall. They are a beautiful addition to the neighbourhood, will provide privacy for the monastery and they create shelter for the local birds. This morning, while two of the monks stood on the front porch, a thrush was spotted hopping through the hedge.

Newly planted section of hedge. Behind the young trees you can see the remaining cedar hedge along Friel Street, which we hope to replace with yews next year.
Newly planted section of hedge. Behind the young trees you can see the remaining cedar hedge along Friel Street, which we hope to replace with yews next year. 

Another section of the yew hedge
Another section of the yew hedge

Hill’s yews grow very well in partial or even full shade and are very bushy so they will make an excellent evergreen hedge. The trees we are buying are four feet tall. Hill’s Yews are slow growing, but in a couple of years they will reach six feet. We did considerable research in preparation for planting the hedge, along with soil tests. 

Next year we hope to be able to replace the cedars along the eastern property boundary (Friel Street) with Hill’s yews, as those cedars are becoming very bald due to insufficient sunlight. They are overshadowed by an enormous beautiful elm tree that is as tall as the building. 

If you have plants in your garden that grow well in shade or partial shade and can divide them to donate half to the monastery rock garden, please let us know.

Funding for the hedge removal, truck rental, the cost of the yews and other expenses has already been fully taken care of with a donation from a student for this purpose,  so we will not need to fundraise for this project.
 


Recorded Teachings Schedule


Saturday, April 23rd to Saturday, April 30th

Saturday, April 23rd: Bodymind of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Shinjin Gakudo":"Practice and realization; Nanyue and the 6th Ancestor: What is This Thing That Comes Thus?" (2 of 17)
Sunday, April 24th: SAkN “Root Cycle Four” by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi: “Motion” (teisho 1 of 5)
Monday, April 25th: “Every Breath You Take” by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei: “Seeing Mendicants" (Dharma Talk 86)
Thursday, April 28th: "Just a Moment" by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei
Saturday, April 30th: Bodymind of the Way: Zen Master Anzan Hoshin's Commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's "Shinjin Gakudo":" Studying Through the Mind" (3 of 17)

 


Listening to Teisho and Dharma Talks



​Associate and general students should continue to follow the recorded Teachings schedule for the sitting you were attending at the monastery, and listen to that during your home practice.

You can access the online Recorded Teachings Library at wwzc.org/recorded-teachings-schedule. 

You can also use the streaming site at app.wwzc.org to live stream recordings from the online Library. If you have forgotten your password or need assistance with accessing the recorded Teachings, please email schedule@wwzc.org.

Please note that teisho should be listened to in the correct order and with none missed out as themes, metaphors, questions raised and answered evolve in spirals throughout the series.
 


Recorded Teachings for Public Access



While most of the online Recorded Teachings library is password-protected and only accessible to students of the Lineage of Zen Master Anzan Hoshin, a small selection of MP3 recordings of teisho are accessible to the public at wwzc.org/recorded-teachings Additional recordings will be uploaded periodically. MP3 recordings of four recorded teisho by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi are currently available:

Dharma Position https://wwzc.org/dharma-position
Eyes See, Ears Hear https://wwzc.org/eyes-see-ears-hear
Embarrassment https://wwzc.org/embarrassment
Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi's reading of his translation of Eihei Dogen zenji's “Bendowa: A Talk on Exerting the Way”: https://wwzc.org/bendowa-talk-exerting-way

 


Translations and Texts



Photograph of Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi at Daijozan, mid-1980s, by Ven. Shikai Zuiko sensei
Photograph of Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi at Daijozan, mid-1980s,
by Ven. Shikai Zuiko sensei

Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi has recently completed translation work on some shorter texts by Eihei Dogen zenji from the Shobogenzo. The work on these particular texts is based upon the literal translations that he worked on with Joshu Dainen roshi at Hakukaze-ji around 1977-78 followed by many years of putting them down, picking them up, and polishing. Naturally, more essential texts such as Uji, Genjokoan, Shinjin Gakudo and some 40 others were completed first and have been given extensive commentaries by the Roshi. This batch of texts includes Baike: Plum Blossoms, Ryugin: Howling Dragon, and Udonge: The Udumbara Blossoming and many others are nearing completion. Annotation details and successfully conveying them across various document formats are the issue at this point.

Work on Bussho: Buddha Nature, a very long and nuanced text by Dogen zenji, is ongoing.

Roshi is also finishing an update to the Saijo Shingi: The Deportment of Radiance, our manual of monastic training standards which is a supplement to the ancient Eihei Shingi and Keizan Shingi. 

 


Painted Cakes
(do not satisfy hunger)

Begun by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei
Finished by Rev. Fushin Comeau shramon following her death


scroll

Taisõ (J): "Great Ancestor" as in Taisõ Jõsai Daishi (posthumous title for Keizan zenji).

Posted April 15th , 2022. New entries are posted every two weeks.

 

Oryoki set drawing


Office of the Tenzo



Dogen zenji taught in the Tenzo kyokun: Instructions for the Tenzo (https://wwzc.org/dharma-text/tenzo-kyokun-instructions-tenzo) 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 sensei serves as tenzo and Mishin godo and Saigyo ino offer assistance as tenzo-anja. The following meals were prepared for residents on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Monday Yakuseki:
Thai white and brown rice with peanuts; Korean miso soup (vegetable stock, miso, gojuchang, thinly sliced ginger, lots of garlic, shoyu, sesame oil, Napa cabbage, sliced tofu; gai lan spears with sauteed strips of Spanish onion in a sauce made from vegetarian oyster sauce, shoyu and honey with a little tomato paste; baechu kimchi.

Tuesday Yakuseki:
Vegetarian option: Crusty rolls with hummus, sliced tomatoes and sliced cheese; coleslaw (thinly sliced green cabbage, white onion and carrots seasoned with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lime juice and horseradish). 
For those who wished to supplement their diet with meat: 
Lundberg Farms Brown rice; roasted chicken thighs seasoned with a dry rub ( garlic powder, onion powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, salt, black pepper, bran oil); coleslaw (thinly sliced green cabbage, white onion and carrots seasoned with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lime juice and horseradish)

Thursday Yakuseki:
Mixed grain (Thai Jasmine rice, arborio rice and pearled barley); tamarind curry (sauteed cubed sweet potato, poblano and red bell peppers, red onion,  chopped gailan leaves and stems, galangal, tamarind, chilli, salt, turmeric, coconut milk) garnished with toasted cashews; salad of monastery-grown pea shoots, green and red leaf lettuce, Romaine lettuce, and radicchio; dressing for the salad made from peanut butter blended with lime juice, rice vinegar, chilli flakes, coriander powder, garlic and ginger. 
 

 

Monks bowing (drawing)


Thank You



If you would like to thank someone for a contribution they have made, please feel free to send an email to Jinmyo sensei at rengezo@gmail dot com, but be sure to type "eMirror” in the subject line.

From Jinmyo sensei:
Thank you to Fushin shramon for getting up at 3:00 a.m. to spray the new yew hedge with water to protect it from below freezing temperatures. Thank you to deshi, Senbo, for accompanying Saigyo ino to Grimsby (an hour past Toronto)  to pick up 50 yews and other supplies.

From Saigyo ino:
Thank you to Andrew McLeod for the donation of two dressers and a steamer trunk, to be sold to raise funds for the Shuryo renovation.  Thank you to the following students for their assistance with the Shuryo build last week: Daryl David, Shannon Morphew, Claude Schryer and Carol Hodgson.  Thank you to the following students who participated in the Samu Weekend: Mishin godo, Fushin shramon, Leonardo Nobrega, David Gallant, Sarah Goul, Greg Parker, Ian Richard, Artik Chauhan, Stacey Loyer, Sam McFarlane, Deniose Beaudot, Kathleen Johnson, Claude Schryer and Rowan Russell.

From David Gallant:
Thank you to Jinmyo sensei for many years of daisan and now dokusan, and for much practical wisdom. Thank you to Mishin godo and Saigyo ino for leading kata during the formal sittings. Thank you to Saigyo ino for the enormous amount of labour and great care he has put into constructing the new Shuryo at Dainen-ji, and for organizing all of the Samu Weekends we have had recently.

From Sarah Goul:
Thank you to Roshi for establishing the monastery. Thank you to Sensei for an enjoyable dining hall exchange and the best frittata. Thank you to Godo for a great practice interview and for recommendation to read Begin Here: Five Styles of Zen. Thank you to Ino for so much work on the Shuryo and grounds and for driving so far and over the windy skyway to pick up the yew trees. Thank you to Fushin Sharmon for a fun and informative time polishing brass and installing door knobs and for fixing the doorbell alarm. Thank you to David for dinner company and for offering the pulse oximeter for me to try. Thank you to Jean Francois for doing lunch dishes. Thank you to Rowan for showing up, I was energized by meeting you. Thank you to Benoit for grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning while I was away.

From Ian Richard:
Thank you to Jinmyo sensei for the delicious and revitalizing lunch provided on Samu Weekend and for being willing to accommodate dietary restrictions. Thank you to Saigyo ino for putting so much of his own time and energy into the Shuryo renovation, and to all those who have helped with it. Many thanks as well to the student who donated the resources for the lovely new yew trees, and to those who have contributed their research, planning, and labour.

From Sam MacFarlane:
Thank you to Jinmyo Renge sensei, for the wonderful lunch that was served for the Samu Day on April 16th. The soup was incredible with rich flavour and aroma. Thank you to Saigyo ino for the clear instructions on the planting of the Hill’s Yew and for your abundance of patience with the many questions.  Thank you to Fushin shramon for transporting the Hill’s Yew from the truck to the planting area and then carefully placing them in the ground and for your patience when they required additional repositioning.







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White Wind Zen Community · 240 Daly Avenue · Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6G2 · Canada