Digital painting by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi
eMirror Vol 25, No. 36
Digital painting by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi
eMirror Vol 25, No. 36
Friday, September 3rd, 2021
Edited by the Practice Council
The White Wind Zen Community:
An international community practising and teaching Dogen’s Zen since 1985.
Xuedou Zhongxian presents a verse:
Clouds on the southern mountain,
Rain on the northern mountain.
The twenty-eight and the six see it before them.
In Korea they've gone up into the hall,
In China the drum hasn't yet been struck.
In suffering, happiness;
In happiness, suffering.
Who says "gold is manure?"
Xuedou says that the twenty-eight Indian Ancestors and the six Chinese Ancestors all see right before them the coming and going of causes and effects not only to the north and south but also that causes can precede effects in the mysterious mingling of ji-ji muge or interpenetration of all events and beings that is the activity of the Dharmadhatu. Even before the drum has announced it here, in Xuedou's China, in far away Korea the monks have already have already entered the hall. What is close and what is far are all together intimate with each other in ways that cannot be understood through the narrow linear focus of congealed attention.
But this not something abstract. Understanding and realizing this vast intimacy through actual practice means that even in the midst of the dukkha or suffering of this world the sukkha or unconditioned joy of the old Buddhas is available. While this joyfulness is always available, beings suffer because they try to avoid the fact of impermanence and become mixed up altogether about intimacy.
-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, continuing the teisho "Epilogue: The Naked Post", Saturday, April 9th, 2005, at Dainen-ji, in the series "The Primordially Awakened Way: commentaries on Eihei Dogen zenji's Kobutsushin: The Old Buddha Mind".
Fusatsu:
September 8th, September 22nd.
September Two-day Sesshin
The September two-day sesshin will begin on Friday, September 10th at 8:00 p.m. and will end at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 12th. Probationary formal students and formal students are reminded to send their schedules to Saigyo ino as soon as possible.
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
Congratulations and deep gassho to Chantal Maheu on being accepted as a probationary formal student by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei. Chantal has been a student since 2001.
Rev. Chiso anagarika sat her weekly semi-retreat on Tuesday, August 31st at her home in the Berkshires. Tracey Parker sat a one-day retreat on Saturday, August 28th, at her home in Perth, Ontario. Ian Richard sat a two-day retreat on Saturday, August 28th and Sunday, August 29th at his home in Ottawa, Ontario. George Donovan sat a one-day retreat on Tuesday, August 31st at his home in Ottawa, Ontario.
Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, it is not possible at this time to schedule retreats in the monastery. 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.
Saturday, September 4th to Saturday, September 11th
Saturday, September 4th: "Turning the Wheel of the Way” by Zen Master Anzan Hoshin: "Hongren's Maintaining the Mind, part two" (teisho 41 of 44)
Monday, September 6th: “Every Breath You Take” by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei: "Seeing a Dusty Road" (Dharma Talk 53)
Thursday, September 9th: "The Touchstone 16, Manjusri" by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei
Saturday, September 11th: “Turning the Wheel of the Way” by Zen Master Anzan Hoshin: "Hongren's Maintaining the Mind, part three" (teisho 42 of 44)
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.
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. Many of these will be posted on our website over the next few months.
During the January 2020 Sesshin, Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi presented the following teisho as part of the ongoing series, "The Lineage of Luminosity: Part Two: The Lineage in China”:
January 11th: “Rujing's Broken Broom of Mu”.
During the December 2019 Rohatsu O-sesshin, Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi presented the following teisho as part of the ongoing series, "The Lineage of Luminosity, Part Two: The Lineage in China”:
December 2nd: Rujing’s Plum Blossoms Again
December 3rd: Rujing’s Flower for Pindola
December 4th: Rujing’s Painting Plum Blossoms
December 5th: Rujing’s Frogs and Worms
Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi presented the following teisho during the November Sesshin, as part of the ongoing series, "The Lineage of Luminosity: Part Two: The Lineage in China”:
November 9th: Rujing and the Old Plum Tree
Dharma Talk Presented by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei on the occasion of receiving Inka: “Receiving the Dharma Seal: Hekiganroku Case 2: Zhaozhou’s ‘The Vast Way is Without Difficulty’”, Dainen-ji, Sogaku O-sesshin, Thursday May 20th 2021.
Read the transcript: Receiving the Seal
Listen to the recording (accessible only to students of this Lineage): Receiving the Seal
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:
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
A large project to landscape the front gardens is underway at Dainen-ji which includes the building of several areas of rock gardens and new paths. Much work has already been done but there is still a great deal to do, so if any students can offer time to assist with this project please write to Saigyo ino at saigyo.cross at gmail dot com. Thank you very much.
Begun by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei
Finished by Rev. Fushin Comeau shramon following her death
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.
Shugyõsha (J): Practitioner
Posted September 3rd, 2021. New entries are posted every two weeks.
Photograph by Ven. Mishin godo
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:
Mixed grain (calrose rice, arborio rice, pearled barley garnished with furikake); miso shiru with chopped shitake mushrooms; hiyayakko tofu (grated daikon mixed with finely slivered ginger and chopped scallions topped with a square of silken tofu, with a sauce made from shoyu, lime juice, honey and chili sauce made by Mishin godo); takuan and ginger.
Tuesday Yakuseki:
Soba maki (cooked soba noodle nori rolls); dipping sauce of Memmi with wasabi; seaweed soup (wakame seaweed, strained miso shiru leftover from Monday, shoyu, sesame oil, chili oil, slivered ginger); smoked salmon or vegetarian option: silken tofu added to the seaweed soup; salad of leaf lettuce and dwarf tomatoes grown in the monastery roof garden with chopped celery, thinly sliced red onion and radicchio; salad dressing made from miso, lime juice, rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.
Thursday Yakuseki:
Korean short-grain white rice; a jjigae made from sliced deep-fried tofu; small shishito peppers grown in the monastery roof garden, chopped white onion, strained broth from the previous day’s seaweed soup with garlic, ginger, and vegetarian oyster sauce thickened with tapioca starch; baby bok choy and gai lan stir-fried with lime juice and garlic; cucumber salad.
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 sensei:
Thank you to David Gallant for the gift of a curved monitor.
From Mishin godo:
Thank you to Neil Faught for cucumbers from his garden.
From Ian Richard:
Thank you to the Roshi for presenting the Turning the Wheel of the Way series of teisho on Dogen zenji's Gyoji: Continuous Practice. Thank you to Mishin godo and Saigyo ino for immensely helpful practice interviews for students practising at a distance. I am sincerely grateful for the countless efforts past and present that have made the Dharma accessible and continued practice possible during the global pandemic. Thank you.
From the Office of the Treasurer:
Thank you to Chunen angya for a donation towards rakusu rings for monastic kesa. Thank you to Ian Richard and James Caballero for donations.
|