Photograph by Ven. Mishin Roelofs godo
eMirror Vol 25, No. 38
Photograph by Ven. Mishin Roelofs godo
eMirror Vol 25, No. 38
Friday, September 17th, 2021
Edited by the Practice Council
The White Wind Zen Community:
An international community practising and teaching Dogen’s Zen since 1985.
This koan also appears as Shoyoroku case 31. This is the collection of cases compiled by Tiantong Hongzhi, whom we have met earlier that was extended by Wansong Xingxiu who lived from 1166 until 1246.Wansong was an older contemporary of Dogen zenji's and the Shoyoroku was published in 1224 while Dogen was in China but was not as renowned as the much older Hekiganroku which had been published in 1128.
Wansong Xingxiu's Pointers:
The unique dynamic of transcending: a crane soars into the sky. The unique road of directly meeting reality: a falcon passes over the country's border. Even if your eyes flash like falling stars, your mouth is bent like a carrying pole. But tell me, what teaching is this?
The Koan:
Yunmen said, "The Old Buddha and a naked post merge. What kind of mind is this?"
Answering for the assembly, he said, "On the southern mountain, clouds gather, on the northern mountain rain falls."
Tiantong Hongzhi's Verse:
The one path of luminous wonder
Has from the first been unconcealed.
Transcending senses and objects,
it is so yet nothing is so.
Going beyond emotional strategies,
it is met and yet nothing is met.
Flowers scattered on the mountain ledge,
The bees in their home make honey.
The richness of the wild grasses.
The musk deer make their perfume.
According to their kind, three feet or sixteen.
Clearly, wherever you are is obvious.
I think that the text is rather clear so will not add anything to it except to conclude with this. The primordially Awakened Way of the old Buddhas has never been concealed. It is we who have concealed ourselves. When we expose ourselves to our lives as they truly are, the single path of luminous wonder unfolds everywhere around us and as us whether we are a three foot Buddha or a sixteen foot Buddha. Like bees making honey, like deer making their musk within their own bodies, we make the Way for ourselves and each other with and through our own bodies and minds. Instead of being mixed up about reality, let us merge with the intimate luminosity that is the nature of our very lives. Let our lives each be the lion's roar of Dharma that calls out wordlessly the liberation of the old Buddhas and the realized-practice that we have had the great and inexplicable fortune to encounter.
Please, this evening, enjoy yourselves.
-Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi, concluding 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 22nd, October 6th and 20th and November 3rd.
Daruma-ki O-sesshin
The Daruma-ki O-sesshin will begin on Friday, October 1st, at 8:00 p.m. It will end on Friday, October 8th at noon.
A Note to Preliminary and Public Students Concerning O-sesshin
During an O-sesshin the schedule is such that there is no time to do telephone interviews or reply to email correspondence sent by public students. Public students are asked to send their weekly practice journals, as they will be reviewed. But unless there is something that needs an immediate reply, you will not receive an email reply until the week following the O-sesshin.
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
We shall be holding a Samu Weekend on Saturday, September 25th and Sunday, September 26th. The samu will be taking place in the grounds to continue with the project to landscape the front garden and there will also be a few "socially distanced" projects taking place inside the building. The samu periods will be from 9:00a.m. to noon and from 1:30p.m to 6:00p.m.. on each day. If you would like to attend please write to Saigyo ino at saigyo dot cross at gmail dot com to let him know your availability. As we will be limiting the number of students who will be working together please contact the Ino soon with your availability so that you can reserve your place. Thank you very much.
A large project to landscape the front gardens is underway at Dainen-ji after the water gardens were removed due to damage and the amount of yearly upkeep required to keep it functional. 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@gmail.com. Thank you.
Rev. Chiso anagarika sat her weekly semi-retreat on Tuesday, September 14th at her home in the Berkshires.
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 18th to Saturday, September 25th
Saturday, September 18th: "Turning the Wheel of the Way” by Zen Master Anzan Hoshin: "Rujing's Silver Coins" (teisho 43 of 44)
Sunday, September 19th: SAkN “Root Cycle One” by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi: “Explanations” (teisho 1 of 6)
Monday, September 20th: “Every Breath You Take” by Ven. Shikai Zuiko o-sensei: "Seeing a Road Free of Dust" (Dharma Talk 55)
Thursday, September 23rd: "The Touchstone 18, Vastness" by Ven. Jinmyo Renge sensei
Saturday, September 25th: “Turning the Wheel of the Way” by Zen Master Anzan Hoshin: "You Turning the Wheel of the Way" (teisho 44 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
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.
Shukke tokudo (J): Monastic ordination.
Posted September 17th, 2021. New entries are posted every two weeks.
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.
The following meals were prepared for students attending the September two-day sesshin:
Saturday
Breakfast: Congee with Chinese celery (calrose rice, chopped Chinese celery, chopped scallions, slivered ginger, sesame oil, shoyu, white pepper, salt); scrambled eggs.
Lunch: Calrose and arborio rice; miso shiru (kombu stock, shiro miso, ginger, shoyu, mirin, rice vinegar, silken tofu, rehydrated shitake mushrooms); takuan and gari.
Supper: Lundberg brown rice with green peas and butter; butternut squash soup (roasted butternut squash pureed with sauteed minced yellow onion, celery and carrots, minced garlic, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne; cream); baked jalapeno poppers (halved and seeded jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese mixed with grated mozzarella, minced scallions, and black pepper, topped with panko and baked).
Sunday
Breakfast: Fried rice (leftover Lundberg rice, chopped red bell and poblano peppers, minced ginger); scrambled eggs.
Lunch: Mixed white and brown jasmine topped with cubed daikon sauteed in chile oil; seaweed soup (strained miso shiru broth, wakame seaweed, julienned ginger, shoyu, handmade Szechuan chile oil, mirin, cubed silken tofu); kimchi.
The following meals were prepared for residents on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings this week:
Monday Yakuseki:
Thai white and brown rice; Bulgogi tofu (chopped deep-fried tofu, cubanelle and red bell peppers, Spanish onion, sliced ginger, bulgogi sauce); chunks of Asian pear with lime juice and red chili flakes.
Tuesday Yakuseki:
Crusty rolls with butter; white bean soup (mirepoix, white wine, chopped mushrooms, white kidney beans, vegetable stock, minced garlic, lots of black pepper, a little cumin, smoked paprika, thyme, rosemary, Japanese mustard, apple cider vinegar; meat option: cooked pieces of chicken thigh to add to the soup; green cabbage coleslaw (thinly sliced green cabbage, white onion and carrots, with mayonnaise, horseradish, dijon mustard, lime juice, salt and pepper).
Thursday Yakuseki:
Mixed grain (pearled barley, arborio rice, calrose rice, basmati rice; Ganmadoki (mashed silken tofu, chopped medium-firm tofu, minced shiseido, minced scallions and ginger, egg whites, salt, rice flour) formed into balls, rolled in potato flour and deep-fried); dipping sauce made from sake, shoyu, mirin, rice vinegar, minced kashmiri chilis (bright red) and minced ginger); miso shiru with reconstituted shitake mushrooms and baby bok choy.
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 Leonardo Nobrega:
I would like to thank Anzan roshi for the teisho we heard during sesshin. Thank you Jinmyo sensei for dokusan and a visit with Shindo and Kiden (monastery felines). Thank you Mishin godo for sesshin meals, particularly a third-bowl dish of peppers stuffed with cream cheese. Thank you Saigyo ino, Fushin shramon and the students who participated in the Samu Day on September 5th, for their work in the garden. The work is in progress but looks good already.
From the Office of the Treasurer:
Thank you to Jinmyo sensei and Saigyo ino for donations towards materials for the landscaping in the front garden. Thank you to David Gallant for a donation.
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