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Like a river, it runs through us,
Whether we step in or out.
Mimi Sherman had these thoughts about her experience practicing as part of Sanshin
Zen Community and with Shohaku Okumura.
I remember my first 3-day sesshin with Shohaku Okumura. It was with Stillpoint in
Pittsburgh in 1996. Fellow sangha members, Jay Hershey and Suzanne Hudson encouraged
me. Through their support I found the necessary courage to attend.
The first 5-minute bell rang and this tall, shaven man in robes entered the room.
As I took my place on my zafu, I stole a couple of peeks in his direction with intense
curiosity. I felt a certain honor being in Shohaku's presence.
During kinhin, I walked with the others behind Shohaku and was deeply moved. Why?
I really cannot explain. I was simply grateful that the order of the Universe had
brought me into the presence of this man.
I distinctly recall being impressed by how quietly he delivered his dharma talks
at the dining room table. There wasn't the customary broad hand gestures, dramatic
inflections or tone of persuasion I had witnessed in other religions. With humility,
Shohaku imparted truth in his best English.
Occasionally he paused for a drink of water. He would carefully lift the glass from
the table, hold it to his lips and then just as carefully replace the glass on the
table. Each person leaned forward intently listening to his talk.
Since then I have moved twice in the United States. Keeping up with Shohaku has been
a challenge. But, I always returned to zazen as inspired by Shohaku. What is it I
return to? I return to myself.
The relationship I have with Shohaku is not particularly close, we live on opposite
sides of the country and we do not speak or write frequently. However, when I have
contacted him, his response has always been with the same kind of care that he took
the sip of water and replaced the glass on the table during his dharma talks. Each
has been wholeheartedly.
On my way north to a spring retreat with Shohaku at the Zen Center in Chapel Hill,
I sat in traffic on Interstate 85 for 4 hours. A multiple car accident took place
less than ¼ of a mile ahead.
The delay made me late to dokusan. My intentions were to ask Shohaku-san to be my
teacher and to express my desire to receive the precepts with him in November in
Pittsburgh. My courage was melting in the heat. I toyed with the idea of turning
around and heading home. Who was I to receive the precepts? Why did I think Shohaku
would want me as a student? Who was I to even ask him to be my teacher?
I did however follow through with my intentions. Shohaku was kind, gentle, funny
and understanding.
With the help of Shohaku-san and Teijo-san, we have started a new sangha called Stillpoint
II in Cornelius, North Carolina. We hope to plant the seeds of zazen for people in
this community while over time, build a base of support for Sanshin Zen Community.
When I asked Shohaku-san what requirements were necessary for the fledgling sangha
to be a satellite for Sanshin Zen Community, his response was unexpected. He said, “Just
sit.” In a world full of complicated agreements, rules and regulations, his
clear and simple answer caught me off guard. It was another example of his clarity
and dedication to zazen.
I have come to realize that through my support of the Sanshin Community, I support
myself. There is no separation. The Sanshin Zen Community is not out there somewhere
in Bloomington, Indiana, where I have never been, but right here with me in Davidson,
North Carolina. It is all connected.
I encourage my dharma sisters and brothers to reflect on what Shohaku-san brings
to your practice, how he has touched your life and how you can support Sanshin Zen
Community and thereby yourself. We can all wholeheartedly contribute to Shohaku's
vision making a more connected Soto Zen community throughout the United States a
reality.
Gassho,
Mimi Sherman
August 2001
Dharma Inquiry
This March 2001 lecture from Shohaku Okumura relieved some of my pain around September
11 and the political and military response to it. I also found the lecture helpful
in my own reflections on what it means to be part of Sanshin Zen Community and to
help establish a practice center. ---Editor
Bodhisattva Practice
I will talk on a short poem written by Ryokan. Please study Ryokan's life if you
would like additional background on this poem. A translation found in the book Great
Fool (Ryuichi Abe and Peter Haskel, University of Hawai'i Press, 1996) is
as follows:
One who is a monk needs nothing
Only never despising anyone,
For this is the unexcelled practice of all bodhisattvas.
My own more literal translation is as follows:
One who is a monk doesn't need 10,000 things,
But the practice of Jofugyo Bodhisattva
is only unexcelled.
In this poem, Ryokan explains that the practice of this bodhisattva is the single
most important aspect of any bodhisattva's practice. The word bodhisattva here means
a Mahayana Buddhist, whether a monk or lay person.
The bodhisattva's name, Jofugyo, reflects the nature of his practice. A literal
translation of the Japanese Jofugyo follows: Jo means “always.”
Fu means “not.”
Gyo means “to take lightly,”
“to despise,” to disparage” or “to look down upon people.” I prefer the
word “disparage” in this case. The literal translation of this bodhisattva's name is “Always
Not Disparage.” In the translation I used, it is “Bodhisattva Never Disparaging.”
The story of this bodhisattva first appeared in the 20th section of the Lotus Sutra.
The Sanskrit word for this bodhisattva is Sadaparibhuta. Interestingly, the
Sanskrit can be interpreted as both “Never Disparaging” and “Always
Being Disparaged.” In a Chinese translation, the name is “Always Not
Disparaging.” Never disparaging anyone and always being disparaged was this
bodhisattva's practice.
The Challenge
The story found in the Lotus Sutra has two parts, the first of which I lectured on
this past winter in Berkley and San Francisco. I will talk briefly on both today.
Here is a translation of the first part of the story (The Lotus Sutra,
trans. Burton Watson, Columbia University Press, 1993):
After the original Awesome Sound King Thus Come One1 had died and after
his true dharma had also passed away, there came a period of counterfeit dharma.2 The
monks scrutinized the Buddha's teachings and established their own philosophical
systems called Abhidharma,
They formed various schools and adhered to their own interpretations on the Dharma.3
At this time there was a bodhisattva monk named “Never Disparaging.” Now,
Gainer of Great Authority,4 for what reason was he named Never Disparaging?
This monk, whatever persons he happened to meet, whether monks, nuns, laymen or laywomen,
would bow in obeisance5 to all of them and speak words of praise saying, “I
have profound reverence for you. I would never dare treat you with disparagement
or arrogance. Why? Because you are all practicing the bodhisattva way and are certain
to attain Buddhahood.”6
This monk did not devote his time to reading or reciting the scriptures, but simply
went about bowing to people. And if he happened to see any of the four kinds of believers
far off in the distance, he would purposely go to where they were, bow to them and
speak words of praise, saying, “I would never dare disparage you, because you
are all certain to attain Buddhahood!” Among the four kinds of believers, there
were those who gave way to anger, their minds lacking in purity, and they spoke ill
of him and cursed him, saying, “This ignorant monk --- where does he come from,
presuming to declare that he does not disparage us and bestowing upon us a prediction
that we will all attain Buddhahood? We have no use for such vain and irresponsible
predictions.”
Many years passed in this way, during which this monk was constantly subjected to
curses and abuse. He did not give way to anger, however, but each time spoke the
same words, “You are certain to attain Buddhahood.” When he spoke in
this manner, some among the group would take sticks of wood or tiles and stones to
beat and pelt him. But even as he ran away and took up his stance at a distance,
he continued to call out in a loud voice, “I would never dare disparage you,
for you are all certain to attain Buddhahood.” And because he always spoke
these words, the overbearing arrogant monks, nuns, and laymen and laywomen gave him
the name, “Never Disparaging.”7
This first part of the Lotus Sutra story explains the origin of this monk's name,
Bodhisattva “Never Disparaging Anyone” and “Always Being Disparaged.” The
Lotus Sutra is a collection of very interesting analogies and stories with very profound
meanings. The bodhisattva was always being disparaged because he never disparaged
anyone.
There are many ways to interpret this story. This morning, I would like to focus
on the story as our own practice. I think the story is a description of our own practice
as Mahayana Buddhists. Both the attitude of the people who disparaged the monk and
the attitude of the monk Bodhisattva Never Disparaging Anyone himself is within each
of us.
Clinging to their own understanding, the people who disparaged the monk thus created
an adversarial circumstance in relation to those among them with a different understanding,
philosophy or system of values. In the act of disparaging other groups, this group
separated itself from those groups based on their personal views on the buddha-dharma.
In our minds, we are like such people. We separate the reality, our experiences or
objects that we encounter into two groups: good or bad, disliked or liked, valuable
or valueless, meaningful or meaningless. If we think this is right and that is wrong,
then we cling to what we think is right. In doing so, we disparage another side,
the other half of the reality.
I think this circumstance is the reality of our life. Even when we study the Buddha's
teaching or practice the buddha-dharma, we cling to our own understanding, our own
tradition, or our own approach or a partic ular teacher's teaching. My tradition
is Japanese Soto Zen. It is possible for me to cling not only to that tradition,
but also to my understanding of that tradition. I can try to criticize people who
have a different understanding about Soto Zen tradit ion. I can cling to this tradition,
this form and can try to disparage others.
When we take on an attitude of clinging to what we like and escaping from things
we dislike, the most important aspect of the Buddha's teaching is lost. That aspect
is “no discrimination.” In order to understand the Buddha's teaching
and practice as, in my case, a Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist, I am faced with a kind
of discrimination towards or separation from other traditions or other ways of understanding
Soto Zen. This is a problem.
When we face this problem deep in our heart, we start to think about or hear the
sound of “I-never-disparage-anyone” from within very deep layers of our
life. To do so is Buddha's life. If for the sake of the dharma individuals believe
they have to disparage some people, they miss a very important and basic teaching
of Buddha.
We are living human beings among other human beings, all having the ability to think.
Without the ability to discriminate, make distinctions and choices, we cannot live
as human beings. This is the reality of our lives. Yet, as long as we live merely
on the level of this attitude, there is really no way to awaken to the reality that
Buddha wanted to show us: The reality before any discrimination. The reality as it
is.
The age of “counterfeit dharma” refers to the circumstance in which the
buddha-dharma is absent from our ability to think and discriminate. The circumstance
in which there is only teaching and practice interpreted by our own individual understandings.
This is not True Dharma, but “counterfeit dharma.” As long as one's practice
is based only on one's own understanding of Buddha's teaching, it is not True Dharma.
When we really awaken to this point, then we begin to hear the Buddha's voice, “I
never disparage anyone.” That means no discrimination, even towards those people
who do discriminate. Buddha says, “I never disparage you.” Reaching this
point is almost impossible, living in society, using our ability to think, discriminate
and make choices. It is to discriminate again to think that the act of awakening
to this point is separate from living as a discriminating human being making choices.
Thinking that we don't really connect to one or the other is discrimination. How
can these two (discrimination and non-discrimination) be one? How can we make these
two into one? This is the paradoxical or contradicted nature of Buddhism and our
life. Our life is really without discrimination. We are really living one life. Human
beings and all living beings in this world are living one so-called universal life.
Still, in order to live we have to use discrimination and make distinctions and choices.
If we think discrimination is bad and non-discrimination is good, we are still discriminating.
The first part of the story points out that there is no way to bridge these two aspects
from the shore of discrimination, from the aspect of an individual that expresses
one's ability to think and make distinctions. The instant we think, “discrimination
is no good,” we separate discrimination from non-discrimination. This is already
discrimination. The more we think, the more we act with discrimination. From this
side there is no way to bridge this duality.
Opening Up to Life
The second part of this story, I think, is a response to this dilemma or an answer
to the questions: “How can these two be one? How can we make these two
into one? Here is the translation of the second part of the story:
When this monk was on the point of death,8 he heard up in the sky fully,
twenty thousand, ten thousand, a million verses of the Lotus Sutra that had previously
been preached by the Buddha Awesome Sound King, and he was able to accept and uphold
them all. 9 Immediately he gained the kind of purity of vision and purity
of the faculties of the ear, nose, tongue, body and mind that have been described
above [in a previous part of the Sutra]. Having gained this purity of the six faculties,
his life span was increased by two hundred ten thousand million nayutas of years,
and he went about widely preaching the Lotus Sutra for people.
At that time, the four kinds of believers who were overbearingly arrogant, the monks,
nuns, laymen and laywomen who had looked with contempt on this monk and given him
the name, “Never Disparaging” --- when they saw that he had gained great
transcendental powers, the power to preach pleasingly and eloquently, the power of
great goodness and tranquillity, and when they heard his preaching, they all took
faith in him and willingly became his followers.10
In the first part of this story, this monk consistently bowed and made prostrations
to all people. Admiring them, he repeated, “You are certain to become Buddha
in the future.” He was always praising people. However, the people who made
distinctions, discriminations or choices, like us, looked down on him, disparaged
him. When he was dying,11 the bodhisattva changed his form of life somehow
by receiving the Dharma he heard from the sky. This means that he lost his personal
and individual karmic life and attained the universal life as Buddha's life. At that
time, he started to expound the Universal, True Dharma, in contrast to a Dharma teaching
based on our understanding and our clinging to our own tradition or our own understanding
about the Truth or Buddha's teaching. He really spoke from the level of true reality.
The people who disparaged him became his followers.
In our practice when, for example, we sit in this posture (zazen), our mind still
actively discriminates: like and dislike, love and hatred, good and bad. We cling
to this side and try to escape from that side. Facing the wall, where no objects
exist, our discriminative thinking persists. Thoughts come up in our minds, so we
just let go. This letting go, in a sense, is our own death, we give up any thoughts
made up by our limited karma (experiences) in the past.
As human beings, we actively discriminate using our own individual yardsticks, but
we simply keep sitting. Even though we keep sitting, thoughts come up endlessly,
so we are endlessly letting go. By doing this for many kalpas, millions of times,
we discover that the thoughts that are always chasing after something or escaping
from something are not really me. Even when we sit facing the wall, where no object
is present, such thoughts come up. The thoughts come up from our consciousness, rooted
at shallow and very deep levels. As we sit, we find that these thoughts are simply
consciousness; they are not the real life of me as trueself. With this experience,
we realize that we can live without this clinging.
Our zazen, facing the wall, is really something very special for us. This practice
is the way we can be free from ourselves by somehow dying. We are “not here,” and
yet the life force, the something that is much deeper than one's individual sense
of one's self is always functioning. But we disparage this life and we think “this
I” is the owner of the life. We disparage our own universal life and cling
to “this I” as more important. When we let go of “this I,” we
find that “this I” is not the owner of this life, but this life is Dharma
and this thinking is just thinking. Without any particular object, this thinking
is really functioning and creating many kinds of illusions.
Mostly we think illusion created by our thinking is reality and, hence, we disparage
real reality. By letting go of our thought, we awaken this reality that is deeper
than our thinking. In this way, this individual self that makes choices, distinctions
and discriminates follows the deeper reality of life beyond discrimination. Although
we cannot bridge between discrimination and non-discrimination from the shore of
discrimination using our discriminating mind, we find that the very life force with
which we make discrimination is nothing other than a function of the reality of life
beyond discrimination.
This is my understanding of the second part of this story as our own practice. The
Buddha is always saying, “I never disparage anyone.” Unfortunately, we
usually disparage that voice. By practicing zazen and letting go of thought, we really
hear and accept the sound of Buddha's message. We take refuge in the reality beyond
discrimination and make an effort to be a follower of the reality. The name “Never
Disparage” and “Always Being Disparaged” points to our own diligence
to embrace our life, and to experience the faith that the buddha-dharma functions
in every living person. This is the wholehearted way of zazen.
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In other words, Tathagata, a historic Buddha thus names.
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For the first 500 years after Buddha's death, practice and teaching according
to his teaching and people who attained enlightenment existed in the original
spirit and way. In the second 500-year period following his death, the teaching
and practice remained, but no one was able to attain enlightenment. During
the third period or Last Dharma, only the original teaching remained. According
to this framework, we have been living in this latter state since 1052AD.
The bodhisattva Never Disparaging-Always Disparaged appeared during the second
period called Counterfeit Dharma, when practice and teaching remained, but
no one attained genuine enlightenment.
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After 500 years, many schools were established in which monks acted as scholars,
systematized Buddha's teachings and created a philosophical system called
Abhidharma. The original Sangha separated and became independent from each
other and these schools became a huge institution with an extensive hierarchy.
This is the condition into which the Bodhisattva Never Disparaged-Always
Disparaged came. The hierarchy held many institutional roles, the highest
of which had a lot of power: political, religious, spiritual, and economic.
This group clung to their own approach, understanding, status and system
of values.
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This is the name of the bodhisattva to which Shakyamuni is talking. Shakyamuni
answers his own question by beginning to talk about the story of Bodhisattva
Never Disparaging Anyone. In actuality, Shakyamuni Buddha was this bodhisattva
in a previous life.
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A gesture or movement of the body expressing reverence.
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Whomever he met, after greeting them with a prostration, he would say, “I
will never disparage you. I respect you. I admire you because you will certainly
become Buddha in the future.
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The monk did not chant sutras, was not a scholar or intelligent person, in conventional
terms. All people disparaged the bodhisattva because he did not study and
appeared to lack a deep philosophical understanding. He simply walked along
the streets and bowed and showed respect to all people, saying, “I
never disparage you.” This was his practice and some of the monks,
nuns, laymen or laywomen became angry with him over this.
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Bodhisattva “Never Disparaging” practiced in the same way continuously
until the end of his life.
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This person never studied Buddhist teachings, but after he practiced in this
way, as he was dying, he heard the Buddha's entire teaching on the boundless
Dharma from Awesome Sound King Buddha and he understood and accepted it and
his six sense organs became purified.
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All the people who were clinging to “this way or that way” became
followers of this monk.
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The use of the word dying is not coincidental. With practice comes a kind of
dying and, in Christian terms, a resurrection. The bodhisattva changed his
form of life somehow by receiving the Dharma he heard from the sky. This
means that he lost his personal and individual life and attained the universal
life as Buddha's life and started to expound the Universal, True Dharma,
not the Dharma from his own understanding, clinging to his own tradition
or his own understanding about truth or Buddha's teaching.
Community Practice
News
Shohaku Okumura has again traveled widely this year to share sesshin with various
Zen Centers around the country and teach workshops on Eiheikoruku, Shobogenzo
Buddha-nature and Genjo-koan. The last sesshin this year organized by Soto Zen
Education Center to include several co-teachers was held at Tassajara in October.
Sanshin practitioners continue to organize Sanshin Zen Community sesshins:
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Todd Jones, Michael Shoaf and Carolyn Craig from the Bloomington, Indiana, area
have been the primary organizers for the 3 5-day sesshins held near Bloomington
annually. Teijo Munnich joined this year's fall and spring sesshins. Shohaku
Okumura will join the Rohatsu sesshin, which will be held from the evening
of November 30 through December 8 this year. Practitioners from outside the
Bloomington area are encouraged to attend these sesshins.
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Karen Sunna, head teacher at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, kindly made the
zendo available for several practitioners to sit an “Antaiji sesshin” this
fall.
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People in the upper Midwest are organizing a Sanshin Zen Community sesshin in
southern Minnesota for early May 2002.
Mimi Sherman sent word that, with the help of Shohaku Okumura and Teijo Munnich,
a group of practitioners started a new sangha called Stillpoint II in Cornelius,
NC. The group hopes to plant the seeds of zazen for people in their community
while over time, building a base of support for Sanshin Zen Community. She said
that when she asked Shohakusan what requirements were necessary for the fledgling
sangha to be a satellite for Sanshin Zen Community, his response was, “Just
sit.” His clarity and dedication to zazen made an impression, once again.
Sanshin Zen Community Practice Center
The Sanshin Zen Community Practice Center that is planned for a site recently purchased
in Bloomington, Indiana, will be the hub for Sanshin Zen Community whose practitioners
who are spread around the country. The practice center will serve as a retreat
for visiting practitioners who wish to practice and study Dogen Zen intensively.
The facility will eventually include a residence hall and kitchen, a zendo and
a home for the Okumura family.
In order to realize Shohaku's dream for a practice center where Dogen Zenji's teachings
can be studied and practiced intensively, people are working to reach some concrete
objectives:
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By early winter, 2001, establish a fundraising work group, assign a coordinator,
and develop and implement a plan for increasing funds needed for the first
stages of construction of the Bloomington Center.
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By mid-winter/early spring 2002, confirm final construction bids and begin first
stages of construction (kitchen, temporary zendo, and dormitory space).
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By summer/fall 2002, begin planning for construction of the residence for Rev.
Okumura or, as a contingency, by February 2003, explore temporary housing
in Bloomington suitable for Shohaku Okumura's March 2003 move from San Francisco.
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By winter 2002, practitioners from across the country will be invited to plan
and organize an annual Community Gathering in Bloomington, Indiana.
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By spring 2003, explore:
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health care options for the Okumura's and associated costs in the Bloomington
Area;
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projected expenses necessary for continued support of Sanshin Zen Community
practice at the practice center and at satellite locations.
Volunteer Activities
Several work groups have been or will be formed to help Sanshin Zen Community:
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Joy Levy from Boca Raton, Florida, is handling the accounts.
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Russ Levitt, in Bloomington, with the help of Joshin Pamela Radcliffe, in Florida,
and others are constructing and managing the new Web site.
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Carol Shapiro from Bloomington will be working with others on the design and
installation of the courtyard garden and other landscaping at the Practice
Center. Currently, work is being done to clear the site for building and
landscaping.
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Bob Meadows from Bloomington is heading up a committee of experienced craftsmen
from among the Bloomington Zen community to handle major construction decisions
and oversee construction management and coordination.
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Members of Zen Center of Bloomington, a local Bloomington sangha that will share
space in the future Sanshin Zen Community practice center, have been meeting
at the property every few weeks to maintain the land. Activities include
mowing, weeding, chipping and mulching. They collect trash left at or blown
onto the site and do whatever else needs to be done. Todd Jones reports that
the group has enjoyed the opportunity to do workpractice together.
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Many people including members of the Sanshin Zen Community Board of Directors
and Todd Jones in Bloomington contribute on a routine basis to the bi-annual
newsletter. Others share their work for inclusion in an issue here or there.
Cindy Hilmoe continues to coordinate the newsletter and the Sanshin Zen Community
mailing list.
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Some practitioners have been keeping busy transcribing Shohaku Okumura's lectures.
Some of the transcriptions are destined for books, others find their way
into the newsletter.
Getting More Involved
If you would like to help with any of the activities mentioned above, please mail
a note to Shohaku Okumura at 1691 Laguna St., San Francisco, CA, 94115, fax:
(415) 567-0200. You may want to mention the number of hours per week or month
and the period of time you think you could be available to help. Everyone is
welcome to attend the practice events listed on the enclosed practice calendar.
Some people have enjoyed meeting and visiting dharma friends at the sesshins
scheduled away from their homes.
If you have a transcription of a lecture from Shohaku Okumura or a composition of
your own that relates to his teachings, please consider sending it in for the next
newsletter. Contact Cindy Hilmoe at (612) 729-7064 or 3133 38th Ave. S., Minneapolis,
MN 55406.
Book Works
Dosho K.V. Zvelebil sent word from Cabrespine, France, that he is compiling a “rather
preliminary, provisional and tentative Zen Buddhist Pocket Dictionary for
practical daily use.” He explained that, alternatively, it would take a team
of Zen Buddhist scholars and practitioners to compile an exhaustive dictionary of
Zen Buddhist terms, in English, Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Only
such a team would be able to bring out terms from so many languages and their historical
and contemporary usage. The pocket dictionary will emphasize English and Japanese,
but will also include Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese. No names of texts or personal names
(people, deities, bodhisattvas, etc.) will be included.
Dr. Zvelebil received lay ordination from Rev. Yuho Hosokawa and Rev. Shohaku Okumura
at Taiheizan Sosenji in Kyoto, Japan. He translated Kosho Uchiyama Roshi's book Opening
the Hand of Thought into his native Czech. He is professoremeritus of Indian
studies at the universities of Prague, Chicago, Heidelberg, Utrecht and the College
de France. He lectures on Zen Buddhism as a visiting professor at Charles University,
Prague.
Some sample entries are shared below. Abbreviations -- (J) Japanese, (Pa) Pali, (Skt)
Sanskrit.
biku (J) one of the terms for monk used by Dogen, along with soo, shu and unsui.
Derived from Pa bhikkhu.
bodaishin (J) aspiration for enlightenment; the wish for and quest for enlightenment
that establishes the determination to engage in practice; to arouse the thought of
enlightenment. Also, intrinsic wisdom; the inherently enlightened heart-mind. Skt. bodhicitta.
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