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Sangha News for March 2024

3/15/2024

In stagnant water, a dragon hides

by Shohaku Okumura

Dogen's Chinese Poems (75)
In Stagnant Water a Dragon Hides
Dharma Hall Discourse on the Fifteenth day of the Second Month (Parinirvana Day, 1246)

On various people’s faces hang Gautama’s eyes,
but still they beat their breasts with fists in empty grieving.
I cannot bear the heavenly demon, or the demon of life and death,
who roll around on the floor with laughter seven or eight times at seeing Buddha [dying].

This Dharma hall discourse was given in 1246 on Parinirvāṇa Day, the 15th day of the second month. Dōgen’s six Dharma hall discourses on Parinirvāṇa Day are included in Dōgen’s Extensive Record. This is the second one. In the 7th month of 1243, Dōgen and his sangha moved from Kyoto to Echizen. They stayed at Yoshimine-dera and Yamashibu until their new temple Daibutsuji was constructed in 1244. They moved to the new temple in the fall of the year. In 1245, they held the first three-month summer practice period in Echizen. This discourse was given in the second month of 1246. During this year, Dōgen wrote only one fascicle of Shōbōgenzō, Leaving Home (出家, Shukke) but gave seventy-four Dharma hall discourses. On 15th day of the 6th month of this year, Dōgen publicized Chiji Shingi (知事清規) and on the same day, he changed his temple’s name from Daibutsuji to Eiheiji. It seems he had completed the preparation for establishing a monastic system and that practice in accordance with the traditional monastic regulations (清規) was ready to begin.

Verse 47 of Kuchūgen, which I introduced in December 2021, was the final dharma discourse on Nirvāṇa Day, given in 1252, a year before Dōgen’s death. In that discourse, Dōgen said nirvāṇa is neither departing nor entering the world, neither birth nor extinction, neither coming nor going. The buddha entered nirvāṇa but he always abides on Vulture Peak. In other words, nirvāṇa is the intersection of the impermanence of his rūpa-body and the eternity of his dharma-body.
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News

Earthquake relief funds for Japanese temples: On New Year's Day, the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture was hit by a catastrophic earthquake, resulting in many casualties. The results of this natural disaster are still being felt as people begin working on recovery and restoration. We have two opportunities to help Soto Zen temples that sustained heavy damage as a result of the earthquake: a fundraiser organized by the North American office of Sotoshu, for Sojiji-Soin, and another organized by Sanshin network member Jisho Takahashi, for two temples with connections to Sanshin.
LEARN MORE AND MAKE YOUR GIFT

New at the Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury

A fateful encounter: At some point during the four years he spent at Horyuji in Nara studying Yogacara, Kodo Sawaki attended a funeral at Yoshidaji in Yamato. There he met two nuns from the Shingon Vinaya School who were wearing nyoho-e and finally, ten years after his first encounter with nyoho-e, Sawaki had his opportunity to fulfill his lifetime wish to wear and practice with such okesa. He later recalled that what he had felt at that time was indescribable. READ MORE

Echu Kyuma

New translation: Chapter Four of Great Robe of Liberation: A Study of the Kesa (Kesa no Kenkyu) by Echu Kyuma has now been translated and is available online. This chapter covers appropriate colors for the kesa, the meaning of a broken color, and the tenjo, or mark of purification. The book has served as an indispensable resource for anyone wanting to study, sew, or wear robes in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition. Kyuma Roshi, a longtime student of both Kodo Sawaki and Kosho Uchiyama, generously shares his research and personal experience, presenting a kind of technical manual with in-depth explanations of everything from the proper color, size, and materials of a robe, to the actual sewing, to how to wear it and care for it.

In this issue:

Okumura Roshi: In stagnant water, a dragon hides
Just for fun: When all candels be out. . .
News: Earthquake relief funds for Japanese temples; New Sawaki Nyoho-e Treasury content
Practice recap: Parinirvana Day; March work day; Uchiyama Roshi memorial sesshin
Coming up: Ryaku fusatsu; 'Six Points' discussion evening; Sangha Stewardship workshop; Ango with Esho; Virtual dharma study intensive
Sanshin Network: Passing of Muso Jim Biggs; Jukai-e in Venezuela; Adding Beauty to Brocade dharma talks

Just for fun:
What if Dogen Zenji taught using Western proverbs?

When all candels be out, all cats be grey.

A Western ancestor said, "When all candles are out, all cats are grey." We should understand that candles are both wisdom and delusion, and grey is both wisdom and delusion. This does not mean that candles and grey are the same thing. It does not mean they are not the same thing. We must see clearly the nature of candles and grey in order to go beyond candles and grey.

When the candle of desire is extinguished, nirvana is there. When the candle of wisdom is extinguished, delusion and discrimination are there. Which grey cat comes in when all candles are out? How can we know that this is so? Do not discriminate between the grey cat that comes in when the candle is out and another cat. Grey is the wisdom of emptiness. The burning candle hinders this grey cat.

However, the true grey cat throws no shadow. This is because the Buddha eye of wisdom is unhindered. We should investigate grey cats so that we encounter them intimately rather than simply seeing their shadows. Like the Tathagatha himself, the grey cat is beyond all in and out, coming and going. In the great empty darkness, the grey cat is all cats of all colors.

Candles illuminate the myriad forms and hundred grasses, and candles hide grey cats. Candles illuminate grey cats, and do not hide the myriad forms and hundred grasses. We should investigate this deeply.
--Hoko

Practice recap

Parinirvana Day 2024: In the heart of our "quiet February" practice schedule, during which most Sundays simply consisted of two periods of zazen with no dharma talk, we recognized Shakyamuni Buddha's death and parinirvana on Sunday, Feb 18th with a talk from Hoko ("Everyday Parinirvana"), a chanting service including the Heart Sutra and the Verse of Homage to Buddha's Relics, incense offerings from the sangha, and a potluck lunch.

Work on natural fences and a door: On a warm and sunny day in Bloomington, about ten local practitioners participated in this month's work day on Sunday, March 3rd. Inside the temple, work continued on mounting a sliding barn door for our kitchen. Outside on the land, practitioners worked on two fence building projects, primarily using natural materials already present on temple grounds: replacing the north side of the bamboo fence surrounding the moss garden, and beginning to construct a "dead hedge" barrier along Sanshinji's northern boundary using tree limbs and branches from our (enormous) brush pile.

Uchiyama Roshi memorial sesshin: From the evening of March 7th through the morning of March 10th, nine practitioners carried out our 3-day March sesshin, which we dedicate each year to the memory of our founder's teacher, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. After cleanup and a closing circle on Sunday morning, sesshin practitioners joined other sangha members for regular Sunday practice, including zazen and a talk from Okumura Roshi. The day concluded with a brief memorial service for Uchiyama Roshi, during which about twenty practitioners chanted the Heart Sutra together and offered incense one by one.

Coming up

Ryaku fusatsu: This Monday, March 18th at 7:00 pm EDT, we'll carry out our monthly ceremony of renewing our aspiration to practice with the precepts. Everyone is welcome, regardless of whether or not you've formally taken precepts, in-person or virtually via Zoom.

"Six Points" discussion series: On the evening of Thursday, March 28th, we'll carry out the first of a series of informal discussions related to our focus this year on lineage & legacy. Following a period of zazen at 6:30 pm EDT, we'll consider the first of Sanshin's six points of practice, which we inherit from our immediate dharma ancestors: zazen in the context of Buddha's teachings. How can we practice with the common thread that runs from the teachings of Shakyamuni through the Mahayana tradition, the teachings of Dogen Zenji, Sawaki and Uchiyama Roshis, down to Okumura Roshi and the practice of shikantaza at Sanshin and around the world today?

Virtual and in-person participation is welcome; no registration required. For a complete schedule of the year's discussion evenings and more, visit our lineage & legacy webpage.

Ango with Esho begins in April: Our annual ango, or practice period, begins April 1st and runs through July 7th. This 3-month period each year offers an opportunity for the sangha to focus a bit more intensively on our practice. We invite you to consider how you might deepen your practice during this time. During ango we have the additional leadership of a shuso, or head novice, who takes on various responsibilities in the sangha as an opportunity to develop clergy skills. Our shuso for this ango is Esho Morimoto. Her theme for the ango is "Studying the self/Self." She will be supporting our practice, and we will be supporting her growth as a leader. For a full schedule of ango activities and to learn more, see our ango webpage.

Sangha Stewardship weekend workshop in April: On April 5th and 6th, Hoko will lead the first of two Sangha Stewardship workshops in 2024, this time exploring the roles of the tenzo (head cook) and ino (zendo manager & service leader). We'll begin with an evening welcome meeting and opening discussion on Friday, April 5th, followed by a full day of activities on Saturday the 6th, including zazen, two meals, lectures and discussions, and participatory demonstrations. As well as cultivating our sangha's work practice, this session is also particularly aimed at small sanghas in our region which may be ready to add more structure to their communities or to take on more traditional practices in the context of their own circumstances and available resources. For more detailed information and to register, please visit our Sangha Stewardship webpage.

May virtual dharma study intensive: Registration is now open for Okumura Roshi's series of ten lectures on Menzan Zuiho's Jijuyū Zanmai, as part of a virtual dharma study intensive (May 2 - 11). Jijuyū Zanmai was written as a guide to zazen for lay students. In it, Menzan explains that the Buddha's samadhi is nothing other than the zazen which we practice with our body and mind, and he urges us to live in accordance with the three-fold pure bodhisattva precepts. Okumura Roshi has newly translated this important text for this May's study intensive. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

Sanshin Network

Muso's passing: On Sunday, February 18, 2024, at approximately 5:30 p.m. PST, Muso Jim Biggs passed away. He was a very good friend to many of us, a strong practitioner and supporter of our practice and practice centers.

Remembrance from Okumura Roshi: "In 1998, on March 13, Uchiyama Roshi passed away. In April, I had a memorial sesshin for my teacher. Muso Jim Biggs was among the several people who joined the sesshin. That was the first time I met him. The following year, he invited me to stay at his apartment in Santa Monica for one year. We sat together each morning, except when I traveled to teach, and we had a monthly sesshin. When Sanshinji was established, he moved here and became my disciple. He was a dedicated zazen practitioner and a good friend of mine."

Remembrance from Norma Horin Fogelberg: "Jim was an intrepid adventurer. For several years, he regularly swam across the San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz and back. He walked a good portion of the length of Italy and hiked the Camino de Santiago across France, Spain, and Portugal several times. He traveled spiritually as well. When he became a Buddhist priest, he lived and studied at the training temple Bukkokuji in Japan. He learned to craft and play beautiful violins and violas, sang in many choirs, and, in the last two years, took up sketching and painting the hills and valleys of Sonoma, CA. Whatever Jim pursued, he did it wholeheartedly. Jim was a true Renaissance man, and a wonderful friend to many."

Jukai ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela: In February, Okumura Roshi's dharma heir and founder of Soto Zen Colombia Densho Quintero traveled to Caracas, Venezuela to officiate a lay precepts ceremony for practitioners of an affiliated group, Sangha Dokan Venezuela, which is led by Jakusho Pignatiello.

Continuing Adding Beauty to Brocade talk series: Teijo Munnich of Great Tree Zen Women's Temple has invited several contributors to the Sanshin Network book Adding Beauty to Brocade to give dharma talks expanding on the essays they wrote for that book. Recordings of several of these talks can be found on Great Tree's Youtube channel, including the latest from Eido Reinhart (who also serves as one of Sanshin's board members) on "takuhatsu in everday life."

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