P L U M M O U N T A I N N E W S

Volume 14.3 Autumn 2007

Dear!members!and!friends, from Robert Savoca Sensei of Brooklyn Stolnack. Chris (Zenshin) Jeffries kept Aikikai, hosted the Pennsylvania sesshin. the beat as our Densu (Chant Leader). The It has been a very busy time since the last As usual, this sesshin mixed Aikido Jisha (Tea Servers) were Tina (Seimu) newsletter. In mid August I attended the weapons training with . The Calling Grant and Michael (Mukan) Blome who 2007 meeting of the American Teach- Lakes sesshin mixed Quaker Worship and saw to it that we were all well hydrated ers Association, which was held at the San Worship Sharing with zazen and was and nourished. Sally (Zenka) Metcalf was Francisco (SFZC) on Page hosted by the Prairie Christian Training our all-important garden consultant. And Street. This was signifi- Center. Rev. Zenmu Brenda Nightingale John (Daikan) Green served me well as my cant for three reasons. Inji (Personal Assistant). The first was that I was Rev. Genko Blackman able to meet with my was able to attend nearly sister Roko Ni every sit, which is amaz- Osho, and we found time ing considering her health to have a meaningful dia- issues. She also gave a log about our association lovely on with the second day. Tran- (ZSS). Second, I was scribed for this issue of also able to meet with fel- Plum Mountain News is low ZSS board member my Dharma Talk on Kyo- Zenshin Richard Rudin. sei’s “Voice of the Rain- Zenshin, Carolyn and I drops” and the closing in- had time to walk the cense poem. Japanese Garden together in Golden Gate Park and Last weekend I was able share a meal in - to meet with Genki Taka- town. I have only re- bayashi Roshi, our found- cently gotten to know ing Abbot, in Montana. Zenshin more deeply, but I must say it Bucks County Aikikai 2007 Sesshin As most people are aware, he has been feels as though we have been friends for having serious health concerns re- several lifetimes. Third, meeting at SFZC cently. I am happy to report that he is gave me some ideas of how Chobo-ji was able to assist me in Saskatchewan, looking much better. His energy was might one day expand into a “Residential and we were both pleasantly surprised that bright and his stamina was sufficient to Center” for Zen practice and training; more her back injury had improved sufficiently again review the use of his new computer. on this later. for her to do most sits on the floor in zazen posture. This means that Zenmu will be able to be resident In late August I helped lead a three-day for Chobo-ji’s next training period sesshin in Michigan with Frank (Daiui) in the spring. Apodaca Sensei and Rodger (Tozan) ur weeklong Autumn Sesshin Park Sensei, and in O October I led two was held at the Zen House the last more three-day ses- week of September. There were 15 shins, one held at participants; this is a little small for Bucks County us, but everyone in attendance had Aikikai in Pennsyl- done Jukai, which meant that we vania and the other were strong and went deep. Bob at the Calling (Daigan) Timmer was once again Lakes Center in our (Chief Cook), keeping us Saskatchewan. all well fed with hearty meals. Di- George Lyons Sen- ane (Joan) Ste. Marie was our Shika sei, with support (Manager) who kept us organized and on task. We were all, of course, very Samu in Japanese Garden punctual under the constant eye of our Zenmu in Saskatchewan Jikijitsu (Time Keeper), Scott (Ishin) Continued on next page… Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 2

Continued from previous page… date from Genko, and details for January’s winter weather. Rohatsu. If you are reading this in time for November’s mini-sesshin on Veteran’s he other day while waiting to enter the The Chobo-ji Board has recently allocated Day, please note that Rev. Claude Anshin T an additional $250 a month for alternative Thomas, author of “At Hell’s Gate: A Minimum Security Unit at Monroe Cor- medicine treatments, which he favors over Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace” will rectional Center, I spent some time talking allopathic approaches and are not fully give the guest Dharma Talk. The to one of the corrections officers who covered by his otherwise comprehensive will be closed for the holidays, Nov. 22 transports inmates from one facility to an- health insurance. He is still writing up a – Nov. 24 & Dec. 25 – Jan. 1st. As other. He has been “working transport” for storm and dedicates much of his day to usual, we will have our New Years cele- 17 years, he said, often pulling double this practice. While we were together we bration and potluck brunch beginning shifts driving from one end of the state to were able to review a proposed schedule 10 AM, New Years Day. I wish you all a the other, and has seen many inmates re- for the Ceremony, happy holiday season. leased and re-incarcerated multiple times. May 21st, 2008, that I will take with me With the increasing cold and rain, busi- for input from Eido Roshi when I see him ness is picking up, he told me, and some ith gassho, just before DBZ’s Rohatsu. W of the regular folks who have been out on the street for the summer are now return- fter the ceremony in May, I would like Genjo ing to the shelter of the prisons. This is A noticeable at the county jail as well, as the us to get serious about exploring possi- units fill up with the increasing cold bilities of expanding our practice to in- weather. Even in the bleak, concrete world clude a residential center. Right now only Genko’s Thoughts of corrections there is a sense of the sea- Carolyn and I live on the Zen House prop- sons! erty, but as you know soon Zenmu will be coming to reside with us for our spring Autumn certainly is deepening into win- and autumn training intensives. In addi- ter now, with leaves falling from the trees At this time of year our activities tend to tion, three Chobo-ji members have now in earnest. At the teahouse in the Japanese increase to the point where we are too written letters formally petitioning to be Garden, we just exchanged the smaller busy to notice and appreciate fully the ordained unsui (Zen ); if all goes Chinese-style brazier used in the warmer changing weather, except as it might inter- well, these three should be ready by Ro- months for the larger, sunken hearth in the fere with our ability to get from place to hatsu 2009. It would be grand if these middle of the tearoom. This is not merely place. Hopefully we can each take the time and other lay practitioners could all live a nod to convention; all the tea students to reflect on all the aspects of the deepen- together on the same property. This will, are glad of the larger charcoal fire in the ing autumn, be grateful for what we have, of course, require a move to a much bigger hearth of the unheated teahouse with its and open our hearts to the conditions oth- space. Accordingly, a committee has been thin, paper shoji screens for walls. When ers find themselves in. set up to begin now to explore ideas for the wind our future headed by Genko and Dee blows, the (Seishun) Endelman. There will be a leaves slap into “Visioning Session” after our Annual the shoji with Meeting March 9th. a scuffly sound. At this Visioning Meeting time we are Five Chobo-ji members will be traveling grateful both Sunday, March 9th, 2008 with me to Dai Bosatsu’s Rohatsu sesshin for the shelter in New York the first eight days of De- of the teahouse ur Annual Meeting will be held at cember. In addition, Tozan from Ann Ar- O and also for its 11:30 am after the Sunday, March 9th bor, and Robert from Brooklyn will be flimsiness, meeting us there; with Shinkon already in mini-sesshin (5 - 11:15 am). At this which reminds meeting we elect our Board of Directors residence, Chobo-ji will have quite a pres- us of the fleet- for the year. The Board is the legal and ence. It is hard to say that one is looking ing quality of forward to Rohatsu (the year’s most inten- our own exis- fiscal guardian of the temple. sive week-long ), but this looks in- tence. toxicating. Other upcoming travels in- In addition, members are invited clude San Diego for the upcoming Christ- to envision the future of our community. mas holidays, Camp Indianola for our The opening of the hearth in early No- Genjo Osho has asked that we look into own Rohatsu (1/3 – 1/11), NYC for the vember is considered to be the beginning next ZSS Board meeting the end of Janu- of the tea year, when the tea, which was developing a practice center that can in- ary, and a three-day sesshin in England the harvested in May, has seasoned enough clude accommodations for residents. The beginning of February. and is ready for grinding. The Wenatchee meeting will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Zen group, now called Stone Blossom Look for more information, as we get Sangha, will be celebrating the end of its Besides the items mentioned above, you closer to the date. Please contact either summer series of mini-sesshins with a tea Genko or Seishun if you would like to will also find in this addition of Plum gathering at the last mini-sesshin this contribute to the organizing and format of Mountain News two book reports on ex- month, as we acknowledge the difficulty cellent selections of Zen literature, an up- of travel over the passes with the coming this meeting. Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 3

raindrops? Who sees the morning mist? black, before black, before black.” Now Hekiganroku: Case 46 In a way, all , or spiritual investiga- that’s black! Voice of the Raindrops tions, focus on this question of “who” or alternatively and nearly synonymously, Every points at this absolute. We (5th day, Autumn Sesshin, 2007) they can be said to examine “What is refer to it in so many ways, but all we’re Transcription help from Dee Seishun this?” We all intellectually agree that this really doing is referring to it; it cannot be is something beyond our intellectual un- said. And if you have penetrated , not Engo’s Introduction: derstanding, yet we keep trying. We un- to say “you” can penetrate it, but I have to derstand that this is beyond our conceptu- use words, perhaps it is better to say, if alizations of this and that, subject and ob- you have been Mu-ed by Mu, then you’ve In a single action he transcends both the ject. Nevertheless, we grope for what this glimpsed the black before black before ordinary and the holy. With a single reality is. What is this? black. From this touchstone there is no word, she cuts away all complications and encumbrances. She walks the ridge of an iceberg, he treads the edge of a sword. Seated amid the totality of form and sound, she rises above them. Leaving aside the freedom of such subtle activity, tell me, what about finishing it in a mo- ment? See the following. Main Subject

Kyosei asked a , “What is the noise outside?” The monk said, “That is the voice of the raindrops.” Kyosei said, “Men’s thinking is topsy-turvy. Deluded by their own selves, they pursue things.” The monk asked, “What about yourself?” Kyosei said, “I was near it but am not deluded.” The monk asked, “What do you mean by ‘near it but not deluded’?” Kyo- sei said, “To say it in the sphere of reali- zation may be easy, but to say it in the sphere of transcendence is difficult.” Setcho’s Verse

The empty hall resounds Mu, by Genki Roshi rain, no mist, no hu- with the voice of the raindrops. Through our rational man being, no dog, Even a master fails to answer. mind we come up with all kinds of words no cat, no moon, no sky, no summer, no If you say you have turned the current, and symbols to explain reality. But winter, no autumn, no spring, no hand, no You have no true understanding. sometimes we forget that all words and eye, no ear, no tongue, no nose, no body, Understanding? No understanding? symbols are nothing more than words and no mind, no seeing, no hearing, no good, Misty with rain, symbols; in other words, they are fig- no evil, no better, no worse, no more, no the northern and southern mountains. ments of our imagination. On one level, less, no up, no down, no north, no south, they may be brilliant and indispensable for no zenith, no nadir. Muuuuuuu. This complex communication, but as I said the viewpoint is also referred to as Absolute t may not be raining this morning but it other day, words and symbols are very late . That is to say, samadhi that is I developments in the evolution of con- with, in and of the absolute; samadhi that is misty. Who sees the mist? Who hears sciousness, and are at best the icing on the is before the before and black before black. the rain? From a rational, relativistic per- cake. It’s going all the way to one end of the spective, we conclude there must be a sub- spectrum and it’s not that this end of the ject for the mist to be seen or the rain to The first part of my Dharma name given spectrum is a final point but it is the be heard. But Zen asks us to go beyond black/absolute/nothing end of the spec- our ideas of “subject” and “object.” Anna to me by Genki Roshi is “Gen.” The same “Gen” is found in Genki, Genko, trum that is a vast and boundless bottom- and Melanie (the temple dogs), the rocks, less void. trees, moon and stars have no idea about and Genchoku. I’ve seen this kanji trans- “subject” and “object” and they do just lated in a Japanese-English dictionary as fine! “heavenly silence.” I’ve also seen it trans- The other end of the spectrum is some- lated as “original mystery.” However, the So after all, who hears the voice of the most literal translation is “black before Continued on next page… Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 4

Continued from previous page… Truly we sit right here on the cushion shouts that have no meaning, but do have amid the totality of form and sound. We uses. The third Katsu is like a long fish- times referred to as Positive Samadhi. At sit in the midst of form and non-form. ing pole teasing amongst the grasses of a this end of the spectrum every color, every Sitting here on the cushion in the midst of marsh or a waterway. “Kaaaaatsssu…” moment, every aspect is it! The Real is the totality, are we aware of it or not? If (whispering). What’s there? This is Kyo- shining at you from every apparent mo- you are able to sit in the midst of this to- sei’s style. “What is the noise outside?” ment, color and particle. These two kinds tality with full awareness, then “you” have of samadhi are two ends of the same spec- risen above it, or it could be said that the The monk said, “The voice of the trum; to say it more clearly, they’re just individualistic perspective has been tran- raindrops.” Of course, Kyosei was aware different sides of the same coin. scended. Step back sufficiently to sit that it was raining. Kyosei says, fully in the midst of the totality of This. “People’s thinking is topsy-turvy. De- Understanding this much, how might you Leaving aside the freedom of such a reali- luded by their own selves, they pursue attempt to answer, “Who is listening?” zation, tell me about doing it in this mo- things.” Deluded by ourselves, we attach Making an intellectual effort to transcend ment, right now. Then Engo says, “See way too much significance to our ideas. subject and object, you might say, “The the following.” In fact, we’re so attached to our ideas of mind of the Universe.” Ring, ring, ring reality, that most of the time, we com- goes the dokusan bell, implying “more pletely miss reality! We don’t see the zazen.” “The Tao hears itself,” ring, ring. morning fog. We don’t hear the rain fall. “The no-Tao hears itself?” ring, ring We don’t feel the sun on our face. We (laughter). Ideas, ideas, ideas! Who sees just say, “Oh, today the sun is too hot.” the mist? Who sees the coming autumn Or we say, “It’s raining again!” Or we colors? Who hears the voice of the rain- say, “Hope this fog clears!” drops? Who feels the warmth of the sun? The monk said, “What about yourself?” What we’re aiming at is a life that tran- Kyosei says this interesting line, “I was scends the ordinary and the holy, the rela- near it but I’m not deluded.” The monk tive and the absolute. We’re aiming at a rightly asks (he’s been invited to ask), life that isn’t caught up in our ideas of the “What do you mean by near and not absolute, ideas of the relative, ideas of deluded?” perfection, or ideas of ego identity. Is it possible to have a life not caught up in When sitting in the midst of this totality our neurotic patterns and defenses or with awareness, when you have learned to caught by the idea of being separated from step back from your egoistic perspective, our neurotic patterns or perceptions? Yes. and are asked, “Does a dog have a Buddha nature,” you can simply say, as Zen Mas- Yesterday, I told somebody in dokusan, ter Joshu once did, “yes.” Joshu could “To penetrate Mu, you don’t need to add say “yes” without being caught like most anything, but you need to subtract.” of us are by ideas of Buddha nature, dog That’s inaccurate and wrongly said. nature or ideas of enlightenment. Like- There’s nothing to subtract and there’s cer- wise from beyond egoistic attachment to tainly nothing that needs to be added. the idea of rain, one could respond to Penetrating or realizing Mu does require Kyosei lived during the ninth and tenth Kyosei’s question about the noise outside that you step back from your patterns, centuries, at the height of the Chinese Zen by saying, “the voice of the rain.” In this neurosis, defenses and ideas. We must renaissance. In the West, it’s not widely case the monk responded more like, step back to take a wide view, but there is known that there was a great renaissance in “Why, it’s the rain, Master!” It all de- no need to subtract anything. When there China between the eighth and tenth centu- pends on how it’s said. Is the speaker is a wide view of the pain, fatigue or other ries, it was as big as, no bigger than, the aware of the totality? Or is the person re- mental patterns, they are no longer hin- European renaissance of which we are all sponding from superficial ideas and con- drances. When our perspective is narrow, familiar. There was a huge surge in hu- cepts of reality? limited to an individualistic view, it’s one man genius in China at that time! Kyosei hell realm after another. In every action, was a dharma brother of Ummon, with Kyosei then goes on to say, “To say it in our practice points us at a life that tran- whom we’re all familiar; both were the sphere of realization may be easy but scends ideas of the apparent and real, rela- Dharma heirs of Seppo. Kyosei asked a to say it in the sphere of transcendence is tive and absolute, particular and universal, monk, not with ignorance but gentle exag- difficult.” For example, if you are aware subject and object, this and that, and good gerated innocence and calculated investiga- that you are engaged in a Mondo (Zen dia- and bad. Then, with a single word or ges- tion, “What is that noise outside?” How logue) and you’re asked, “What is the ture, you cut away all complications and can it be innocent and calculated at once? noise outside,” and, instead of saying “it’s encumbrances; you are then able to live Well, leave it to a ! It’s a the rain falling,” you said, “Muuuu,” life fully, openheartedly and compassion- probe. while genuinely feeling Mu, that’s re- ately. Warning! To live life this way is sponding in the realm of realization. Say- like walking the ridge of an iceberg or There are said to be four different kinds of ing it in the realm of realization is quite treading the edge of a sword. Katsu’s in the Rinzai . These are easy, you just say Mu. Everybody gets it. Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 5

A +! Mu. Ah, but what is Mu? Who’s and acting. This practice helps us to saying Mu? Setting these questions aside minimally be aware of what we’re point- Like a Dream, for a moment, if you respond with Mu to ing at. We are pointing at the moon, and any question asked, then you are respond- we are never going to get there! At best, Like a Fantasy ing in the realm of realization. But, what we get to a mountaintop, which is still a Report by Tina (Seimu) Grant does it mean to say it in the realm of tran- long, long way from the moon, but this scendence? That’s not so easy. To do so, training does at least point us in the right one must step back even from Mu, step direction. It points us at transcendence; it back from the black before black before points us at everyday openhearted, mind- black. Now, what is the noise outside? ful, caring activity. When eating, just eat. Who sees the morning mist? Who hears When preparing a meal, chop vegetables. the rain falling? Who feels the sun on Afterwards, wash your bowls. Kyosei can your face? make use of the relative to point at the ab- solute. This is what is meant by “near but To say it in the realm of the relative, just not deluded.” How would you do it? say, “I do.” There is nothing wrong with this way of responding, but it is superfi- Setcho’s verse begins, “The empty hall cial. In a Zen dialog we are trying for resounds with the voice of the raindrops. more depth. Hence in dokuson you will Even a master fails to answer.” The empty quickly hear ring, ring. Perhaps you hall resounds with the voice of the rain- would try, “You do?” Ring, ring. “We drops. The Zendo is empty. No one is in do?” Ring, ring (laughter). “We all do?” it. Do you see why even a master fails to Ring, ring (laughter). answer? The rain on the roof and the ground is deafening; even when it’s not So, now, you all know how to say it in raining, it’s still deafening! the realm of realization and in the realm of the relative. Of course saying Mu when If you say, “Ah, I’ve turned the current, I you are not feeling Mu won’t have any get it!”, you have no true understanding. depth. Saying it in the realm or the rela- But, if you get stuck in the idea of under- tive doesn’t require any depth! But how standing or not understanding, forget do you say it in the realm of transcen- about it! Just forget about it! The popu- MOVING DAY dence? There are ways to learn about how lar Jamaican phrase, “Don’t worry, be to approach transcendence, but Zen is not happy” comes to mind. A snail leaves the zendo so interested in how you approach koans Carrying his own shell. as in how you live a life of transcendence, “Misty with rain, the northern and He goes along the old road a life of being an effective voice of the southern mountains.” No more can be Passing under the Bodhi tree, Dharma. This is a never-ending struggle. said. Never-ending! Stepping over fallen flowers. On his way, he calls to spring With gassho, Actually, it is very simple to live a life of Speaking softly to the breeze, transcendence. Just live an ordinary life, a “Three thousand worlds are my home!” life where your every day activity is mani- Genjo March 2, 1947 festing the Tao, caring for all beings great and small, animate and inanimate. When “Zen is not a religion based on faith; nor hungry prepare a meal, when tired sleep, if is it some sort of speculative philosophy. you want to act just act, if you don’t want Autumn Sesshin 2007 It is the actualization of an unselfish life.” to act, don’t! Yet, a life of openhearted Closing Incense Poem This line comes from an undated teisho activity is oh, so difficult! We tend to be given by Nyogen Senzaki titled, Zen and so defended and self-centered, we are not Who feels the brush American Life. From all I have read about able to be openhearted and therefore are of- this modest Zen Master, whether he knew ten intimidated by the simplest things and of early autumn’s breeze? so or not, he was describing his own life. fearful of acting selflessly. But, all in all, Who sees the morning mist In reading about the great Zen teachers living a life of transcendence is just a little who came to the West, who sacrificed bit easier if you know how to say it in the and evening moon? their lives to transmit this Way of Zen, I realm of transcendence. If you can say it Gentle rain, who hears it’s sound? am struck by the manner in which Dharma in the realm of transcendence then at least forces one to trust in the unseen unfold- you are aware of what you’re looking for, Pitter-patter, Pitter-patter. ing. And so it was for Nyogen Senzaki, and it becomes easier to discern what the first Zen teacher who came to live in needs doing. White clouds ascend Mt. Rainier, these . Instructed by his teacher to “remain in this Koan practice can help each one of us to quickly gone. discern the transcendent course of speaking Continued on next page… Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 6

Continued from previous page… He goes freely like a floating cloud Or running rivulet— Further Adventures ‘strange land’ and adopt its new language Without fighting. with Hakuin Zenji and culture… to remain anonymous and January 7, 1945 not to teach Zen for seventeen years,” Report by Sally (Zenka) Metcalf Nyogen Senzaki found that he was work- CLOSING THE HALL ing twenty or more hours a day just to make ends meet. The year was 1905. Fellow students: The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Under Heart Mountain Hakuin and The Zen Master Hakuin: Se- In retrospect, we see the inherent Dharma We formed a Sangha for three years lected Writings was one of my readings for wisdom in Soyen Shaku’s instructions. If And learned to practice this intensive. one, in this case Nyogen Senzaki, is The wisdom of Avalokitesvara. forced to live within their new cultural The gate of the barbed wire fence opens. surrounding, unable to do what they know Selected Writings, translated by Philip best, forced into adaptation, eliminating You are now free Yampolsky, is a collection of orategami, all separation from the new culture, one To contact other students, or letters Hakuin wrote throughout his ca- would be better equipped to teach. Indeed, Who join you to save all sentient beings reer in the 1600s to various individuals: in the introduction to the book, Eido Ro- From ignorance and suffering. noblemen, nuns, governors. I must hang shi writes that he believes it was this im- August 15, 1945 my head and admit to being hungry for mersion in American culture that brought readings that guide me spiritually. Admo- the unfolding and rooting of “the starkly His poetry speaks of his gentleness in the nitions to noblemen promising Hellfire for simple, deeply idealistic, pure Zen that face of oppression, his willingness to keeping too many costly prostitutes at the was Senzaki’s gift to America.” Nyogen teach all who show an interest in Zen, and expense of their people’s welfare are not Senzaki’s deep idealism was seemingly his deep understanding of the layers and my interest. Perhaps my Zen eye is not not shaken by three years of internment at textures that make up this strange Ameri- fully open. Heart Mountain in Wyoming during can way of life. WWII, but was stirred into a deeper, richer Zen soup as expressed by poems written As I read Nyogen Senzaki’s teishos, I I did delight in the footnotes. They were during that time. found within them a fierce gentleness and peppered with phrases such as “Hakuin a straightforwardness that belies their wrongly attributes this poem to …” and PARTING depth. It would be so easy to read these “Hakuin misquotes…” and “No such quo- compassionate, graceful talks and think tation could be found in the … .” Thus have I heard: the surface words are the only message, Blast these picky academicians, anyway! The army ordered but that is not the case. The directness of They’re so hard on a fellow’s reputation. All Japanese faces to be evacuated his message may seem simple, but, on a However, the footnotes were also rich with From the city of . deeper level, I have yet to put into trans- Buddhist lists: the 5 coverings, the 10 This homeless monk has nothing mittable thought what shifted for me when bonds, the 4 virtues, the 8 winds, and so I read his words. I believe however, that but a Japanese face. on. I’m going to type them all up and put this shifting, this reassembling of Zen un- He stayed here thirteen springs them on my wall. Meditating with all the faces derstanding deep within one’s psyche is From all parts of the world, Nyogen Senzaki’s gift to the world. That And studied the teachings his writing is so accessible, so readable The Essential Teachings of Zen Master of Buddha with them. means that “wherever he goes” he contin- Hakuin is a translation by Norman Wad- ues to teach “friends of all faces, Beckon- dell of Hakuin’s pivotal Sokko-roku Wherever he goes, he may ing them with the empty hands of Zen.” form other groups Kaien-fusetsu, a presentation he gave at a Inviting friends of all faces, large gathering held at his temple early in Beckoning them with the empty hands his career. In it, he details the disastrous of Zen. decline of Zen and lambastes the so-called May 7, 1942 masters of his age. It had material I could get my baby Zen teeth into. How this es- SPRING MESSAGE sential writing came to be is another de- light. Man makes enclosures by himself When he thinks himself Hakuin’s monks, being devoted to their Separated from other beings. master, decided to bring the Zen world to- Bars as such should be taken off. gether to hear his teachings at a conference The sooner the better. in their ramshackle temple. They set to One hesitates and loses in vain. work shoring up the place as best they Nothing disturbs the unselfish man could on a shoestring budget; and sent Who harmonizes with heaven and earth. their protesting master to the home of a

Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 7 wealthy layman to keep him out from un- struggle “I was moved by feelings of pity nouncement; and rob everyone of the es- derfoot. He was accompanied by two to assist it with my fingernail.” But the sential, small awakenings that lead us on monks whose objective was to coax him cicada, once freed, never again flew prop- to greater kensho, each in our own time. into writing a show-stopping keynote erly. Hakuin, regretting his error, made Me and my busy-body fingernail poking speech. Instead, their master slept. this analogy,“Present-day Zen teachers act itself into other people’s process! in much the same way when they guide Day in and day out his contented snores their students…They take young people of Despite the hilarity of its origins, one of rattled the nobleman’s shoji screens. exceptional talent—those destined to be- the most powerful images appearing Alarmed, the monks repeatedly tried to come the very pillars and ridgepoles of our throughout Sokko-roku Kaien-fusetsu is rouse him, begging for the needed text. school—and with their extremely ill-ad- venom—that cup of deadly brew with The few times he woke, he smiled benefi- vised and inopportune methods end up which a potent Zen master kills his un- cently, rolled over, and passed out again. making them into something half-baked wary students’ attachments. (This from the man who, at his temple, retired late nightly, sitting in rigid zazen Evidently, Hakuin terrified his students. posture on his sleeping mat; and who had “Torei remembered him as ‘a sheer cliff an aide wrap a futon around him, cinching towering abruptly before me. A menacing it tight. Hakuin was a virtual prisoner un- presence stalking the temple like a great til released in time for early morning serv- ox, glaring around with the eyes of an an- ices the next day.) gry tiger.’” He beat and scathingly rebuked his students, many of whom were half- After a few weeks, the aides succeeded in starved and living in camps in the snow waking their somnambulant master. Ha- around Hakuin’s impoverished zendo. Still kuin began to talk. They wrote furiously. they stayed. It is said that he had at least His speech was disjointed, sentences left 50 Dharma heirs. Powerful venom! hanging, words skipped. At last he fin- ished. And fell back to sleep. The aides In autumn sesshin, Genjo Osho spoke of quickly made a copy, knowing that when making the Chobo-ji forge hotter, of tem- he came to for real, he’d destroy the bril- pering our practice for steel. “How shall liant but sketchy speech. One aide carried we do this?” he asked us all to consider. his copy to a trusted editor for a rework. Shall we create a residential program? A On his way, he met a bookseller who was monastic program? Everything in me an- thrilled by the possibility of publishing swered, “Yes!” But how shall I help? Hakuin’s talk, which the aide characterized as capable of setting the entire Zen estab- In Philip Yampolsky’s forward for The lishment on its ear, and put Hakuin’s feet Zen Master Hakuin: Selected Writings, he firmly on the path to recognition as a quotes Muso as saying, “I have three Master of the first stature. and unachieved. This is a direct cause of the decline of our Zen school.” grades of disciples: those who devote themselves to casting aside the myriad cir- Hakuin did threaten to burn the manu- cumstances and investigate their own uch masters were themselves not to script, but to no avail, as the copy was S selves alone are of the highest grade; those blame, in Hakuin’s estimation. After all, just then headed from editor to publisher. whose practice is not pure and who are they had never encountered the “devious, Outfoxed! The conference went forward as fond of all sorts of studies are of the mid- villainous methods of a genuine master” planned and Sokko-roku Kaien-fusetsu dle grade; those who of themselves darken capable of opening their Zen eye. made Hakuin’s reputation. It detailed his the luminescence of their own spirits and criticisms of the state of Zen, the transfor- relish merely the spittle of the Buddhas and mation of which he dedicated himself to so Serendipitously, lessons from readings are the Patriarchs are of the lowest grade. fully and so effectively that he revitalized often punctuated in my life. Sitting in Those who befuddle their minds in non- the teaching of Zen. So powerful and autumn sesshin, it seemed I should bow Buddhist works and devote their effort to sweeping was his influence, that all pre- when Genko Ni Osho entered. Some peo- literary endeavors are nothing but shaven- sent schools of Rinzai Zen can be traced ple did, some did not. At break I checked headed laymen and are not fit to be classed back to him. with a senior Zen student. He confirmed even with those of the lowest grade.” the bow. Well, some of us don’t know,” I replied. “They’ll catch on soon enough,” Waddell prefaced his translation of or Hakuin’s idea of the first grade of dis- he said. F Sokko-roku Kaien-fusetsu with a letter ciple, he correctly quotes Kao-feng Yuan- Hakuin wrote to a layman. Hakuin de- miao as saying, “A person who commits scribes seeing a cicada shedding, its left What confidence in our growing mindful- wing caught in its old skin. Watching it ness! I would have had him make an an- Continued on next page… Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 8

Continued from previous page… insight. As we shape the coming transfor- at the smiley, doddering old nun, so well mations at Chobo-ji, we might be well loved by the Zendo dogs. I hope I will himself to the practice of Zen must be served by Hakuin’s example. have practiced in such a way that—while I equipped with three essentials. A great root might look harmless—I can brew them a of faith. A great ball of doubt. A great te- I turn 59 in November. Will I live to cruel cup of tea. And not a soul here at nacity of purpose.” reach my first thirty years of Zen practice? Chobo-ji will warn them. Maybe, maybe not, though I do come For me to help with Genjo Osho’s plans, from long-lived people. If I do make it, I some commitments are in order. While imagine that the fresh young unsui of our I’m not sure what “casting aside the myr- thriving residential program will chuckle iad circumstances” means, I commit to be- ing Muso and Hakuin’s first grade of disci- ple. I also commit to learning how to keep my busy-body fingernail to myself. And I commit to drinking my prescription of poison. I don’t doubt that these commit- ments will stoke my forge.

Speaking of poison, we might consider brewing a new zendo infusion—a toxic tea. Death on a Cushion we could call it. Guaranteed terminal for all attachment to this world.

Through wrestling with koan, I begin to see that I’ve lived life like the man in Ha- kuin’s story who, wanting to taste sea wa- ter, sets out, only to lose heart and turn back repeatedly. If he would just keep go- ing, eventually he’d reach the ocean and, by sampling the waves, “he will know in- stantly the taste of sea water the world over…”

“Those Dharma patricians who explore the secret depths are like this too,” says Hakuin. “They go straight forward, boring into their own minds with unbroken effort, never letting up or retreating. Then the breakthrough suddenly comes, and with that they penetrate their own nature, the nature of others, the nature of sentient beings…The great matter of their religious quest is completely and utterly resolved. There is nothing left. They are free of birth and death. What a thrilling moment it is!”

Torei Zenji attributes over one hundred Dharma heirs to Hakuin, of which 50 can be validated. Zenji seemed too clear of mind to give transmission in error. What was his secret of success? My feeling is that he provided a thriving envi- ronment for students who first and fore- most delved into their true nature—Muso’s first grade of disciple. And he unerringly guided them with brilliance and penetrating Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3 Page 9 Rohatsu Sesshin About Dai Bai Zan Schedule Cho Bo Zen Ji Please make your reservations! by Dec. Introduction to Zen 15th.! The cost of sesshin is $350 (less Tuesdays, 7:30-8:30 pm dues). No part-time participation is In 1978, Zen Master Genki Takabayashi Zazen! allowed.! We will leave from our Zendo, was invited by the Zen Center, Monday - Friday, 5:30 am, 1 hr. 1811 20th Ave., by 4 pm on Thursday, founded by Dr. Glenn Webb (at the time a Saturdays, 6:30 - 8:00 am Jan. 3rd, 2008.! Please be at the Zendo by UW Art History professor), to become the Sundays, 6:30 pm, 1 hr. 3:00 pm so that we can pack up and make resident teacher. He accepted, and by 1983 he formalized his teaching style around a Dharma Talks car pool arrangements to Camp 1st and 3rd Sundays, 7:30 pm, 1 hr. small group of students, and founded Dai Indianola.!Formal! zazen will begin after Sesshins: Quarterly week-long retreats a light! dinner. Rohatsu ends around 10:00 Bai Zan Cho Bo Zen Ji, translated as Great Plum Mountain Listening to the Dharma last week in March, June, September AM on Friday, January 11th. Please don't and early January. plan departure flights before 2pm. Zen Temple. Mini-Sesshins: Half day retreats with breakfast, Dharma Talk and Dharma If you are coming from the airport you Before Genki Roshi came to Seattle, he trained for nearly twenty years at Daitoku- Interview. 5 - 11:30 am, Sundays: can take Shuttle Express, (800) 487-7433, 11/11, 12/16, 2/10/08, 3/9, 4/13 from the baggage claim to the Zendo! for Ji, the head Rinzai temple in Japan. In ad- dition, Genki Roshi directed a Rinzai tem- about $30 per person (discounts available Rohatsu Sesshin: 1/3/08 - 1/11/08 for groups), 45 minute travel time.! ple in , Japan. He entered the when he was 11 years old. Spring Sesshin: 3/22/08 - 3/28/08 http://www.shuttleexpress.com/! Or, you Summer Sesshin: 6/28/08 - 7/4/08 can take the #194 Metro buses from bag- Autumn Sesshin: 9/27/08- 10/3/08 fter 20 years of gage claim to downtown, and then transfer A tirelessly giving to either the #12 or #43 to Capitol Hill himself to the We Are Located: at 1811 20th and the Zendo (travel time is about 1.5 transmission of Ave., (one half-block north of Madison hrs.). Bus fare is $1.50.! Buddha Dharma to and south of Denny). Street parking is the West, in 1997 available in front or between 19th and 20th Please bring a zabuton and zafu if you he retired as our on Denny, or off-street parking is available have them.! Bring clothes for cold, wet teacher, got married behind the house. After entering the front weather (layers are best), and sturdy shoes and moved to Mon- door, remove your shoes and socks in the for outdoor kinhin (walking tana. In retirement entry way, and proceed to the Zendo meditation).!Bring a sleeping bag, pillow, he does the activi- (meditation hall) upstairs. 206-328-3944 towel, washcloth and flashlight.! Eating ties he loves best: bowls and utensils will be provided (bring gardening, pottery, Dues and Fees: go to support the traditional nested bowls if you have them). calligraphy, writing life of this temple. We have no outside and cooking. Many support from any organization. We serve three vegetarian meals, one visit him in the large tea and two small teas per day.! hope of learning Dues are $60 a month or whatever one can Leftovers may be available for snacking at something about a afford. Any amount received monthly the cook’s discretion.! Hot coffee and tea Zen life. means that you will receive this quarterly will be available most of the time.! If you newsletter, receive discounts on retreats, want food to munch on, you will have to Genjo Osho began his Zen training in and be considered an active member. bring your own.! The kitchen and provi- 1975, was ordained in 1980, became an The suggested fee for any morning or eve- sions in Totem Lodge are reserved for the Osho (full priest) in 1990, and our Abbot ning practice period, including Tuesday planned meals. Totem has two dormitory in 1999. In 1981-82 he trained at Ryutaku- night introduction and Sunday night wings (male & female) with bathrooms, ji in Japan. Genjo Osho is assisted by Dharma Talk is five dollars. The $5 fee is and in Chak Chak, about 50 yards from Genko Kathy Blackman Ni Osho. In addi- waived for all members. zendo, there are semi-private rooms. Do tion to his Zen duties, Genjo Osho is a NOT use cell phones at Rohatsu! psychotherapist in private practice, a cer- The suggested fee for mini-sesshins is tificated spiritual director, married to wife, $20. Fees for the March, July, and Sep- Morning wake-up bell is at 4:00 am. Carolyn, and father to daughter, Adrienne. tember sesshins are $210, and Rohatsu There are 30 min. breaks after each meal. Our temple is in the Rinzai Zen School. Sesshin is $350. Members may subtract Structured sitting will adjourn at around Since Genki Roshi retired, Genjo Osho- their monthly dues from the week-long 10:30 PM the first two nights and goes san has continued his training with Eido sesshin cost. For more information see: later and later the following nights, T. Shimano Roshi, abbot of Dai Bosatsu www.choboji.org (personal sitting) follows this. Monastery in New York State. Plum Mountain News Vol. 14.3