Sesshin Sutra Book Jikyouji – Cedar Rapids
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Sesshin Sutra Book Jikyouji – Cedar Rapids 2 Table of Contents Robe Verse ………………………………………………………………….... 3 Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra ……………………………………. 4 Harmony of Difference and Sameness ………………………………….. 6 Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi ……………………………………. 8 Jijuyu Zammai ………………………………………………………………… 10 Fukanzazengi …………………………………………………………………. 12 Sutra Opening Verse ………………………………………………………… 15 Sutra Closing Verse ………………………………………………………….. 15 Four Vows ……………………………………………………………………… 15 Meal Verses – short ………………………………………………………….. 16 Meal Verses – long (gyohatsu) ……………………………………………. 17 Sutras for Services Morning ― Heart of Great Wisdom Sutra Noon ― Harmony of Difference and Sameness or Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi Supper ― Jijuyu Zammai End of day ― Fukanzazengi October 2020 3 At end of second period, after the zazen bell rings: (Robe Verse) (for putting on rakusu or okesa) 3 times all: How great, the robe of liberation! A formless field of merit, Wrapping ourselves in Buddha’s teaching We free all beings. Put on rakusu or okesa October 2020 4 Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra (Maha Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra) Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, When deeply practicing prajna paramita, Clearly saw that all five aggregates are empty And thus relieved all suffering. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, Emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness. Emptiness itself form. Sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness are also like this. Shariputra, all Dharmas are marked by emptiness; They neither arise nor cease, Are neither defiled nor pure, Neither increase nor decrease. Therefore, given emptiness, there is no form, No sensation, no perception, no formation, no consciousness; No eyes, no ears, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; No sight, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind; No realm of sight, and so forth, down to no realm of mind-consciousness. There is neither ignorance nor extinction of ignorance, and so forth down to neither old age and death, nor extinction of old age and death; No suffering, no cause, no cessation, no path; No knowledge and no attainment. With nothing to attain, A bodhisattva relies on prajna paramita, And thus the mind is without hindrance. Without hindrance, there is no fear. Far beyond all inverted views, one realizes nirvana. All buddhas of past, present, and future rely on prajna paramita October 2020 5 And thereby attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, know the prajna paramita As the great miraculous mantra, The great bright mantra, The supreme mantra, The incomparable mantra, Which removes all suffering And is true, not false. Therefore we proclaim the prajna paramita mantra, The mantra that says: “Gate Gate Paragate Parasamgate Bodhi Svaha.” Eko (doan) May this merit extend universally to all, So that we together with all beings Realize the Buddha Way. Dedication (all) All Buddhas, ten directions, three worlds All honored ones, bodhisattvas, mahasattvas Wisdom beyond wisdom, Maha Prajna-paramita October 2020 6 The Harmony of Difference and Sameness (Sandokai) by Shih T’ou Hsi Ch’ien – Sekito Kisen (700 - 790) The mind of the great sage of India Is intimately transmitted from west to east. While human faculties are sharp or dull, the Way has no northern or southern ancestors. The spiritual source shines clear in the light; the branching streams flow on in the dark. Grasping at things is surely delusion; according with sameness is still not enlightenment. All the objects of the senses transpose and do not transpose. Transposing, they are linked together; Not transposing, each keeps its place. Sights vary in quality and form, sounds differ as pleasing or harsh. Darkness merges refined and common words; Brightness distinguishes clear and murky phrases. The four elements return to their natures just as a child turns to its mother. Fire heats, wind moves, water wets, earth is solid. Eye and sights, ear and sounds, nose and smells, tongue and tastes; Thus for each and every thing, according to the roots, the leaves spread forth. Trunk and branches share the essence; revered and common, each has its speech. In the light there is darkness, but don’t take it as darkness; In the dark there is light, but don’t see it as light. Light and dark oppose one another like the front and back foot in walking. Each of the myriad things has its merit, expressed according to function and place. Existing phenomenally like box and cover joining; according with principle like arrow points meeting. October 2020 7 Hearing the words, understand the meaning; don’t establish standards of your own. Not understanding the way before your eyes. how do you know the path you walk? Walking forward is not a matter of far or near, but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way. I respectfully urge you who study the mystery, do not pass your days and nights in vain. Eko (doan) May this merit extend universally to all, So that we together with all beings Realize the Buddha Way. Dedication (all) All Buddhas, ten directions, three worlds All honored ones, bodhisattvas, mahasattvas Wisdom beyond wisdom, Maha Prajna-paramita October 2020 8 Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi (Hokyo Zammai) by Tung Shan Liang Chieh – Tozan Ryokai ( 807 – 869 ) The dharma of thusness is intimately transmitted by buddhas and ancestors; Now you have it; preserve it well. A silver bowl filled with snow; a heron hidden in the moon. Taken as similar, they are not the same; not distinguished, their places are known. The meaning does not reside in the words, but a pivotal moment brings it forth. Move and you are trapped, miss and you fall into doubt and vacillation. Turning away and touching are both wrong, for it is like a massive fire. Just to portray it in literary form is to stain it with defilement. In darkest night it is perfectly clear; in the light of dawn it is hidden. It is a standard for all things; its use removes all suffering. Although it is not constructed, it is not beyond words. Like facing a precious mirror; form and reflection behold each other. You are not it, but in truth it is you. Like a newborn child, it is fully endowed with five aspects. No going, no coming, no arising, no abiding; “Baba wawa” – is anything said or not? In the end it says nothing, for the words are not yet right. In the hexagram “double fire,” when main and subsidiary lines are transposed, piled up they become three, the permutations make five, Like the taste of the five-flavored herb, like the five-pronged vajra. Wondrously embraced within the complete, drumming and singing begin together. Penetrate the source and travel the pathways; embrace the territory and treasure the roads. You would do well to respect this; do not neglect it. Natural and wondrous, it is not a matter of delusion or enlightenment. Within causes and conditions, time and season, it is serene and illuminating. So minute it enters where there is no gap, so vast it transcends dimension. A hairsbreadth’s deviation, and you are out of tune. Now there are sudden and gradual, in which teachings and approaches arise. When teachings and approaches are distinguished, each has its standard. Whether teachings and approaches are mastered or not, reality constantly flows. October 2020 9 Outside still and inside trembling, like tethered colts or cowering rats, The ancient sages grieved for them, and offered them the dharma. Led by their inverted views, they take black for white. When inverted thinking stops, the affirming mind naturally accords. If you want to follow in the ancient tracks, please observe the sages of the past. One on the verge of realizing the buddha way contemplated a tree for ten kalpas, Like a battle-scarred tiger, like a horse with shanks gone gray. Because some are vulgar, jeweled tables and ornate robes; Because others are wide-eyed, cats and white oxen. With his archer’s skill, Yi hit the mark at a hundred paces, But when arrows meet head-on, how could it be a matter of skill? The wooden man starts to sing; the stone woman gets up dancing. It is not reached by feelings or consciousness, how could it involve deliberation? Ministers serve their lords, children obey their parents; Not obeying is not filial, failure to serve is no help. With practice hidden, function secretly, like a fool, like an idiot; Just to continue in this way is called the host within the host. Eko (doan) May this merit extend universally to all, So that we together with all beings Realize the Buddha Way. Dedication (all) All Buddhas, ten directions, three worlds All honored ones, bodhisattvas, mahasattvas Wisdom beyond wisdom, Maha Prajna-paramita October 2020 10 Jijuyu Zammai Self Receiving and Using Samadhi by Eihei Dogen (1200 – 1254) For all ancestors and buddhas who have been dwelling in and maintaining buddha- dharma, practicing upright sitting in jijuyu zammai is the true path for opening up enlightenment. Both in India and China, those who have attained enlightenment have followed this way. This is because each teacher and each disciple has been intimately and correctly transmitting this subtle method and receiving and maintaining its true spirit. According to the unmistakenly handed down tradition, the straightforward buddha- dharma that has been simply transmitted is supreme among the supreme. From the time you begin practicing with a teacher, the practices of incense burning, bowing, nembutsu, repentance, and reading sutras are not at all essential; just sit, dropping off body and mind. When one displays the buddha mudra with one’s whole body and mind, sitting upright in this samadhi even for a short time, everything in the entire dharma world becomes buddha mudra, and all space in the universe completely becomes enlightenment. Therefore, it enables the buddha-tathagathas to increase the dharma joy of their own original grounds and renew the splendidness of the way of awakening.