DOCSLIB.ORG

Zen Sesshin with Kobun Chino Sensei

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Zen Sesshin with Kobun Chino Sensei Zen Sesshin with Kobun Chino Sensei Forewords In 1974, at Naropa Institute, Kobun accepted me as a disciple. It’s almost like I can’t speak for the person that I was, back then. It feels like I’m speaking for someone else. But at that time, I think, I felt that my sitting was a true spiritual practice, that I was actually doing spiritual work, arriving at reality by my body and mind. I guess I could say that I was more idealistic than I am now. My sitting has become less busy, less focused on trying to arrive somewhere. When you do a sesshin, you have to come home to yourself, as you are. But your sense of your body and your mind is not just your located consciousness, or your particular bag of skin, but something bigger than that. So you could say that, back then, what I considered “spiritual practice“ was endeavoring to come home to things as they are, bhu ta ta ya tha, “as it isness, things as they are.” I’ve become interested in Sanskrit words, because their meaning is broader, bigger, more loaded, than most English words. In my understanding, what Sanskrit words mean and what they convey, compared to English, is like a paragraph, compared to a sentence. For instance, yatham bhutam,isaSanskritword,anoldword.It means “thusness, isness, nowness, unbound and unfabricated reality.” When we are able to sit, and at other times, too, although when we sit we are setting up a deliberate situation, it is to make that experience accessible, or if the experience, itself, is not accessible, to make ourselves more pliable, to be able to be taught, to be able to receive reality, without fabrication. On the other hand, I can’t say that I go into sesshin, or into practice, with an aspiration for that experience. I might say that I don’t think of practice as a project or an assignment, to wake up, or to be a better person. I don’t go into practice like that. I just sit down, to sit down. Sitting is kind of like taking a break, or taking a rest, but not the superficial kind of rest that we want when we are physically tired. When we are existentially tired, just tired of not being complete, of not really being a complete person, then it’s a good time to take a break and be quiet. Sitting is not necessarily about finding happiness, either, although they say that when the Buddha awakened, he was happy, so thoroughly happy, that even his five friends who had rejected him when he renounced his ascetic ways, couldn’t continue to reject him, because he appeared so complete, so happy, so real, that they had to inquire, “What’s going on with you? Why are you so happy?" They became his first disciples. The word “happy” in modern usage can be very superficial. It has to do with getting your immediate needs met, or believing yourself to be satisfied in one way or another, or 1 not being in pain, or having something given to you that gives you pleasure. Happiness in aBuddhistcontextmightbetterbedescribedastheSanskritword,piti,orpithi. Com- monly it gets translated as “bliss." This meaning is often misconstrued because “bliss," in English, means some sort of ecstatic state, but piti means a thorough sense of well being and completeness, composure, and confidence, a feeling of having arrived, being deeply happy, not just superficially happy. With piti there isn’t a question of it lasting a short time or a long time, or that it has any duration. It’s more that it’s a feeling of completion, and being complete, not only is it not superficial, it isn’t transitory. So the Buddha was happy in that way, and it not only affected him, it affected the people whom he encountered. People asked why he was so happy, and in answering, he started to teach. And what he taught, initially, was the reason why people were not happy, laying out four truths: Unhappiness exists, it has a cause, there can be cessation of unhappiness, and there is a path, which he called the Eightfold Path. But, thinking about my own happiness or unhappiness in meditation, I’ve had experiences where I’ve had insight, and where I felt good in meditation. I’ve also had experiences when I struggled, and felt overwhelmed or defeated by the fullness and creativity in my mind, my mental production. At times I’ve had trouble following my breath, when I have a busy mind. I have occasionally made a little scene for myself, in my mind. It goes, “Okay, you’re having trouble following your breath. What if you were breathing for another person, like arespiratorinahospital,andthatpersonneededyoutobeawareofeverybreath,orthey would die." This has helped me to be mindful, although often I don’t quite believe the scenario I have set up, so my mind wanders! Idon’tthinkI’mlookingfor,ornecessarilyreceiving,happiness,intheordinarysense, from meditation. One of many ways to understand the meditation experience is suggested by the meal ritual called “oryoki." Interestingly, the term means, “just enough" in Japanese. One could say, “just enough food, just enough happiness." Related to this idea, “just enough" is the notion of a “complete" person. What does it mean for a person to be complete, to arrive at the totality of themselves, or, rather, to rest in the totality of themselves? What does it take for a meal, or a person, to be complete? One knows there is still plenty of food in the kitchen, lots of work to be done, a great deal of unfinished business to be taken care of, but, in this moment, there is enough. A complete person is one who brings all of himself, or herself, to the moment. For instance, when meeting with another person, it doesn’t mean one may not have other concerns, worries about a partner, for example, at the same time he or she is meeting you. Such a person doesn’t hold back from the present moment, lean to one side or another, cling to this or that view. A complete person is right in the middle of the situation, so that you experience meeting with a real person, a whole person. Further, it’s not just that person meeting me and me meeting him or her, there is a feeling that that person meets everyone, meets a cup of tea, meets troubles, meets the tire pressure in their car, meets everything, with that same willingness to be upright. This is what I saw in Kobun, when I was face to face with Kobun. For the most part, he had no hidden agenda. He was willing to teach me, invited me to sit down with him, and I found it a kind of right place to be. I knew I couldn’t be like him. I didn’t have a personality that was similar to his, but I wanted to be affected by him. In Kobun, I saw a complete person. When talking about sesshin, more than once I heard Kobun say you should settle your life, make arrangements, and go into it, not like jumping off acliff,butwalkingintoashallow 2 incline. In other words, don’t just jump into sesshin from the busyness of your life. Move into it slowly, gradually sloughing off the concerns of your busy daily life. And after sesshin, go slowly back into the world. Don’t jump back into the world. Move slowly, and don’t load yourself with some stimulating activity that you believe you missed while you were gone. A week before and after sesshin, move slowly into and out of it. For my whole life, I’ve had intentions of doing that, and haven’t yet done it! Sesshin is a device arranged to make things very, very simple, minimal, and direct, for sitting. It might be seen as an artificial situation which is set up to invite ourselves to notice that we’re here. We’re just here. The various forms included in sesshin are intended to support this effort. Most of us were brought up to have a goal, something to accomplish, whenever anything involves effort, so the supporting structure in sesshin is designed to let us just be, alone, and with a group of people. Being responsible for helping with the structure, is nothing more nor less than taking care of the whole, the group, and the experience, which has no goal. The Japanese meaning of “sesshin" is “to gather," “to gather as one, to gather as one mind." “Shin" is “mind/heart," “to gather together as one heart, one mind." It includes working together, sitting down and facing the wall together, walking in meditation together. The Buddha is often in the middle, in the traditional zendo. And then around that altar, like a circle, are the backs of all the people. And these backs become more like guardians for the Buddha, for the soft core; we become these strong backs. We also become a mandala around the center of wisdom. Sometimes I feel my back and the back of the next person are like a shield. It must be the way a soldier feels going into battle, supported by the others. I actually have sat next to people and, without saying one word, have felt this bond, this enormous connection, something even beyond love. Sometimes I feel absolute unity with the people I’m sitting with. And then sometimes my knee hurts, and that’s not so good! I was hungry, one time, with a friend.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Still Mind at 20 Years: a Personal Reflection GATE
    March 2014 Vol.10 No. 1 in a one-room zendo in Jersey City. So I invited folks from a series of meditation sessions that Roshi had led at a church in Manhattan, as well as people I was seeing in my spiritual direction work who were interested in meditation. We called ourselves Greenwich Village Zen Community (GVZC) and Sensei Kennedy became our first teacher. We sat on chairs or, in some cases, on toss pillows that were strewn on the comfortable library sofa; there was no altar, no daisan, only two periods of sitting with kin-hin in between, along with some basic instruction. My major . enduring memory is that on most Tuesdays as we began Still sitting at 7 pm, the chapel organist would begin his weekly practice. The organ was on the other side of the library wall so our sitting space was usually filled with Bach & Co. Having come to Zen to “be in silence,” it drove me rather crazy. Still Mind at 20 Years: I didn’t have to worry too much, though, because after a few months the staff told us the library was no longer available. So we moved, literally down the street, to the A Personal Reflection (cont. on pg 2) by Sensei Janet Jiryu Abels Still Mind Zendo was founded on a selfish act. I needed a sangha to support my solo practice and, since none existed, I formed one. Now, 20 years later, how grateful I am that enough people wanted to come practice with each other back then, for this same sangha has proved to be the very rock of my continuing awakening.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Diss Reformatted II
    “NEWS THAT STAYS NEWS”: TRANSFORMATIONS OF LITERATURE, GOSSIP, AND COMMUNITY IN MODERNITY Lindsay Rebecca Starck A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English and Comparative Literature. Chapel Hill 2016 Approved by: Gregory Flaxman Erin Carlston Eric Downing Andrew Perrin Pamela Cooper © 2016 Lindsay Rebecca Starck ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Lindsay Rebecca Starck: “News that stays news”: Transformations of Literature, Gossip, and Community in Modernity (Under the direction of Gregory Flaxman and Erin Carlston) Recent decades have demonstrated a renewed interest in gossip research from scholars in psychology, sociology, and anthropology who argue that gossip—despite its popular reputation as trivial, superficial “women’s talk”—actually serves crucial social and political functions such as establishing codes of conduct and managing reputations. My dissertation draws from and builds upon this contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship by demonstrating how the modernists incorporated and transformed the popular gossip of mass culture into literature, imbuing it with a new power and purpose. The foundational assumption of my dissertation is that as the nature of community changed at the turn of the twentieth century, so too did gossip. Although usually considered to be a socially conservative force that serves to keep social outliers in line, I argue that modernist writers transformed gossip into a potent, revolutionary tool with which modern individuals could advance and promote the progressive ideologies of social, political, and artistic movements. Ultimately, the gossip of key American expatriates (Henry James, Djuna Barnes, Janet Flanner, and Ezra Pound) became a mode of exchanging and redefining creative and critical values for the artists and critics who would follow them.
    [Show full text]
  • Primary Point, Vol 5 Num 3
    I 'I Non Profit Org. �I 'I U.S. Postage /I J PAID 1 Address Correction Requested i Permit #278 ,:i Return Postage Guaranteed Providence, RI 'I Ii ARY OINT PUBLISHED BY THE KWAN UM ZENSCHOOL K.B.C. Hong Poep Won VOLUME FIVE, NUMBER THREE 528 POUND ROAD, CUMBERLAND, RI 02864 (401)658-1476 NOVEMBER 1988 PERCEIVE UNIVERSAL SOUND An Interview with Zen Master Seung Sahn. we are centered we can control our This interview with Zen Master Seung Sahn strongly and thus our condition and situation. appeared in "The American Theosophist" feelings, (AT) in May 1985. It is reprinted by permis­ AT: When you refer to a "center" do you sion of the Theosophical Society in America, mean any particular point in the body? Wheaton, Illinois. The interviewer is Gary DSSN: No, it is not just one point. To be Doore. Zen Master Sahn is now ,I Seung strongly centered is to be at one with the to his students as Dae Soen Sa referred by universal center, which means infinite time Nim. (See note on 3) page and infinite space. Doore: What is Zen Gary chanting? The first time one tries chanting medita­ Seung Sahn (Dae Soen Sa Nim): Chanting is tion there will be much confused thinking, very important in our practice. We call it many likes, dislikes and so on. This indicates "chanting meditation." Meditation means keep­ that the whole mind is outwardly-oriented. ing a not-moving mind. The important thing in Therefore, it is necessary first to return to chanting meditation is to perceive the sound of one's energy source, to return to a single point.
    [Show full text]
  • Omori Sogen the Art of a Zen Master
    Omori Sogen The Art of a Zen Master Omori Roshi and the ogane (large temple bell) at Daihonzan Chozen-ji, Honolulu, 1982. Omori Sogen The Art of a Zen Master Hosokawa Dogen First published in 1999 by Kegan Paul International This edition first published in 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © The Institute of Zen Studies 1999 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 10: 0–7103–0588–5 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978–0–7103–0588–6 (hbk) Publisher’s Note The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent. The publisher has made every effort to contact original copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace. Dedicated to my parents Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Part I - The Life of Omori Sogen Chapter 1 Shugyo: 1904–1934 Chapter 2 Renma: 1934–1945 Chapter 3 Gogo no Shugyo: 1945–1994 Part II - The Three Ways Chapter 4 Zen and Budo Chapter 5 Practical Zen Chapter 6 Teisho: The World of the Absolute Present Chapter 7 Zen and the Fine Arts Appendices Books by Omori Sogen Endnotes Index Acknowledgments Many people helped me to write this book, and I would like to thank them all.
    [Show full text]
  • Zen Masters at Play and on Play: a Take on Koans and Koan Practice
    ZEN MASTERS AT PLAY AND ON PLAY: A TAKE ON KOANS AND KOAN PRACTICE A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Brian Peshek August, 2009 Thesis written by Brian Peshek B.Music, University of Cincinnati, 1994 M.A., Kent State University, 2009 Approved by Jeffrey Wattles, Advisor David Odell-Scott, Chair, Department of Philosophy John R.D. Stalvey, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Chapter 1. Introduction and the Question “What is Play?” 1 Chapter 2. The Koan Tradition and Koan Training 14 Chapter 3. Zen Masters At Play in the Koan Tradition 21 Chapter 4. Zen Doctrine 36 Chapter 5. Zen Masters On Play 45 Note on the Layout of Appendixes 79 APPENDIX 1. Seventy-fourth Koan of the Blue Cliff Record: 80 “Jinniu’s Rice Pail” APPENDIX 2. Ninty-third Koan of the Blue Cliff Record: 85 “Daguang Does a Dance” BIBLIOGRAPHY 89 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are times in one’s life when it is appropriate to make one’s gratitude explicit. Sometimes this task is made difficult not by lack of gratitude nor lack of reason for it. Rather, we are occasionally fortunate enough to have more gratitude than words can contain. Such is the case when I consider the contributions of my advisor, Jeffrey Wattles, who went far beyond his obligations in the preparation of this document. From the beginning, his nurturing presence has fueled the process of exploration, allowing me to follow my truth, rather than persuading me to support his.
    [Show full text]
  • WW July August.Pub
    Water Wheel Being one with all Buddhas, I turn the water wheel of compassion. —Gate of Sweet Nectar Zen Center of Los Angeles JULY / AUGUST 2011 Great Dragon Mountain / Buddha Essence Temple 2553 Buddhist Era Vol. 12 No. 4 Abiding Nowhere By Sensei Merle Kodo Boyd Book of Serenity, Case 75 Zuigan’s Permanent Principle Preface Even though you try to call it thus, it quickly changes. At the place where knowledge fails to reach, it should not be talked about. Here: is there something to penetrate? Main Case Attention! Zuigan asked Ganto, “What is the fundamental constant “Before we can say anything true about principle?” ourselves, we have changed. “ Ganto replied, “Moving.” Zuigan asked, “When moving, what then?” Ganto said, “You don’t see the fundamental constant The preface of this koan is clear. With wisdom and principle.” compassion, it points us in the direction of things as they Zuigan stood there thinking. are. Even as we perceive a thing, it changes. As we create Ganto remarked, “If you agree, you are not free of sense a name for what is, it is changing. As we use one word, and matter; if you don’t agree, you’ll be forever sunk in another is needed. This preface describes our human con- birth and death.” dition. An effort to settle in certainty will meet frustration and disappointment. Before we can say anything true Appreciatory Verse about ourselves, we have changed. What we say is only The round pearl has no hollows, partially true at best. The great raw gem isn’t polished.
    [Show full text]
  • 7 Questions for 7 Teachers
    7 Questions for 7 Teachers On the adaptation of Buddhism to the West and beyond. Seven Buddhist teachers from around the world were asked seven questions on the challenges that Buddhism faces, with its origins in different Asian countries, in being more accessible to the West and beyond. Read their responses. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Jack Kornfield, Roshi Joan Halifax, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Rob Nairn, Stephen Batchelor, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo Introductory note This book started because I was beginning to question the effectiveness of the Buddhism I was practising. I had been following the advice of my teachers dutifully and trying to find my way, and actually not a lot was happening. I was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that Buddhism as I encountered it might not be serving me well. While my exposure was mainly through Tibetan Buddhism, a few hours on the internet revealed that questions around the appropriateness of traditional eastern approaches has been an issue for Westerners in all Buddhist traditions, and debates around this topic have been ongoing for at least the past two decades – most proactively in North America. Yet it seemed that in many places little had changed. While I still had deep respect for the fundamental beauty and validity of Buddhism, it just didn’t seem formulated in a way that could help me – a person with a family, job, car, and mortgage – very effectively. And it seemed that this experience was fairly widespread. My exposure to other practitioners strengthened my concerns because any sort of substantial settling of the mind mostly just wasn’t happening.
    [Show full text]
  • Zenshinkan-Student-Handbook.Pdf
    Zenshinkan Center for Japanese Martial, Spiritual,and Cultural Arts Student Handbook ZENSHINKAN DOJO STUDENT HANDBOOK CONTENTS The Way of Transformation .............................................................................................................. 2 Welcome to Zenshinkan Dojo ........................................................................................................... 3 Rules During Practice, Composed by the Founder ........................................................................... 5 Shugyo Policy .................................................................................................................................... 6 Basic Dojo Etiquette .......................................................................................................................... 7 Helpful Words and Phrases .............................................................................................................. 12 A History of Aikido ............................................................................................................................ 15 Zen Training ...................................................................................................................................... 17 For more information On: Our Lineage Test Requirements, Information and Applications Programs, Class Schedules and Upcoming Events Weapons Forms Techniques Zen Training Our website is a rich resource for our dojo’s current activities as well as our history. We also welcome and encourage your
    [Show full text]
  • Adrian Belew Power Trio
    This pdf was last updated: Dec/29/2010. Adrian Belew Power Trio King Crimson and Frank Zappa, David Bowie and Paul Simon, Talking Heads and Nine Inch Nails - Adrian Belew is well-known for his diverse travels around the musical map. Line-up Adrian Belew - guitar, vocals Julie Slick - bass Eric Slick - drums Andre Cholmondeley - tour manager/tech Plus one additional sound/tech manager On Stage: 3 Travel Party: 5 Website www.adrianbelew.net Biography Since 2006, Adrian Belew has led his favorite 'Power Trio' lineup, featuring Eric Slick on drums and Julie Slick on bass. They have been devastating audiences all around the USA and globally, from Italy to Canada to Germany to Japan. With the release of their brand- new CD 'Side Four - Live' they return to the road to stretch out the new material and introduce it to new audiences. The show will feature material from the new CD, classics from Adrian's many solo albums (including the recent 'Side One', 'SideTwo', and 'Side Three'), as well as solo moments, spirited improvisation and King Crimson compositions. 'Side One' features special guests Les Claypool of Primus and Danny Carey of Tool, and includes the Grammy-Nominated single - 'Beat Box Guitar'. The recently released 'Side Four (Live)' captures the current trio in a burning performance. Adrian is well-known for his diverse travels around the musical map - he first appeared on guitar-world radar when he joined Frank Zappa's band in 1977 for tours of the USA and Europe. When Frank Zappa hires you as his guitarist, people listen up.
    [Show full text]
  • Tesi Del Dott. Jacopo Conti: Minimalismo ... -.:: Franco Fabbri
    UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO FACOLTÀ DI SCIENZE DELLA FORMAZIONE CORSO DI STUDIO TRIENNALE IN D.A.M.S. DISSERTAZIONE FINALE Minimalismo, modalità e improvvisazione nella musica dei nuovi King Crimson Relatore: Candidato: Ernesto Napolitano Jacopo Conti matr. n° 259083 Anno accademico 2006 - 2007 A mia zia, che credeva in me e mi ha sempre sostenuto. 1 PREMESSA “King Crimson was more a revolving door than a band. ” - Robert Palmer La cronologia dei King Crimson (KC) dal 1969 al 2003 è assai articolata, e include vari stili e molti musicisti con una sola presenza fissa, quella di Robert Fripp (1946), chitarrista e compositore inglese fondatore del gruppo. Considerati tra i fondatori del progressive rock, pubblicano l’album In The Court Of The Crimson King 1 nel 1969 con Fripp alla chitarra, Ian McDonald (1946) al sax e al mellotron, Michael Giles (1942) alla batteria, Greg Lake (1948) al basso e alla voce e Peter Sinfield (1943) nel ruolo di paroliere. I lunghi brani strutturati, gli elaborati riff suonati all’unisono e i testi di ispirazione fantastica e fiabesca non solo diventano la caratteristica principale del gruppo, ma anche gli elementi fondanti del nuovo genere. Già con il secondo lp, In The Wake Of Poseidon (1970), la formazione viene rimodellata: Mel Collins (1947) prende il posto di McDonald al sax, Gordon Haskell canta in alcuni brani (durante la lavorazione del disco Greg Lake abbandona il gruppo per andare a costituire il trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer), si aggiunge al pianoforte Keith Tippett (1947). Il gruppo si scioglie per qualche mese dopo l’incisione del disco per poi tornare, con un’altra formazione, alla fine del 1970.
    [Show full text]
  • Lonely Sounds: Recorded Popular Music and American Society, 1949-1979
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History History, Department of 4-18-2008 Lonely Sounds: Recorded Popular Music and American Society, 1949-1979 Chris R. Rasmussen University of Nebraska-Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss Part of the History Commons Rasmussen, Chris R., "Lonely Sounds: Recorded Popular Music and American Society, 1949-1979" (2008). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History. 16. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Lonely Sounds: Popular Recorded Music and American Society, 1949-1979 by Christopher Rasmussen A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: History Under the Supervision of Professor Benjamin G. Rader Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2008 ii LONELY SOUNDS: POPULAR RECORDED MUSIC AND AMERICAN SOCIETY, 1949- 1979 Christopher Rasmussen, Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008 Adviser: Benjamin G. Rader Lonely Sounds: Popular Recorded Music and American Society, 1949-1979 examines the relationship between the experience of listening to popular music and social disengagement. It finds that technological innovations, the growth of a youth culture, and market forces in the post- World War II era came together to transform the normal musical experience from a social event grounded in live performance into a consumable recorded commodity that satisfied individual desires.
    [Show full text]
  • Prajñatara: Bodhidharma's Master
    Summer 2008 Volume 16, Number 2 Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women TABLE OF CONTENTS Women Acquiring the Essence Buddhist Women Ancestors: Hymn to the Perfection of Wisdom Female Founders of Tibetan Buddhist Practices Invocation to the Great Wise Women The Wonderful Benefits of a H. H. the 14th Dalai Lama and Speakers at the First International Congress on Buddhist Women’s Role in the Sangha Female Lineage Invocation WOMEN ACQUIRING THE ESSENCE An Ordinary and Sincere Amitbha Reciter: Ms. Jin-Mei Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao Chen-Lai On July 10, 1998, I invited the women of our Sangha to gather to explore the practice and lineage of women. Prajñatara: Bodhidharma’s Here are a few thoughts that helped get us started. Master Several years ago while I was visiting ZCLA [Zen Center of Los Angeles], Nyogen Sensei asked In Memory of Bhiksuni Tian Yi (1924-1980) of Taiwan me to give a talk about my experiences as a woman in practice. I had never talked about this before. During the talk, a young woman in the zendo began to cry. Every now and then I would glance her One Worldwide Nettwork: way and wonder what was happening: Had she lost a child? Ended a relationship? She cried and A Report cried. I wondered what was triggering these unstoppable tears? The following day Nyogen Sensei mentioned to me that she was still crying, and he had gently Newsline asked her if she could tell him why. “It just had not occurred to me,” she said, “that a woman could be a Buddha.” A few years later when I met her again, the emotions of that moment suddenly surfaced.
    [Show full text]