Merry Christmas!

メリー　クリシマス

Mehri Kurisumasu!

Form Guide

As you'll have seen if you subscribe to the StoneWater RSS feed - or have visited the site from today on - the SWZ board have released the final version of the Form Guide (you can find it at the link at the bottom of this article). This has been produced mainly by John Suigen Kenworthy supervised by Keizan Sensei with input from Tenshin Roshi and others at Yokoji ZMC.  So it's as definitive as something like this could ever be!

Form (the ritual elements of Zen practice) is one of the aspects of Zen practice that sometimes surprises people new to Zen.  There's a story told by Kapleau Roshi that he was with a companion visiting a monastery in Japan.  The Roshi greeted them and lead them into the Buddha hall, where they were surprised by being asked to bow & office incense at an altar.

"Why would we do that?  Didn't the ancestors spit on statues or burn them for firewood back in the day?" asked Kapleau's companion (though prob not in those words!).

"You can spit," replied the abbot.  "I choose to bow."

We often feel more comfortable with the iconoclasm of Zen than its traditions... which is odd, because iconoclasm is supposed to be challenging and unsettling.  Instead, we're challenged by tradition, by the inverse of iconoclasm.  Perhaps it needs a name - "icon-servation" or something!

Anyway...

Over the next weeks & months we'll try to ensure that we stick to the form as laid down in this guide.  Where individual circumstances mean we can't practically follow a certain instruction, we'll do our own thing of course... but there's value in surrendering our own fixed views about what's right to do.

Form Guide:
http://www.stonewaterzen.org/uploads/images/Form%20Guide.pdf

Xmas & New Year closing

Just a quick note to confirm that the last zazen of 2012 will be on 17 December.  The following two Mondays are Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, so we'll not meet then.

2013 will start with zazen as regular on Monday 7th January, when we'll start looking at The Platform Sutra properly.

What are you doing for Rohatsu?

There's really only one 'high day' that has been imported from Japanese Buddhism into Western Zen - rohatsu.  Though the name simply indicates "8th December", rohatsu is the most high-profile observance on the zazenka's calendar: the anniversary of the enlightenment of the Buddha.

In the Lake District, a rohatsu retreat is about to start that will culminate on the weekend of rohatsu, and this pattern is echoed all over the world in Zen centres everywhere.  For those who can't manage a week off at this time of year, how do they mark this occasion?

In Liverpool, I'm running an all-night sit to follow the regular Saturday zazenkai (this year on rohatsu itself), and I hope a few hardy folk will join me for that.  It's not as tough as it sounds, we sit in shifts and do some sleeping too!

What might you do?

Platform sutra

So we were supposed to start on the Platform Sutra this week, but yours truly left the materials at home... fantastic.  Probably best given the number of first-time attendees - both the biggest number of new folk on one day and I think a record number of bums on seats, too, with a total of 8 sitting.  Not that anyone's counting!

A couple of resources then, for your entertainment & delectation, before we get going on this sutra for next week:

• The Wikipedia entry on the Platform Sutra... like I tell my undergrad students, we all know that we all read wikipedia, we just never admit it officially...
• An article I wrote on Huineng / Daikan Eno back in August 2010.  Gives some background, a critical perspective and some links.
• One translation of the sutra itself (there are a few).

Let's hope I remember the text & my notes this week...

Northampton's Resident Monk(ey Mind)

So - the move is made, the family & the furniture arrived and are safely installed (if not yet entirely unpacked).  Now if I can only figure out how to get from my new home to the Friends Meeting House...

This weekend, I was back up in Liverpool (odd given I'd only just moved away from Liverpool!) for the 10th Anniversary of StoneWater.  A good time was had by all, and Keizan Sensei spoke movingly of how it was the people that make the group, and that the Anniversary event's main aim was to say thank you.

The same holds true even for a wee provincial, teacher-less group like ours, too, of course - so while I'm thinking about it, thanks to everyone who's come through the door at zeNN1, hard-core regulars (!!) or even those who have only popped in once.  It's the bodies on the cushions that make a zen group.

Possible cancellation Monday 12th Nov...

...but watch this space.  Basically this is because I'm expecting the movers that day, and things may well be a tad hectic at the new Chez Gordon-Finlayson.

Otherwise, things continue on steadily!

We're on for 17th September...

As confirmed at this Monday's sit, we'll be meeting this coming Monday (17th), and this marks the return to regular weekly meetings. 

Getting back into it...

Well it's been ages since we met... As you probably already know, we're meeting again next Monday (usual time & place), so look forward to seeing you all then. Hope you've all had a wonderful summer!

Personally, I've had some good news - I've been offered a 3-year contract at the University of Northampton in my current role. The longer term contract means that I can finally properly relocate to Northampton with the family sometime in the next couple of months. A merciful end to the weekly Liverpool-Northampton commute!

This will open up some flexibility in terms of times & venues for our weekly sitting, so do have a think on what your ideal would be in terms of any changes to the group schedule. For instance, is Monday really the best night for us? Can we find somewhere to sit where we would actually have some storage space? Would we prefer to share a venue with someone other than the music societies?!!!

Mailing list

Up until now, if I've had something to announce, I've put up a post on this site. There is, also, a mailing list which I think most of you are already subscribed to, and many people find this more convenient as the announcements end up in your inbox, rather than having to hunt down the website each time to check if there have been any updates.*

If you're not signed up to the mailing list yet, you can sign up online, or you could ask me to do it for you. There are different lists for the various regional groups, as you'll see... I suggest you sign up to the 'UK' and 'Northampton' lists - the former is used for announcements of events across the UK including our main retreats each year, the latter is just for matters of immediate interest for Northampton(ish) folk.

Please don't feel that this is restricted to people who attend the group - anyone can sign up, these lists are entirely open. Of course the same is true of the group itself, please feel free to come along to any of our meetings at any time.

 

* There's a way to make checking websites easier, actually, that a lot of people don't know about for some reason, called RSS feeds. If you want to know when your favourite websites have been updated, you can subscribe to an RSS feed for each site, then go to an "aggregator" site (the most popular by far is Google Reader, which I use) and see the updates for all your favourite sites in one place. There are loads of guides to using RSS, and I really recommend checking this out!

Zen and the Higgs Boson...

We strayed onto the topic of quantum physics this evening, attempting as ever to 'eff the ineffable'... I mentioned a video I'd found useful, so here's the link:

http://www.phdcomics.com/higgs/

I've you've other explanations you've found useful, leave a comment!

August...

Well, a fantastic turnout this week - I think we equalled our attendance record! Not that I'm keeping tabs on these things, of course...

Just wanted to clarify that for the August 27th date, as it's a Bank Holiday, we will not be meeting. This leaves a long gap between August 13th and September 10th; let's call this our summer holiday! We will be going back to weekly meetings from 24th September.

Buddhist robot...

... no, seriously! Read about this on the Shambala Sun blog today. Mind is boggling.

Chong-Ko, who’s being called the first Buddhist robot, was created by students at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok to serve in an alms-giving ceremony. The 10-foot tall robot, dressed in a white shirt, helps out by picking up food and giving it to lay people, who then pass the food on to monks. Chong-Ko is controlled by a phone, and there’s a webcam inside his head that can broadcast the ceremony to those who can’t attend.

And there's video...

Still here...

Just posting to show that the group is alive & kicking... Monday evening zazen still happening! (Only 2nd & 4th weeks of the month over summer).

Summer dates

I'll send this out to the mailing list, too, but will keep this post updated if there are any changes in the future (the post will be linked to from the When & Where page).

So in short, I can only commit to coming down to Northampton every fortnight, so after chatting with the group on Monday night, it's decided that there will def be zazen on every 2nd and 4th Monday of the summer - June, July, August & September. Exact dates are listed below - and note that there will be zazen on both of the remaining Mondays in May.

In addition, we will try to make arrangements for other people to organise sittings on at least some of the alternate weeks, and if for any reason I'm in N'hants on one of these weeks, I'll open up as usual. Those dates, though, aren't currently confirmed, and I'll post to this site as & when they are.

So, the specific dates are:

• May 21, 28
• June 11, 25
• July 9, 23
• August 13, 27
• September 10, 24  Edit: 17/9 now also!

I know this is not ideal - I've always said that I want to have a sitting every week so as to avoid confusion and to gain momentum; running this fortnightly will demand a bit more from all of us in terms of intention to keep things going. So apologies for that, but I hope we can make plans to 'fill in the gaps'.

In the meantime, though - hope everyone has a fantastic summer!

No zazen on 30 April or 7 May

As I mentioned at last night's meeting, there will be no zazen this coming week as I will be away finishing my thesis...

Of course, it also occurred to me that there will be no sitting the following Monday either, as this is a Bank Holiday Monday. We'll be back in business on Monday 14 May - same time, same place.

Back to the Meeting House

So the work has been completed on the Friends Meeting House. The heating is now all up-to-date central heating with fancy digital controls in each room (that none of us have figured out yet!), the upstairs walls have been painted, the floors re-carpeted, and even the curtains have been taken down & washed.

The most visible change is the garden. Check this link to be reminded of what it looked like before... things have changed somewhat.

Thanks to all those who spent so much time and effort on these works, much appreciated by us all. Pics below!

Zen Map

I mentioned a small project I helped out with a while ago, which mapped all the Zen groups we could find onto a Google Map of the UK & Ireland. Thought you might want to take a look - the link is:

http://bit.ly/ZenMapUK

I think it's fascinating to see how many groups exist now, and think back to what it must have been like in the dark ages (you know, the '80s!), when the number of groups could probably be counted on a single hand. We're pretty lucky!

Temporarily displaced...!

As many know, the Friends Meeting House will be closed for all of March (at least) for renovations and some much-needed modernising. While the work won't directly affect the top floor, the disruption will be such that meetings will not be possible, and the Meeting House is closing for this whole period.

For the intervening period, we have been generously invited by Carol Watts to use a space in her house. This also means that until we return to the Meeting House, we will be holding weekly zazen on Tuesdays, instead of Mondays. The time remains unchanged.

We've promised not to post Carol's address on the web for all the world to see, but if you would like to join us during this time, please drop me an email and I can give you directions. If you'd prefer to wait until we return to the Meeting House, of course that's totally fine, too.

Views of a zendo...

Just some pics...

Last minute cancellation...

I've managed to speak to all of the 'regulars' already (or got messages from them), but wanted to confirm that there will be no zeNN1 meeting tonight.

Apologies if you had wanted to attend tonight... Normal service resumes next week (by hook or by crook!).

Reading the Genjokoan

So we've been looking at the Genjokoan over the past few weeks, using Taizan Maezumi Roshi's commentary in On Zen Practice. I've mentioned translation a couple of times, so thought I'd share a link that compares eight translations of the Genjokoan, line by line. It's part of The Zen Site, which has all sorts of awesome resources (including some material quite critical of Zen, too, which makes interesting and thought-provoking reading).

8 English Translations of Genjokoan

Check out the following for example (taken from the excerpt we looked at tonight)... brace yourself for reams of text...!

Tanahashi, et al.

This being so, it is an established way in buddha-dharma to deny that birth turns into death. Accordingly, birth is understood as no-birth. It is an unshakable teaching in the Buddha's discourse that death does not turn into birth. Accordingly, death is understood as no-death. Birth is an expression complete this moment. Death is an expression complete this moment. They are like winter and spring. You do not call winter the beginning of spring, nor summer the end of spring.

Waddell & Abe

Buddhists do not speak of life becoming death. They speak of being "unborn." Since it is a confirmed Buddhist teaching that death does not become life, Buddhists speak of being "undying." Life is a stage of time, and death is a stage of time. It is like winter and spring. Buddhists do not suppose that winter passes into spring or speak of spring passing into summer.

Jaffe

This is the established way of the Buddha-dharma. For this reason it is called unborn. Death does not become life. This is the established buddha-turning of the dharma wheel. For this reason it is called undying. Life is its own time. Death is its own time. For example, it is like winter and spring. We don't think that winter becomes spring. We don't say that spring becomes summer.

Nishijima

And it is Buddhist teaching as established in the preaching of Gautama Buddha that death does not turn into life. This is why we speak of "no disappearance." Life is an instantaneous situation, and death is also an instantaneous situation. It is the same, for example, with winter and spring. We do not think that winter becomes spring, and we do not say that spring becomes summer.

Cook

Thus, it is the fixed teaching of the Buddha Dharma that life does not become death, and therefore we call it "nonlife." It is the fixed sermon of the Buddha that death does not become life, and therefore we call it "nondeath." Life is situated in one time and death is situated in one time. For instance, it is like winter and spring. We do not think that winter becomes spring or that spring becomes summer.

Cleary

This being the case, not saying that life becomes death is an established custom in Buddhism—therefore it is called unborn. That death does not become life is an established teaching of the Buddha; therefore we say imperishable. Life is an individual temporal state, death is an individual temporal state. It is like winter and spring—we don't think winter becomes spring, we don't say spring becomes summer.

Nishiyama & Stevens

Similarly, when human beings die, they cannot return to life; but in Buddhist teaching we never say that life changes into death. This is an established teaching of the Buddhist Dharma. We call it "non-becoming." Likewise, death cannot change into life. This is another principle of Buddha's Law. This is called "non-destruction." Life and death have absolute existence, like the relationship of winter and spring. But do not think of winter changing into spring or spring to summer.

Masunaha

So not to say that life becomes death is a natural standpoint of Buddhism. So this is called no-life. To say that death does not become life is the fixed sermon of the Buddha. So this is called no-death. Life is a position of time, and death is a position of time … just like winter and spring. You must not believe that winter becomes spring—nor can you say that spring becomes summer.

I've always found it interesting to see where translators disagree with each other - often these have been the sections that were least clear for me, so I've often wondered how much of the trouble I've had is with Dogen, or with his translators? I don't envy them their job, though...!

For some reason, this is the first image returned searching for "Genjokoan"!

Happy New Year

All the best for 2012 everyone. Wishing us all a year of strong practice and growing together as a sangha.