Service

Last week, we held a service after zazen for the first time in ages - probably since last summer when the groups we share the building with took a break. A wee bit rusty, but we made it through to the end...

We've got the building to ourselves for the rest of August, so we'll have service each week that there are enough people to man the bells & the mokugyo (well, the much cheaper tulip block anyway!).

If you've not been in a while and are curious about service, perhaps a good opportunity to drop in on us? If you've questions about the 'form', or the ritual aspects of our practice, you're not alone: it's something that many people are confused about or struggle with. There's a famous story that addresses this:

The morning after Philip Kapleau and Professor Phillips arrived at Ryutakuji Monastery, they were given a tour of the place by Abbot Soen Nakagawa. Both Americans had been heavily influenced by tales of ancient Chinese masters who'd destroyed sacred texts, and even images of the Buddha, in order to free themselves from attachment to anything. They were thus surprised and disturbed to find themselves being led into a ceremonial hall, where the roshi invited them to pay respects to a statue of the temple's founder, Hakuin Zenji, by bowing and offering incense.

On seeing Nakagawa bow before the image, Phillips couldn't contain himself, and burst out: "The old Chinese masters burned or spit on Buddha statues! Why do you bow down before them?"

"If you want to spit, you spit," replied the roshi. "I prefer to bow."

From Sean Murphy's One Bird, One Stone: 108 Zen Stories (2002, p.23)