Newsletter. Zen River Lima

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1 Newsletter Fall/Winter Zen River Lima In early November, Tenkei Roshi and Myoho Sensei went with Hojo-san and Shugetsu to Peru for what turned out to be a highly inspirational visit. They were invited by Jorge Ryusho López-Dóriga and the Zen River Lima Sangha, which has its home base in the house of Jorge s brother César and his wife Marisa. Hojo-san performed an eye-opening ceremony for the Manjushri statue in their beautiful new Zendo, and Tenkei gave Jukai to no fewer than nine enthusiastic bodhisattvas: Claudia Engetsu (圓月, Circle Moon) Yona, Marisa Myozen (明全, Illumination Total) Rosales, Marilyn Jyoshin (浄信, Pure Trust) Lizarraga, Giuliana Zenko (禅光, Zen Illumination) Bonelli, Mariloli Keisho (渓 声, Valley Sound) Mavila, Brisa Shummyo (俊苗, Excellent Seedling) Deneumostier, Carlos Shozan (祥山, Auspicious Mountain) Koechlin, César Busshin (佛心, Buddha Heart) López-Dóriga, and Baruc Jigen (慈源, Compassion Source) Corazón. Congratulations to all! The visit also included a trip to Machu Picchu and Cuzco, under the expert guidance of Don César, a genuine and colourful representative of the Inca Shamanic tradition. How wonderful to see our sangha family extend so far across the globe! Five Spiced Dal 3 medium carrots 250 g (about 2½ cups florets) cauliflower (or brocolli) 1 green bell pepper ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, or 10 g (2 teaspoons) fresh turmeric 300 g (1¼ cups) chana or mung dal (lentils) ml (3 3¼ cups) water 2 bay leaves Oil for frying 1 teaspoon dried red chili flakes ½ teaspoon cumin seeds ½ teaspoon fennel seeds ½ teaspoon mustard seeds ½ teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji or black cumin) ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds ӯӯ * Peel and medium-dice the carrots. Cut the cauliflower into bite-size florets. Deseed and medium-dice the bell pepper. * If using fresh turmeric, mince or grate. * Pick through, then rinse and drain the lentils. ӯӯ * Bring a small pot of salted water to a rapid boil, drop in the carrots, return to a boil and simmer for about one minute, or until tender. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Next, repeat with the cauliflower. Set aside with the carrots. Cover to keep warm. * In a stew pot, heat up a little oil over a medium flame and stir-fry the bell pepper until caramelized. * Put in the water, turmeric and bay leaves, and bring to a boil over a high flame. Add the lentils and return to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce the flame, loosely cover, and simmer until tender, about 1 hour for chana and 40 minutes for mung. Skim any foam that appears. If needed, add a little water to keep them just covered. To cook in a pressure cooker, heat to pressure and cook chana for about 8 minutes and mung for about 5 minutes. * Heat two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over a low-medium flame. Put in the chilies, cumin, fennel, mustard, nigella, and fenugreek seeds. Coat with the oil, cover with a splatter guard, and gently fry until the mustard seeds stop spitting and turn a shade darker. * When the lentils are tender, stir in the carrots and cauliflower, and heat through. Lastly, add the five spices and chilies. If needed, add a little hot water to loosen the lentils. Salt to taste. * Serve alongside brown basmati rice, chutney, and grated cucumber combined with fresh mint and yogurt.

2 The Buddha Treasure Vow In the Soto Zen tradition, the sixteen Bodhisattva precepts, the Kai, are not seen as just a list of rules and regulations, basically imposed from the outside. Instead, they are seen most importantly as natural ways of expressing our innate Buddha nature. In fact, receiving the Kai means receiving one s true self; and in that sense, Jukai is considered to be a transmission ceremony. I once joined some three hundred Japanese monks and lay-people for a traditional Jukai* in Sojiji, one of the two main temples of the Soto School. It lasted a full week and was very similar to the Denkai ceremony during which a Zen master transmits the dharma to a successor. The event takes place twice a year and many people attend more than once, every time receiving a badge that they can pin on their rakusu. The high point is to sit as the living Buddha right on top of the grand main altar in the Hatto (ceremonial hall) of the temple; when I was there we did that in groups of thirty or forty participants at the time. The abbot, Itabashi Zenji, and several other dignitaries circumambulated the altar, ringing bells, offering incense and chanting sutras. Afterwards, each one of us received a kechimyaku (lineage chart) from the Zenji as proof of our direct link with the Buddhas and ancestors just like in the short version of the ceremony we often conduct at Zen River. According to Dogen Zenji, who is honored as the founder of the Soto school, the essence of the precepts is no other than the essence of our Buddha nature; they cannot be separated. In fact, it was Dogen Zenji who included the Three Treasures in the Bodhisattva precepts and particularly emphasized the first one: the Buddha Treasure. This vision transformed the understanding and practice of the precepts in ways that continue to this day. Before discussing this in more detail, it might be interesting to look at how the Bodhisattva precepts actually developed. As you may know, the Ten Grave Precepts can already be found in the Brahma Net Sutra, where they are called the ten major precepts, followed by forty-eight secondary precepts. In this sutra Shakyamuni Buddha takes on the position of Vairocana, and he eulogizes the precepts: Those who keep these precepts are like wanderers in the dark, stumbling upon a light; like the destitute coming upon a treasure; like the sick finding a cure; like prisoners, set free; like wanderers, discovering the way home. He calls these precepts the Source of the pure Self-Nature, and then continues, The precepts are like the radiant sun and moon, dispelling the darkness of the night; the precepts are like a precious mirror, clearly reflecting one and all; the precepts are like a wish-fulfilling gem, showering treasures upon the destitute; to escape suffering and attain Buddhahood swiftly, these precepts are the supreme way. These Bodhisattva precepts shouldn t be confused with the Vinaya, the Pratimoksa of the Pali canon, which are strict regulations for daily life followed by Theravada monks and nuns, and to some extent ordained lay-people. In general, the Vinaya are prohibitive in that they articulate very precisely what to avoid in order to keep one s mind pure and undefiled. Throughout its long history, most Mahayana traditions have also honored the Vinaya; and as monasteries came to be established as institutions for communal practice they incorporated many of the regulations into their monastic codes. From then on, the Pratimoksa came to be seen not only as regulations for individual practice, but also as an essential part of mind training meant to promote cohesion within the monastic community. This aspect has remained important in part because many monasteries depend on donations from lay-people and therefore need to maintain certain ethical standards to be recognized as trustworthy. So, it is not surprising that the Vinaya have been transmitted with great care and diligence throughout the ages. Yet at some point their prohibitive nature was felt to be too limiting for Mahayana practice. The Brahma Net vows were added because they express the precepts in positive and inspirational terms a characteristic that is also found in the Avatamsaka Sutra which emphasizes the Bodhisattva ideal. For a number of reasons the Vinaya were never introduced into Japan, although many Japanese monastic codes, such as the Eihei Shingi of Dogen Zenji, rely directly on their Chinese counterparts. As for the sixteen Bodhisattva precepts that are now common in Japan, the first three, the Three Treasures, originated in early Indian Buddhism and became standard refuges in all traditions, including those in Japan. The next three, the Three Pure Precepts, have their own history. They can be found in the Dhammapada, one of the earliest texts of Theravada Buddhism, and they were also carried to Japan; although, as we will see, the meaning and the wording of the third one changed over time. The Ten Grave Precepts are basically copies of the ten major precepts of the Brahma Net Sutra, as I already mentioned. They were transmitted to Japan, but the forty-eight secondary ones went missing along the way. So in the Japanese Zen tradition, monastics only receive what are now called the sixteen Bodhisattva precepts, and in that sense they are an exception in the larger Asian Buddhist world. In fact, during ordination monastics make exactly the same vows as lay-people do during Jukai. Genpo Roshi added three extra vows, and I have followed that track, albeit with slightly different wording. Taking this relative freedom from regulations one step further, since the Meiji Restauration, most Japanese monks get married and become the head-priest of a family temple after spending one or several years in a training monastery where they follow strict codes of conduct. The liberties of this tradition have been brought over to the West, although not many Westerners go through the monastic training that is mandatory for Japanese priests. However, the situation is

3 NOVEMBER 2016 FUNDRAISER Inryo Insulation Project The Inryo is the lovely little cottage where Tenkei Roshi and Myoho Sensei live. The Japanese word translates as hidden dwelling, and as it often denotes the abbot s quarters in a Zen temple - this was also the name of the original home of Maezumi Roshi and his family at ZCLA. Zen River s Inryo is multifunctional in that it is the perfect place for receiving guests, holding board meetings etc., and Myoho Sensei has her web-master office in the front room. Tucked in close to the main building, the Inryo looks like a little tugboat next to a big ship. And, it has to weather the same Groningen storms. Heavy rains sometimes hit the windows horizontally as if on high seas! Unfortunately, the Inryo is not well insulated, and this is the cause of serious heat loss and excessive energy costs. This year s Fundraiser aims to remedy these problems, and contractor Klaas de Boer has come up with a realistic estimate. The floors and roof also need work, but it will be most effective to first replace the windows, many of which are old and drafty with frames beyond repair. New frames and double glazed windows will bring down the energy bill substantially. The plan is to start with those on the west side since they are most exposed to storms. The total costs of this would be around 7000, and we really hope that you can help us out. Needless to say, all donations, great or small, are highly appreciated. Bank: IBAN: NL33INGB ; BIC/SWIFT: INGBNL2A; Acc. name: Zen River Paypal: atelier@zenrivertemple.org deceptive, especially if we would like to follow Dogen Zenji who surely presented another side to all of this. In a way, his approach actually made the precepts more strict, not less, by conveying principles so profound that they cannot easily be grasped, let alone lived up to. In his Kyojukaimon (Instruction Given on the Sila) Dogen Zenji not only included the Three Treasures in the sixteen Bodhisattva precepts, he also gave them a very special meaning, particularly the first one, the Buddha Treasure. Up till that time, the Three Treasures were usually seen as refuges, vows taken as a foundation for the precepts rather than as precepts themselves. Dogen Zenji developed a radically new interpretation. Although the idea may have originated in the Tendai School in which he had trained, it was he who first articulated the precepts as completely natural manifestations of our Buddha nature and consequently emphasized the need to have a direct experience of this Buddha nature. In fact, the first precept became the vow to really wake up to Buddha s wisdom and compassion! In other words, rather than the traditional meaning of taking refuge in the Buddha as a starting point for practicing the precepts, we are now encouraged to be one with the Buddha, or to give our life to the Buddha. Dogen Zenji says we should leap into the Three Treasures without any reservations, the way that a child leaps into his father s arms. If we would really do so, abandoning all selfclinging, then living up to the whole list of other precepts would follow naturally. And our own dharma grandfather, Maezumi Roshi, added that the word Kai can actually be rendered as natural self, the natural functioning of our innermost being. So, the vow to realize Buddhahood is given the highest priority; it becomes the first and foremost principle of Zen practice because without such realization, all the other vows are somewhat idealistic, provisionary means to navigate our life through the darkness of delusion. Also, the Buddha Treasure precept is not just seen as the first one in a linear sequence of precepts; it is the pivot around which of all the other precepts circle, like a stone thrown in a pond creating endlessly widening circles of waves. Dogen Zenji

4 Memorial Poems For Rev. Anjo Koren Kasman Clouds of delusion vanished, And new worlds open up. A Shining Lotus has departed, Yet is reborn a thousand times Like bright stars in the night sky. So many loved ones gathered here, Dear Koren Osho, wherever you can be, Surely you are right here right now. Thank you for everything you did, And for all you will still do! Anjo, beautiful flower, May you bloom forever! Tenkei Roshi However precious they might have been, these fifty nine winters and springs will never return. Life is like a dream of greenness, transient, disappearing like clouds coming apart in the sky. Rivers flow endlessly, Flowers in a field smile broadly, on this shore of mortals. Let us go then, you and I, among comings-and-goings, this last journey to the land of Eternal Peace. On this very day, we all gathered here to solemnly and in respect reminisce about Reverend Anjo Koren Kasman, the Shining Lotus, her heart full of harmony and loving kindness. We deeply respect her sincere devotion to the Way of practice and unrelenting effort into deepening her faith in Dharma. We are aware, however, it could not have been possible without tremendous help of Reverend Peter Gakudo, her beloved husband and life partner on the spiritual path. As the founders of Keiryuji Temple, both were able to plant the seeds and cultivate their Sangha, in Holland and in Spain, where authentic minds still gather to cherish the Buddha Way together, thus embodying the essence of BuddhaDharma. Throughout all these years she showed us how wisdom and compassion can grow and manifest in daily activities. Yet, all of a sudden, fires burn out firewood and the Four Elements separate. The wind sweeps away the stream of water and the flower petals fall down cutting off desires, without a moment to spare. What shall be said? The breeze is soft like crystal-white clouds on the pure lotus pedestal, these fifty nine years of her joyful liveliness. The vast ocean is originally one drop of water. The huge Sumeru is fundamentally an inch of a mountain Junyu Kuroda Roshi, Japan Special events That which is unborn never dies: that which is born dies: Out of the dark muddy water, a Shining Lotus blossoms. Genpo Roshi, USA Anjo, when I remember the time I first saw you, the image comes of an elegant and gracious sail boat swiftly sailing with an unshakeable determination. You clearly had a direction: to meet yourself in complete truth, to meet what cannot go, what cannot die, because it never was born. Now, you have reached your destination. You took many people on board, people you loved, people you served with humility, with discretion and with indefatigable devotion. I got on board during the ceremony when you received the acknowledgement of your teacher. Thank you for having let me be part of your life. I am thankful for having known you. You are in my heart. Genno Roshi, France Anjo was like a saint, dressing me in the morning. She was my jisha, what a laugh! Genshin Roshi, UK The ending of something means the beginning of something. The Lotus illuminates the steps again on the next stage; but I will always remember your smile. Rev. Koichi Isoda, Japan For more tributes: zenrivertemple.org/poems-koren.html On December 10/11 Daniel Taigen Leighton will conduct a seminar called Cultivating the Empty Field, the Teachings of Hongzhi Zhengjue. On December 9 he will take on the position of Kyojushi (precept teacher) during Ranka s Shiho. On December 3, 10 and 17, at 5:00 pm, Tenkei Roshi will give a series of Telecourses, organized by Two Arrows Zen in Salt Lake City, under the title Bodhisattva Activity. For more information about these events, please contact the office.

5 proclaimed that to forget the self is to be enlightened by all things; there is only one self while there are many things. So ideally speaking, one profound realization of no-self should be enough to know how to manifest wisdom and compassion in all the different situations we encounter. But frankly, this rarely happens. Most of us need to return to the first vow over and over again, while all the other vows support us in the process. Although realization is always sudden, it can happen on many different levels; from transitory insights to openings that don t really close anymore. In our tradition, the way we work with the koan Mu is a good example of this aspect of practice. Some people pass Mu on a rather superficial level and then get stuck on the next koans, while others go through a major shift and can respond beautifully and without any hesitation to a series of koans that follow. This is, of course, nothing special. It reminds me of the way two different people can look at a masterpiece painting. One may not see its qualities, while the other may immediately be moved to tears. I once walked rather casually through the rooms of a museum in Paris until an unfinished painting of water lilies by Monet suddenly struck me. The effect was so strong that I actually fell backwards and almost hit the floor. We may not fully appreciate an artwork at first, yet it is possible to train our eyes and heart to deepen our insight. We can look at a good painting for years and keep discovering new ways to see it. Learning to love art is an educational process. Van Gogh sat in front of Rembrandt s Jewish Bride for a whole day. What did he see? Can we learn to see with his eyes? Yes, but it may take time! I remember a Philip Guston show in Amsterdam that taught me a good lesson. He was an American painter who became famous for his delicate abstract work; but later in life, he turned to a rather dark, figurative, almost cartoonish style. At first I was shocked. How could anybody who had made such beautiful paintings come up with something so ugly? But a good old friend kept pushing me to look, look, and look again. I did for hours until suddenly those works exploded right in front of my eyes. I realized that they were just absolute masterpieces. I had been looking at the same works the whole time, but my appreciation shifted completely; it was really amazing! Can we train ourselves to appreciate this life as a masterpiece? In fact, we are already living it, but do we realize just how precious it is? How can we learn to see through the eyes of Dogen Zenji? The Sixth Patriarch, Daikan Eno (Huineng in Chinese) may help us with this. In the Platform Sutra he presents the principle of sudden realization and asserts that the precepts (Sila) cannot be expressed fully without such realization. He proceeds to discuss Triple Practice (Trishiksha), the threefold practice of sila, samadhi, and prajna insight. And although, as we have seen, the format of the precepts has changed over time, the principle still stands: you cannot divorce the precepts from insight and samadhi. If you do, they become lifeless and dogmatic. The precepts need to be informed by direct realization in order to become part of our character and lifestyle. And without an ongoing practice of samadhi, they become ineffective, and perhaps even counter-effective, for manifesting our Buddha nature. You may play the notes, but not the music! To conclude, we will explore how insight into the first precept can clarify the fifteen that follow. I mentioned earlier that the meaning and the wording of the third pure precept changed over time. In the Dhammapada source text, it says: avoid all evil, practice all good and purify your mind. Over time, an alternative to that last exhortation became: transform your mind. And the version we use nowadays reads: liberate all sentient beings. These changes may appear small, but they are highly significant for expressing the Mahayana spirit. If we really aspire to liberate sentient beings, we not only need to avoid evil and do good, but also transform our mind. First we need to disengage from the highly conditioned narrative we have of ourselves and others and from all the judgements that are based on that narrative. Then we need to recognize the unconditioned Buddha nature that we share with all beings. This allows wisdom and compassion to arise, and then we can practice how to manifest those qualities in actual life situations. The gatha we chant before meals even says it literally: we eat to stop all evil, to do good, and to accomplish the Buddha Way. When we look into the ten grave precepts, they too can be seen as different ways to address the very same aspirations, and each one can refer back to the Buddha Treasure precept. For example, the vow to refrain from killing is often taken very literally; although when viewed with the Mahayana perspective, it allows specific situations to be taken into consideration. Yet the vow can be infused with a much deeper meaning, and then refraining from killing becomes refraining from killing the life of the Buddha. How do we kill the Buddha? By failing to realize the Way. Apparently Dogen Zenji wrote the afore-mentioned Kyojukaimon because he wasn t completely satisfied with the text of the Brahma Net Sutra. He composed a beautiful verse for each one of the grave precepts in order to show their profound implications. The first verse reads, Life is non-killing. The seed of Buddha grows continuously. Maintain the wisdomlife of Buddha and do not kill life. A further implication here is that if we would even think that there is something that could be killed, we kill the life of the Buddha. In the One-Mind precept verses attributed to Bodhidharma it says something similar: In the sphere of the everlasting Dharma, not nursing a view of extinction is called the precept of refraining from killing. So according to these masters, it is only by realizing the everlasting Dharma that we can really avoid killing. The other precepts can be appreciated in the same manner, and the verses of Dogen Zenji and Bodhidharma are part of the White Plum koan curriculum we study at Zen River. In our tradition, Jukai is usually seen as the

6 Ingrid Ranka de Hullu will receive Shiho (dharma transmission) from Tenkei Roshi on December 9/10. Her coming out ceremony will be held on December 11, at 12:30 am, after which we can all congratulate this indispensable member of our bodhisattva team! WINTER beginning of a commitment to practice. The precepts can be appreciated as the essence of our life, as we have seen, so we receive everything we need in just the Jukai ceremony. But it usually takes long and hard practice to realize this essence and to learn how to live up to the vows we ve made. Also in our tradition, at the very end of koan training the precepts are studied again, but now as koans in themselves with many different layers of meaning. It s like coming full circle. Buddhist practice turns out to be not linear, but cyclic, just as life itself is. Our life revolves and revolves endlessly around the pivot of the Buddha Treasure, sending waves out to all aspects of our life through the practice of the other precepts. Sudden realization can recur on ever-deeper levels, and gradual practice can extend itself in ever-widening circles. (Adapted from a dharma talk given by Tenkei Roshi on August 14, 2016; with thanks to Gyosei Overbeek and Seishin Wright) * In Japan, the word Jukai is most often used to indicate this week-long ceremony which can only be held in officially registered training temples (Senmon Sodo) and conducted by the Zenji or abbot. In the White Plum tradition, Jukai came to mean receiving lay-ordination from one s own master in a relatively short ceremony; in Japan this is called Zaike (lay) Tokudo (entering the Way), to distinguish it from monastic ordination, or Shukke (leaving home) Tokudo. Yet the implication of Jukai and Zaike Tokudo is essentially the same. Shuso Shorin We are happy to announce that Dina Shorin Pasman will be Shuso (head-monk) during the upcoming Winter Ango. Shorin started practicing at Zen River in 2011, has been a resident student since 2013, and received monk s ordination the following year. We all wish her great inspiration and good luck! Nov. 19 Feb. 18, Winter Ango November Rohatsu Sesshin November 20...Talk by Shobun Watanabe Roshi December Shiho Ranka de Hullu December Seminar by Taigen Leighton December 27- January 1...New Year Sesshin December 3, 10, 17...Telecourse, Two Arrows Zen January 7... Zazenkai in Hengelo January Weekend Sesshin January 28...Intro Zazenkai February Young Rivers Weekend February 6...Teisho Madrid February Ango Closing Sesshin February 18...Shuso Hossenshiki SPRING 2017 March 4...Zazenkai Hengelo March 11...Düsseldorf, Zazenkai March Weekend Sesshin April Madrid Zazenkai April Sakura Spring Sesshin April 29...Zazenkai in Hengelo SUMMER 2017 May 19 August 26...Summer Ango May May Weekend Sesshin June 3...Intro Zazenkai June 10...Zazenkai in Hengelo June 15...Teisho Den Haag June Weekend Sesshin July Family Week July 29 August 27 Summer Month Long Sesshin July 29 August 3...Part One August Part Two August Part Three August Part Four August 26...Shuso hossenshiki FALL 2017 September 16...Zazenkai September Weekend Sesshin October 3...Düsseldorf, Zazenkai October Autumn Jukai Sesshin Zen River Cookbook Mouth-watering Vegetarian & Vegan Recipes Available in the shop. Over 200 recipes, 340 pages. 45,Keep up to date with new recipes at zenrivertemple.org/zrcblog CONTACT: Zen River, Oldörpsterweg 1, 9981 NL Uithuizen, Netherlands zenriver@zenrivertemple.org Tel. +31 (0) Calendar of Events Shiho for Ranka