…kun je altijd nog een rakusu naaien (nee, niet wat je denkt). Of er een online discussie over starten.
Zie ook http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=18525, met een video over het maken van een boeddhistisch slabbetje (rakusu). Het onderstaande spreekt min of meer voor zich. Ik ben donkergroen, 'zij' zijn bordeauxrood.
**
Good explanation about sewing a rakusu. Good preparation for jukai. Although personally, I wonder whether this practice is alive and can stay alive for the west. Aren't we doing 'our own little thingy' here? If the form can make you live the essence, fine. But let's not mistake anachronistic Japanese practices for the heart of our zen/religious way.
**
Hi Ron,
Is this practice alive? Well, it is in most sanghas in the West. I would invite you to study the history of the Buddhist robe and its actual meaning as described by Dogen in the Shobogenzo (Den e, kesa kudoku) to understand that what you describe as an anachronic Japanese practice, is the timeless activity of Buddhas. The robe is the whole fabric of the universe and it is also something we sew, it is easy and yet extremely difficult for our hyper egos. Your "yes but..." "good practice ...although personally" is a magnificent display of everybody's resistance to this process.
Sawaki Kodo who is the teacher at the core of shikantaza revival last century used to put it simply: my Zen school is the school of the kesa. Now you may take 20 or 30 years to chew this and understand it thoroughly, it is Buddha-Dharma practice!
gassho
Taigu
**
Hi Taigu,
did it once and liked it back then, wonderful to belong to the incrowd, cherished it for a while. After another 25 years of chewing, have come to see that sewing a rakusu in itself has little to do with purity or impurity of practice. One is not better than the other. I do see the danger of it becoming an incrowd thing, or the new clothes of the emperor rather than the Buddha's robes, mistaking the form for the essence. For me, playing soccer with my kids is a thousand times more important. Apart from what Sawaki said about kesa, he said some pretty terrible things about war and killing (Victoria, Zen at War). He also said 'Zazen is useless' (Uchiyama, The Zen Teaching of "Homeless" Kodo). That one I like.
**
Very sad Ron, Very sad.
As to Victoria that I really respect ( he raises some very valid points), he is now established that he did misquote Sawaki, Sawaki as almost all Japanese at that time was supporting the war effort, but never invited people to kill as a way to practice Dharma.
The following articles might shed a complete different light on Sawaki as a warmonger. http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/eng/200801.shtml
Ron, my door is always open.
be well
gassho
Taigu
**
Hi Ron,
I echo what Taigu said. The following is my usual response on this subject ...
(volgt een veel te lange comment waarvan de essentie is dat het relatief is maar dat je het kind niet met het badwater moet weggooien. Dan volgt de uitgekauwde sektarische gemeenplaats dat we onze weerstand tegen die dingen moeten overwinnen. Als je ’t allemaal wilt lezen, ga naar http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=18525).
Gassho (an Asian custom), Jundo (a Dharma name)
**
Hi Jundo,
You sound a lot more nuanced here than in you videos :-). On the whole, I agree, although I would keep ritual to a minimum and have the practice come straight from the heart. The one doesn’t exclude the other, though. Sticking to sewing rakusu, it’s not good or bad in itself. If anyone wants to do it, fine. I’m just not interested, and I don’t buy the ‘it’s all your ego resistance’-stance. The reverse could be equally true. It could be cultish and it could be done for all the wrong reasons, especially in western lay zen. I urge anyone that advocates or undertakes it to take a good look at their intentions. And above all, don’t forget to play soccer with your kids, the most wonderful expression and joyful realization of the Buddha Dharma :-).
To Taigu,
What exactly of this could be ‘very sad, very sad’?
The exchange between Muho and Victoria (your quote) basically just shows that there is some controversy about Sawaki’s war quotes. Since it has no pivotal function in sewing rakusu, I guess we could leave it at that. I merely brought it up to point at the fact that you probably wouldn’t use those quotes (even in their mild forms) to justify any of your choices or behavior, like you did with Sawaki’s kesa-quote.
While we’re at it, take a look at Muho’s critical review of Sawaki’s treatment of the kesa and modern day Japanese aberrations (http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/kimyou/2006/eng-0301.html). Written with a great deal of nuance by a sincere and dedicated person, now the abbot of Antaiji. Needless to say, what works for him in a small monastery in rural Japan may not necessarily be relevant for us lay practitioners in the modern west.
I do think a lot of the Japaneseness of zen will be gone within a generation or two. I already see people in their jeans (well, maybe not too tight) and t-shirts, sincerely practicing in small groups in some simple room or small center. People with jobs and children, students, the lot. To me, this is the powerful future of Buddhism in the west, simple and unassuming, straight from the heart. No need for a special piece of cloth to go with it. If we’re not careful, that might only cover up the living essence.
**
Zo. Nu zij weer. Of eerst een Bavaria? En ja, ik weet het, ik laat me meeslepen. Niet zo fraai.
Naschrift: Daarna werd Taigu een beetje pissig. Ik moest me maar als student gedragen en slikken wat ze zeiden, anders kon ik beter ergens anders heen. Vooruit dan maar. Rakusu's zijn geweldig. Naai er zelf ook een.
Zie ook http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=18525, met een video over het maken van een boeddhistisch slabbetje (rakusu). Het onderstaande spreekt min of meer voor zich. Ik ben donkergroen, 'zij' zijn bordeauxrood.
**
Good explanation about sewing a rakusu. Good preparation for jukai. Although personally, I wonder whether this practice is alive and can stay alive for the west. Aren't we doing 'our own little thingy' here? If the form can make you live the essence, fine. But let's not mistake anachronistic Japanese practices for the heart of our zen/religious way.
**
Hi Ron,
Is this practice alive? Well, it is in most sanghas in the West. I would invite you to study the history of the Buddhist robe and its actual meaning as described by Dogen in the Shobogenzo (Den e, kesa kudoku) to understand that what you describe as an anachronic Japanese practice, is the timeless activity of Buddhas. The robe is the whole fabric of the universe and it is also something we sew, it is easy and yet extremely difficult for our hyper egos. Your "yes but..." "good practice ...although personally" is a magnificent display of everybody's resistance to this process.
Sawaki Kodo who is the teacher at the core of shikantaza revival last century used to put it simply: my Zen school is the school of the kesa. Now you may take 20 or 30 years to chew this and understand it thoroughly, it is Buddha-Dharma practice!
gassho
Taigu
**
Hi Taigu,
did it once and liked it back then, wonderful to belong to the incrowd, cherished it for a while. After another 25 years of chewing, have come to see that sewing a rakusu in itself has little to do with purity or impurity of practice. One is not better than the other. I do see the danger of it becoming an incrowd thing, or the new clothes of the emperor rather than the Buddha's robes, mistaking the form for the essence. For me, playing soccer with my kids is a thousand times more important. Apart from what Sawaki said about kesa, he said some pretty terrible things about war and killing (Victoria, Zen at War). He also said 'Zazen is useless' (Uchiyama, The Zen Teaching of "Homeless" Kodo). That one I like.
**
Very sad Ron, Very sad.
As to Victoria that I really respect ( he raises some very valid points), he is now established that he did misquote Sawaki, Sawaki as almost all Japanese at that time was supporting the war effort, but never invited people to kill as a way to practice Dharma.
The following articles might shed a complete different light on Sawaki as a warmonger. http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/eng/200801.shtml
Ron, my door is always open.
be well
gassho
Taigu
**
Hi Ron,
I echo what Taigu said. The following is my usual response on this subject ...
(volgt een veel te lange comment waarvan de essentie is dat het relatief is maar dat je het kind niet met het badwater moet weggooien. Dan volgt de uitgekauwde sektarische gemeenplaats dat we onze weerstand tegen die dingen moeten overwinnen. Als je ’t allemaal wilt lezen, ga naar http://www.shambhalasun.com/sunspace/?p=18525).
Gassho (an Asian custom), Jundo (a Dharma name)
**
Hi Jundo,
You sound a lot more nuanced here than in you videos :-). On the whole, I agree, although I would keep ritual to a minimum and have the practice come straight from the heart. The one doesn’t exclude the other, though. Sticking to sewing rakusu, it’s not good or bad in itself. If anyone wants to do it, fine. I’m just not interested, and I don’t buy the ‘it’s all your ego resistance’-stance. The reverse could be equally true. It could be cultish and it could be done for all the wrong reasons, especially in western lay zen. I urge anyone that advocates or undertakes it to take a good look at their intentions. And above all, don’t forget to play soccer with your kids, the most wonderful expression and joyful realization of the Buddha Dharma :-).
To Taigu,
What exactly of this could be ‘very sad, very sad’?
The exchange between Muho and Victoria (your quote) basically just shows that there is some controversy about Sawaki’s war quotes. Since it has no pivotal function in sewing rakusu, I guess we could leave it at that. I merely brought it up to point at the fact that you probably wouldn’t use those quotes (even in their mild forms) to justify any of your choices or behavior, like you did with Sawaki’s kesa-quote.
While we’re at it, take a look at Muho’s critical review of Sawaki’s treatment of the kesa and modern day Japanese aberrations (http://antaiji.dogen-zen.de/kimyou/2006/eng-0301.html). Written with a great deal of nuance by a sincere and dedicated person, now the abbot of Antaiji. Needless to say, what works for him in a small monastery in rural Japan may not necessarily be relevant for us lay practitioners in the modern west.
I do think a lot of the Japaneseness of zen will be gone within a generation or two. I already see people in their jeans (well, maybe not too tight) and t-shirts, sincerely practicing in small groups in some simple room or small center. People with jobs and children, students, the lot. To me, this is the powerful future of Buddhism in the west, simple and unassuming, straight from the heart. No need for a special piece of cloth to go with it. If we’re not careful, that might only cover up the living essence.
**
Zo. Nu zij weer. Of eerst een Bavaria? En ja, ik weet het, ik laat me meeslepen. Niet zo fraai.
Naschrift: Daarna werd Taigu een beetje pissig. Ik moest me maar als student gedragen en slikken wat ze zeiden, anders kon ik beter ergens anders heen. Vooruit dan maar. Rakusu's zijn geweldig. Naai er zelf ook een.
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