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The sangha's current assigned reading includes Living by Vow by Shohaku Okamura.
It's an exegesis of some of the chants used in Western zendos. He
addresses the concerns of those, especially newcomers, grappling with
what seems to be an inordinate amount of ritual in Zen ("I thought this
was going to be liberating").
His choice of a key word is "vow," which he explains is not a complete
translation of the Chinese and Japanese word(s), which connote something
more like "resolve." "I resolve to ...." One does not fail if one does
not achieve 100% of what has been undertaken, or perhaps even if one
does not achieve any of it. Scale and certainty are perhaps less
important in Mahayana Buddhism than sincerity and a willingness to try
things.
The activities that are recommended to try are simple enough: "do not do bad things; do good things; serve all beings."
What's emphasized there is not personal "salvation" but service to the
community. Ultimately the community is everyone ("all beings"); but a
sangha comes together to practice service. Student barbers practice on one another for a reason.
To light the candles on the altar in a prescribed manner brings some
order out of chaos and provides an opportunity for a kind of gracious
mindfulness, but also for offering the gift of light. As we learn to
work within the rules of our practice, we free ourselves up to
concentrate on the contentless content of our practice -- the place
where freedom begins to emerge without an overdose of self-regard.
Ritual is everywhere, I think. Aside from being a Zen nun I'm also a
member of the Society of Friends, North Pacific Yearly Meeting
affiliated. This flavor of Quakerism has no liturgy, no creed, and no professional clergy. Yet when one comes to Meeting for Worship, one knows what to expect
-- greet the greeter, walk slowly in, settle down in the silence, wait
in silence for an hour together, listen to any testimony that arises.
The clerk or an appointed closer says "good morning, Friends" and shakes
hands with those nearby, the handshake spreads round the room, and
there are announcements. All this is nothing if not ritualistic, yet it
clearly expedites the central concern -- the sitting together in
worshipful silence, from which springs the Meeting's service to the
wider community.
At the moment, this is taking place virtually, in online Meetings, but you get the drift.
Most cyclical religious (and humanistic!) activity, I think, has this
function: to season service with wisdom before offering to the world. It
is a dance, and we may call it sacred.
Gardening, to me, is such a sacred dance.
My writing about the garden is an effort to produce dance notation.
It chronicles seasons and strategies, up and downs -- a life, mine, but
also a microcosm of the life of society. I'm active in a cyclical way,
performing annual tasks: seeding flats, building up beds, spreading
compost, setting out plants, irrigating, harvesting, putting the beds to
bed. The aim is to find the wisest ways to do food hyperlocally, and
impart what has been found. Sharing the ritual of constructing a bean
trellis from willow growth, it is hoped, serves as an instance of bodhisattva activity.
-- shonin
-- shonin
Every act of kindness, no matter how small, provides space for good things to happen. -- Sensei Alex Kakuyo