The practice of a true person

My favorite Zen text is Tenzo Kyokun, Dogen's Instructions for the (Monastery) Cook.

Here is a passage to which I have returned multiple times: 

When you take care of things, do not see with your common eyes, do not think with your common sentiments. Pick a single blade of grass and erect a sanctuary for the jewel king; enter a single atom and turn the great wheel of the teaching. So even when you are making a broth of coarse greens, do not arouse an attitude of distaste or dismissal. Even when you are making a high-quality cream soup, do not arouse an attitude of rapture or dancing for joy. If you already have no attachments, how could you have any disgust? Therefore, although you may encounter inferior ingredients, do not be at all negligent; although you may come across delicacies, be all the more diligent. Never alter your state of mind based on materials. People who change their mind according to ingredients, or adjust their speech to [the status of] whoever they are talking to, are not people of the Way. -- Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community : A Translation of the Eihei Shingi ed./tr. Leighton and Okumura

When we make a judgment or show a preference, we impose a delusion on what's right in front of us, ignoring the co-dependent arising of all things. Buddhist ethics is training in thusness; that which is before us, rather than that which we wish is there or wish not there.

We can cover much, if not all, of the precepts by means of a single term: "honesty." Honest living simply precludes stealing, lying, misusing, murdering, willfully injuring, gossiping, disparaging, and disrespecting. Buddha spelled out these things because training in honesty is hard.

Dogen points out that the stakes are quite high. Though he continually refers to "just sitting" as the entire Buddhist project, he explicitly sets a high bar for the behavior that gives "just sitting" a chance to even happen: "People who... adjust their speech to whoever they are talking to, are not people of the Way."

As for the attitude while preparing food, the essential point is deeply to arouse genuine mind and respectful mind without making judgments about the ingredients' fineness or coarseness....  Although they create relationship to buddha, [donations that are] abundant but lacking [in heart] are not as good as those that are small but sincere. This is the practice of a [true] person.

We might try being honest to our vegetables and see if it doesn't feel a bit like training in "right doing." 😄 

-- shonin

Ecotonglen

 
EcoTonglen

Script from Kokuu


0.00 
sitting and grounding with the breath
Tonglen practice for the major biomes of the earth. 
For now, we are just going to sit for a couple of minutes to gather our awareness. How you do that is up to you, whether following the breath, sitting in open awareness or something else that is your usual practice.
At each new stage of the practice I will sound the bell and give instruction for what to do. 

2.00 
tonglen for the polar regions
We are going to beigin the practice of tonglen by bringing to mind the polar regions of the earth, the ice caps of the Artic and Antarctic, all of the islands within those regions and the people, animals and plants that live there. 
We can visualise the kinds of environmental strains that these areas of the earth are under, and see that strain and damage as dark smoke. When we breathe in, we imagine taking in that smoke through the centre of our chest, and then, when we breathe out, we visualise sending out loving kindness or metta, in response, which is often viewed as white light. 
The practice of tonglen is the continuation of this cycle of taking in suffering on the in-breath and breathing out love and compassion on the out breath. It is a practice to work with opening our heart to suffering and cultivating loving kindness in response.
The actual images of black smoke and white light are not important, as long as you feel connected to the visualisation and the taking in of suffering and breathing out of metta. If you want to use another kind of image, or none at all, that is totally fine. 

6.00 
tonglen for the mountains
We next bring our attention to the montane regions of the earth, the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Alaskan range and all of the other high places of the world, and the sentient beings that live there. 
Think of the problems of those regions, due to human activity damaging the habitat, climate change shrinking the glaciers and leaving ever smaller areas for alpine plants to thrive above the snow line. 
As before, imagine taking in all of that stress and suffering experienced by the the sentient beings living there, and breathing out love and compassion in response.

10.00 
tonglen for the forests
The next biome we will practice for, is the forested regions of the earth. Most commonly we might think of the Amazonian rainforest but there are many other areas of the planet which are wooded, both small and large, including vast tracts of boreal forest. Almost 1/3 of the Earth’s land surface is covered by forest although human damage through logging and deforestation for agriculture and grazing is changing that percentage all of the time.
We bring our attention to these areas of the globe and breath in, imagining taking in the suffering of all beings living in the forests, and sending them love and compassion.


14.00 
tonglen for the grasslands and plains
The grasslands and plains of the world cover vast areas and are home to many people, animals and plants. Grasslands and grazing animals support each other and provide livelihoods for many human beings. However, our use of artificial fertilisers and growing of monoculture crops, often to feed livestock, has turned many grasslands into virtual deserts ecologically, and human habitation has also eaten into the landscape. 
As before, we breathe in, taking in the suffering of all sentient beings who live on the plains, savannah and steppes, and breathe out love, care and compassion for those regions.

18.00 
tonglen for the deserts
We now bring our attention to desert regions and we may often think of these are lacking in life, yet they are home to many humans and other sentient beings. The deserts of the world are under threat from climate change, decreasing already limited supplies of water and making it even harder for plants to grow and animals to survive. Overgrazing and intensive agriculture use further threatens the ability of deserts to sustain life.
We visualise these areas of the Earth and imagine taking in the suffering of the sentient beings that live there on the in breath, and breathing out our love and care for those places.

22.00 
tonglen for the oceans and rivers
The sixth biome we are going to practice with, are the rivers, lakes and oceans of the earth. Our planet is 70% covered by water and those aquatic environments are home to vast numbers of sentient beings. Although humans do not live directly in rivers, lakes and oceans, we rely on them for food, travel and recreation. However, we also use them as places to dump our pollution and have a history of overfishing and overwhaling. 
We breathe in the suffering of the water regions of the earth, and breath out loving kindness.

26.00 
tonglen for the whole earth
The last stage of the practice is to imagine the whole earth, and to repeat tonglen for the entire planet, taking in the suffering of all beings as we breathe in, and sending out love, care and compassion on the outbreath.

30.00
We end with the short dedication of merit:
May all places and beings be seen sacred.
May all injustice be unravelled.
May all harmed be restored.
May all delight in right doing.
May all abide in the real.