Decorum
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I would like to address decorum. When I was much younger, a few months ago even, I was under the impression decorum was nice, but a tad stiff. People needed to let go of their rigid adherence to forms, robes, bells, whistles, and all that fancy stuff at Zen Center as well as elsewhere,. And I am still of that mind. We don't behave in Zen Center for the sake of rigidity. We behave as practice.
Our practice is to be our mindfulness. So, we are mindful of the way we walk, talk, remain silent, light incense, bow, put on our robes, and sit. We are mindful of our work and our play, our joy and our sorrow. We are mindful of the resentment we might feel or the generosity we experience. This is our practice.
So, when we enter the Zendo, we place our palms together and bow. We step in with our right foot. We walk in shasho, left hand in enclosed fist, right hand as shield. We stand quietly with our attention on our presence at our cushion facing the alter. We chant the sutras. We turn and face our cushion with palms together. The bell rings, we bow, turn 180 degrees to the right, bow to the sangha, sit directly down on the cushion, raise our legs and turn to the right 180 degrees to face the wall. We arrange our bodies, clothes or robes. We place our palms together and wait. When the bell rings, we bow and place our hands together in the cosmic mudra and begin zazen.
In the Zendo, the priests wear koromo robes or black samue only. Samue are work clothes, but we also use them here in the desert as summer wear. Priests must wear their rakusus or wagessas. If they are officiating, they wear rakusu or o'kesa. If you do not have samue please pick a set up from me.
All others should wear their wagessas or rakusu. Each is the Buddha's robe and should be worn in respectful remembrance of the dharma. We should wear subdued colors or our center's samue.
There is no talking in the Zendo other than the priest offering instruction or our chanting practice. We may have dharma discussions, (mondo or dokusan) in the Zendo. These are forms of practice. But no idle chat. However, when the alter doors are closed, we may talk.
We have been working diligently to make our Zen center a practice center. If you see trash outside, pick it up. A weed, pull it out. Stones are out of place, replace them. If the water bottle needs refilling, please take it and refill it. If the trash needs to be taken out, please do so. If the floor needs to be swept, the broom closet invites you to attend to it. All in mindfulness.
On our way to Zen Center we should be orienting ourselves to our practice. Our attention should be on our driving, on our breath, and on our mind. Let it settle on task. We come to Zen Center to train. Our training is in stillness in motion. Our training is to be clear mind.
Please note: Myself or our priests will be correcting us all as we practice, myself included. Zen is an ever unfolding way.
Silence is thunder.
Be well
Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I would like to address decorum. When I was much younger, a few months ago even, I was under the impression decorum was nice, but a tad stiff. People needed to let go of their rigid adherence to forms, robes, bells, whistles, and all that fancy stuff at Zen Center as well as elsewhere,. And I am still of that mind. We don't behave in Zen Center for the sake of rigidity. We behave as practice.
Our practice is to be our mindfulness. So, we are mindful of the way we walk, talk, remain silent, light incense, bow, put on our robes, and sit. We are mindful of our work and our play, our joy and our sorrow. We are mindful of the resentment we might feel or the generosity we experience. This is our practice.
So, when we enter the Zendo, we place our palms together and bow. We step in with our right foot. We walk in shasho, left hand in enclosed fist, right hand as shield. We stand quietly with our attention on our presence at our cushion facing the alter. We chant the sutras. We turn and face our cushion with palms together. The bell rings, we bow, turn 180 degrees to the right, bow to the sangha, sit directly down on the cushion, raise our legs and turn to the right 180 degrees to face the wall. We arrange our bodies, clothes or robes. We place our palms together and wait. When the bell rings, we bow and place our hands together in the cosmic mudra and begin zazen.
In the Zendo, the priests wear koromo robes or black samue only. Samue are work clothes, but we also use them here in the desert as summer wear. Priests must wear their rakusus or wagessas. If they are officiating, they wear rakusu or o'kesa. If you do not have samue please pick a set up from me.
All others should wear their wagessas or rakusu. Each is the Buddha's robe and should be worn in respectful remembrance of the dharma. We should wear subdued colors or our center's samue.
There is no talking in the Zendo other than the priest offering instruction or our chanting practice. We may have dharma discussions, (mondo or dokusan) in the Zendo. These are forms of practice. But no idle chat. However, when the alter doors are closed, we may talk.
We have been working diligently to make our Zen center a practice center. If you see trash outside, pick it up. A weed, pull it out. Stones are out of place, replace them. If the water bottle needs refilling, please take it and refill it. If the trash needs to be taken out, please do so. If the floor needs to be swept, the broom closet invites you to attend to it. All in mindfulness.
On our way to Zen Center we should be orienting ourselves to our practice. Our attention should be on our driving, on our breath, and on our mind. Let it settle on task. We come to Zen Center to train. Our training is in stillness in motion. Our training is to be clear mind.
Please note: Myself or our priests will be correcting us all as we practice, myself included. Zen is an ever unfolding way.
Silence is thunder.
Be well