Sesshin Plans and Morning Prayer
2009Posted by Gustav 26 Dec, 2009 06:28Dear friends,
I am sorry for not having posted anything here for several weeks. It is my intention to write more often, but my time in front of the computer has been more limited lately. I will try to write posts more frequently, but I will not make any empty promises. Sometimes I have more time to write, and sometimes I have less. However, when I do have the time to write blog posts, I really enjoy it, and I am happy that you are here reading it!
All is well with the family. The baby is growing so fast, and learning to interact more and more with us and his surroundings. We are having a wonderful time, and - looking at his big smiles - he is too! His name is Björn Alfred Ericsson, with Alfred as his first name. In Sweden, the middle name can sometimes be first. Björn is my middle name, and also the first name of my father and my wife's brother. Alfred is an old Swedish/English name that we like.
Me and my friend Markus have been planning to arrange a sesshin together in Finland, 19-22 August 2010. Markus is the leader of Dogen Sangha in Finland, and he is a wonderful person doing a great job. I have been excited about our plans, and now I am even more excited because it seems that Peter Rocca will travel from his home in Japan and also join and lead the sesshin. Peter is Markus' teacher and my Dharma brother, but most of all he is a good friend and a wonderful inspiration to be around. Peter's website and blog, The Stupid Way, can be found under Links to my friends. The three of us will lead the retreat together, but Peter is most experienced and he will be the main leader of the sesshin. I am really looking forward to seeing both Markus and Peter in August, and you are all welcome to join us! We will probably arrange the sesshin in a retreat centre near Helsinki. Photos here: http://www.fwbo.fi/kuvia/ It is located near a lake and it has a sauna, so we can have the total Finnish experience! More info will be posted here later on.
A few weeks ago, it was my responsibility to lead the morning prayer together with my friend Sigrid at the priest training school in Uppsala. The morning prayer is very short, only about 15 minutes, and the following is what we did with those minutes: After a psalm, I had a short introduction to zazen with references to Christian concepts and beliefs. Then we all sat five minutes zazen on the chairs in the chapel. After that, Sigrid led a prayer, we sang another psalm, and we ended with a blessing. Maybe it was 20 minutes altogether, and I think most people enjoyed it. It is a different environment to present zazen in, because there are many different ideas about zazen practice in the congregation. Some like it, and some do not. However, I enjoyed the challenge, and here is a rough translation of what I said:
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In the Church calendar, we are in Advent. It is a time of expectation. I relate this time in the Church calendar in particular with silent devotion. We light candles in the darkness, and we rest more in quiet wonder. This is how I feel about this time of the year, and in today's morning service we will share five minutes of silence together. To begin with, because the posture of our body can be helpful for our mind, I would like to invite you to find a stable and upright posture, which is comfortable for sitting still. This can help us to be a bit more stable and aware in the silence and stillness. I would also like to invite you to keep your eyes open. The purpose is not to escape or to get lost in dreams, but rather to stay in, or return to, God here and now. Any thoughts and feelings that come are welcome just as they are. There is no need to analyze or categorize. We welcome everything, and then we let go of everything. We rest in God's peace, which is beyond our intellectual understanding. In the silence and stillness, there is both emptiness and fullness at the same time. Seeking God's kingdom can be like a person that is searching all over the world, and then sits down and finds that what he or she was looking for had been in his or her pocket all the time. God is in us, and we are in God. Whether we are living or dying, we are in God, and there is nothing that can separate us from this unity. Sitting in stillness can be a way to anchor our experience and awareness of this. Therefore, let us now find a good posture. We sit stable in our trust in God. We sit upright in God's love for us, just as we are. I will begin the silence with a quote from the Bible. In Psalms 46:11, it is written: "Be still, and know that I am God."
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Alright, last but not least, I would like to end this post by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Peace 
Posted by Ran 10 Jan, 2010 15:10
I don't know so much of the various churches. What I know of Christianity is mainly of the time of the Bible and perhaps slightly after. A little bit maybe of St. Francis of Assisi and that's about it. Here in Israel we don't learn in school anything about it. (not the time that I went to school, - I suppose it’s still the same; - I am not the sort of person that knows what is going on) - Not the part that I do know too.
I also knew nothing about it until I was about 25.
What I do know is mainly from this teacher I mentioned, and some from Rudolf Steiner. (I've read some things he's written.) - Else than from the Bible of course.
As for grace - even if we see it as grace relatively - I suppose in Buddhism we would still see it as “things as they are” - as an expression of the ever clear nature of the universe, - I like it better this way.
I came across some nice things Uchiyama Roshi has written which quite correspond to Christ’s mentioning the way the Father dresses the roses in the field, but it’d be too long to refer to here.
Seeing something as grace would be seeing it as somewhat unnatural, and it would also mean the recipient does not deserve it. It would actually run against the nature of the universe.
So even though I do not doubt the words of that teacher - I prefer to see it otherwise. I suppose it is sometime necessary to see it like that and sometime necessary to see it like that.
Love is different - I suppose ultimately it can be said all actions are actions of love.
But I really hate being emotional.
That's about it.
It turned quite good I guess.
Happy to write,
Ran
Posted by Gustav 09 Jan, 2010 19:32
Hello again Ran Kennedy! I am sorry that I misunderstood you allegory, and thank you for your clarification. I think you make several good points. "By grace, and grace only..." I think that is beautiful, and it makes me think of some of Luther's teachings. The Church of Sweden is a Lutheran church, by the way... Anyways, thanks!
Posted by Ran Kennedy 04 Jan, 2010 15:36
It seems to me there has been some misunderstanding about my last comment:
I did not use the allegory of the mirror in the way it is usually used in Buddhism.
And I did not use it in the way you seem to have assumed I have.
I meant that if we remember the past, we could think of as if a line – running from the event – or object – in the past, - then to our memory which is formed as a result of it, - and then to our mind in the present which perceives this past memory.
Since it is not direct – since that length of the line is not zero – the information or image which passes along it would unavoidably be distorted somewhere along the way. Or actually all along the way.
In the same way that an image would be at least slightly distorted as the physical light travels from the object, to the mirror, and then to our eye.
(With every inch, or the tiniest part of it, - the light has to travel, - there would be some distortion.)
I did not use the mirror as an allegory for the mind but as an allegory for the memory.
– So the only way for the image not be distorted would be to have it picked up out of the present, - not out of the past.
Of course the same which is true of memory of the past would be true of speculation of the future in the same way.
The same allegory of the mirror could be used for that part of our mind which creates a speculated image – relying on our assumptions concerning the future.
So my point was not about polishing a mirror, - but about avoiding the use of the mirrors of memory and speculation, - during zazen, which may be the only way to enable us direct contact with the reality, which for reasons I would consider to be historical rather than essential is called “God” in Christianity.
Since you have written that some do like zazen practice, I thought the point that letting go of the past and future may be the only way to encounter anything which is real, and particularly the one reality apart from which nothing is real, may somewhat rationally change these people attitude toward the introduced practice.
It seems to me the point might perhaps be worth mentioning anyway, even if otherwise.
Also, - it seems to me – this would also be the place to mention an assertion the Israeli teacher I sometime mention makes – that at last – we only enter God’s kingdom – we only come to know ourselves as we are and clear the barriers between ourselves and reality – by grace, and grace only.
Whatever the preceding efforts may be.
I hope you are happy with my comment.
Ran
Posted by Gustav 03 Jan, 2010 14:55
Hello Professordave, and thank you very much for your encouraging comment. Having a 19 months old grandson sounds wonderful! I am just starting out on the path of fatherhood, and I am amazed about it all.
Harry, that is great news! I hope that Peter Sensei will enjoy both our sesshins. It would be great to join your sesshin in Ireland someday. The sesshin you attended with Robert Kennedy sounds interesting. I have been to similar events, and I found it quite nice. However, in our Anzenkai events I have chosen to keep rituals from any religious tradition to a minimum and instead focus on practice. Thanks for your comment and best regards.
Dear Ran Kennedy, I think your expression "to let go and allow the present to display itself" is beautiful. Yes, the reflection in a mirror is depending on the mirror. However, I think that we cannot intentionally polish any mirror because our situation is not dualistic like that. Our situation is not a mirror and something separate to be reflected in the mirror. My experience is that we need practice to be solidly anchored in this awareness. Therefore, as Nishijima said, zazen is the goal of zazen. Thank you also for the quote from the Gita, the song and the information about the Hebrew translation. I studied Biblical Hebrew for one year during my priest studies, but my knowledge of Hebrew is very shallow and limited. I hope you will have a happy new year!
Posted by Ran Kennedy 27 Dec, 2009 18:49
As for your words about zazen it seems to me one point was missing: That perhaps often made about memories of the past and assumptions about the future never reflecting reality exactly as it is. That is in the same way that a reflection in a mirror would always be slightly distorted – whether we notice it or not. I often think of the allegory that a ruler can not measure itself. So – in a way – the only way to come to know what is real – and particularly “God” (I suppose you wouldn’t put “God” in quotation marks, but I would. Perhaps I am wrong.) – particularly if you see him as just what is real – is to let go and allow the present to display itself.
It is not something we can do intentionally since our intention always strays us from the present.
I would like also to relate to the quote you quoted since my first language is Hebrew.
Actually “הרפו” does not mean “be still”.
It means “let go” or “unhold”, as, I suppose – in Tendo’s Poem I referred to in my last comment to your last (previous) post.
(Modern Hebrew is very close to Biblical Hebrew – since it was a dead language for many years, and when it was revived it was revived very close to the Biblical Hebrew. There are differences of course – but I wouldn’t relate to this here.)
So it would seem it would correspond to Dogen’s instructions in the Fukan-zazengi.
Another interesting point about this is, that in Hebrew we usually number The Bibles chapters with numbers rather than with letters, this tradition must have presided the coming of Christ, and the letters which stand for “46” are “מו” – which is the way in which “Mu” is written in Hebrew. (Though it could also be read as “mo”, and when used as a chapter “number” is (normally) read “mem vav”.)
Two other things: First I thought the end of the verse from which you quoted could used to end zazen, in the same way you used its beginning to start it.
(Also I might note that a teacher I once mentioned earlier, here in Israel, translates “Samadhi” to Hebrew as “דממה”, which means silence.)
And the second – your son – his first picture – made me think of a song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3lVfGlW59Y
It is the best Israeli singer. I think undoubtedly. Though today he must be around 70. The song is from an album recorded and released in ’69.
The chorus goes “Ahinoam, you don’t know anything”. (– “You’re still just a little little girl”.)
[And still there is something I forgot: the quote from Psalms reminds me a lot of one from the Bhagavad-Gita – I don’t remember the exact words, but Krishna is saying to Arjuna: – “I have already killed these evil people. Be but a tool in my hands.”. I think the intention is very similar to that in Psalms. Though the “Gita” here is speaking about action and the Bible is speaking about experience.]
So far,
Ran.
Posted by Harry 26 Dec, 2009 21:51
And a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you and yours, Gustav.
Good luck with all your plans. I think Peter Sensei might organise a retreat here in Ireland around the same time which I look forward to (an instance of 'the future flowing into the present' as Dogen Zenji might say?... Just watched the video of Nishijima Roshi talking about the present moment again).
I'm glad that your little fellow is doing so well.
I was recently at a sesshin in the north of Ireland led by Robert Kennedy who is a dharma heir of Bernie Glassman and also a Catholic priest. It was held in Benburb priory, a priory of the Servite Order. While the main form and focus of the sesshin was Buddhist, he held an optional mass-like event for people who would like to attend, including communion. It was quite simple, with many long silences between readings and prayers. I attended because it felt like a nice healing thing to do given that there is so much trauma around religion here in Ireland at the moment.
Anyway, your post reminded me of it.
Regards to you & yours,
Harry.
Posted by Professordave 26 Dec, 2009 15:14
Beautiful post, Gustav. Those are good instructions for zazen and for silent prayer in general.
I've just visited my 19 month old grandson, and the whole process of growth just gets more and more interesting. I know you'll continue to enjoy it.