Newsletter - Zen River Temple

Newsletter
Fall / Winter 2014
International Exchange
Of all those who participate in the Zen River training
program, about one third comes from abroad. Yet with Japan, we seem to have a special connection. Ever since Tenkei and Myoho lived at Kirigayaji in Tokyo, Hojo-san’s
temple, and trained at various other temples, an exciting
exchange has been taking place. While many Zen River
members have followed their example and spent valuable
practice time in Japan, over the years some twenty Japanese monks have joined us here in our program.
Helma Jifu Vulink is actually at Toshoji right now, and
Tenkei and Myoho visited there just a few weeks ago after their trip to China. In the meantime, three Japanese
monks have come over to Zen River: Rev. Shuho Go,
Rev. Jusho Iwakami and Rev. Shunsei Amano (from left
to right on the above picture). Shunsei-san is from Toshoji
and will stay here for several months. Jusho-san is eager to
practice at Zen River even longer. Last year he went to see
Tenkei and Myoho when they were at Kirigayaji, and they
have built up a strong connection since then.
Shuho-san is from a temple almost next-door to Koshinji in Otawara, the “mother temple” of the Kuroda
family where Maezumi Roshi and Hojo-san grew up. As
you may know, the abbot of Koshinji, Kojun Kuroda Roshi, the eldest brother of the family, passed away recently.
The present abbot, his youngest son, Rev. Taiko Kuroda,
lived with Tenkei and Myoho in Amsterdam for some
time in the early 1990’s, and traveled with them to Poland. It’s a small world and we are obviously all connected!
Black Fried Rice
140 g / 3/4 cup brown short grain rice
140 g / 3/4 cup black sticky rice
500 ml / 3 cups water
4–6 dried shitake mushrooms (30 g)
1 tablespoon dried hijiki seaweed
4 medium cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper
125 g / 1 cup snow peas
1 small courgette
1 small head broccoli (250 g)
300 g / 1 cup smoked tofu
50 g / 1/2 cup cashew nuts
30 g / 2 tablepoons fresh ginger
2–3 tablespoons oil for frying
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
* Place rice in a heavy-bottomed pot with the water.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid and put on a high flame. As
soon as it boils, turn low and cook for about 40 minutes,
or until all the water is absorbed.
* Soak the hijiki seaweed for 30 minutes in a little water.
Reserve the liquid.
* Put the shitake mushrooms stems down in a pot and just
cover with water. Simmer until soft, about 15 minutes.
Slice the mushrooms and reserve the stock.
* Cut the tofu into 1 1/2 cm squares. Peel and mince the
garlic and ginger.
* Dice the red bell pepper and courgette. Trim the snow
peas and cut the broccoli into small florets.
* In a nonstick frying pan, heat about 2 tablespoons of
oil on a medium flame. Add the tofu and stir-fry until
pale gold on the edges. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of soy
sauce and stir-fry until it evaporates. Repeat. Turn down
the flame and stir occasionally until crispy and golden,
about 10 minutes.
* In a large stew pot on medium flame, heat up the
remaining oil and stir-fry the garlic and ginger until
fragrant. Add the peppers and courgette and fry until gold
on the edges. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, stir
and let it evaporate.
* Add the broccoli and stir-fry until just tender, about 4
minutes. Add the shiitake mushrooms, hijiki seaweed and
snow peas. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
* Gently mix the sesame oil and the remaining stock
from the mushrooms and hijiki into the cooked rice,
then carefully fold everything together and stir-fry for 1
minute. When the rice is hot, add the tofu and fold in
gently so as not to break it.
* Garnish with the cashew nuts and serve with sambal or
sweet chili sauce
Shoyoroku 59: Seirin’s Poisonous Snake
by Tenkei Coppens
Attention! A monk asked master Seirin, “When a student goes along the path, how about that?” Seirin replied, “A poisonous snake
is on the path. I advise him not to run into it.” The monk said, “What about when he runs into it?” Seirin answered, “He must
mourn his life.” The monk continued, “What about when he does not run into it?” Seirin said, “But there is no way to avoid it.”
The monk said, “Then how about at that moment?” Seirin replied, “It completely disappeared.” The monk then said, “I wonder
where it went.” And Seirin responded, “The grass is so deep that we can’t find it anywhere.” The monk said, “Your reverence too
should protect yourself against it.” Seirin rubbed his palms together and said, “Both you and I are poisonous snakes.”
“When a student goes along the path, how about that?” A
tricky question! What path? Is there really a path, a specific
way to follow? Great Master Nansen once said that if you
turn towards the Way, you turn away from it. There just
is no coming or going, no place to arrive. Didn’t someone
else say, “I am the Way”? Intrinsically there is no separation
between you and the Way because the Way happens to be
this very life. And it turns out that studying our life is a
very curious endeavor; we are right in the midst of it! It is
like a fish wanting to investigate water—how do you study
something that is so intrinsic to your existence? How do we
study the living process while we are actually living it?
Yet, from the experiential side, we may not feel at one
with the Way at all. We may be painfully aware of a gap
between ourselves and our life, however odd that is. We may
think that life is hard, or even unfair, as if it is something
outside of ourselves, something that is thrown at us without
being asked for. Or you may feel that the life you’re living
is just not the life you were meant for; somehow a serious
mistake has been made. This is a delusion, but we still need
to work with it because that’s where we are right now. So
we can appreciate Master Seirin for going along with this
scenario. On the brink of falling into delusion himself, he
bends over backwards to help out this monk—and all of us
as well! One day you may, as Master Nansen puts it, attain
to the “Tao of no doubt, which is so vast and boundless”—
meaning that you no longer doubt that you are the way. We
go along the path to discover that there actually is no path;
or, that this path is something we have been on all along.
Meanwhile, as we are traveling this imaginary path, life
can really feel like a burden, isn’t it? When I walk through
the village and look at people, many often seem to be
carrying a heavy weight. And of course, their lives may be
hard. Some lives are obviously harder than others. Yet what
is our burden, really? If I am my life, I am also the burden.
Yet there is so much resistance to acknowledging that. The
burden always seems to be put upon us from the outside:
my job, my boss, my family, the weather, the government,
the economy—an endless list of culprits. Somehow we just
don’t see that the real burden we’re carrying is our judgments
and ideas, opinions and preferences, shoulds and should
nots, and that these are blocking our ability to deal with
things effectively. It feels as if someone were sitting right on
top of our shoulders, like a clone or a replica of ourselves—
and quite a dictatorial one!—telling us constantly what is
right and what is wrong, what to do and what not to do.
“A poisonous snake is on the path. I advise him not to
run into it.” We all know that snakes are dangerous; they can
carry poison. In general, you don’t want to get too close. But
what does Master Seirin really mean? What poison should
we be so worried about? Buddhism identifies the poisons
of greed, anger, and ignorance. They are symbolized by a
cock, a snake, and a pig respectively, and they are placed
at the very center of the wheel of birth and death. Usually
we try to avoid or ignore these poisons by projecting them
onto so-called outside situations. Yet once you’re on the
path, there is no way of avoiding them—and the teacher
is there to help! Once Maezumi Roshi was asked, “How
do I deal with the teacher?” He blurted out, “Avoid him!”
For most of us, it’s way too late to turn back. If you keep
your eyes open, you are bound to see your greed, anger, and
ignorance.
Is that fun? Yeah! No, of course not! If you can keep a
sense of humor, however, it almost becomes fun because
you discover that the joke is on you. After all, there is no
path, there are no snakes, there is no poison. Everything
disappears. The poison is somehow transformed into
medicine. Isn’t it fascinating that the emblem for medicine
is two snakes? Even the worst poison can be the best
medication if it is given to the right person, at the right time,
at the right place, and particularly in the right amount. Any
poison can help us awaken if we start to see what is actually
weighing us down. Can you say what is really burdening
you? Is there anything you can name? Many of us have no
clue. But we certainly feel the weight, particularly in the
morning when it is time to get up. What is it that we carry
around all day?
In the spaciousness of zazen our whole life is revealed
to us, over and over again, and we can finally discover
what weighs us down. Many of us are burdened by past
experiences; for example, events that we haven’t been able
to process properly so that we can accept them for what they
were. Old hurts or mistakes have gotten stuck somewhere
deep inside. We can also look at the future and recognize
our hopes and expectations; these too can become burdens.
Perhaps just the present gives us plenty to work with if we
can see how habitual patterns are governing our lives. Old
patterns can be unbearable burdens, requiring all of our
energy to carry. And of course, we are not able to help carry
anyone else’s burden when we are so busy carrying our own.
November 2014 Fundraiser
windows, windows, windows
Zen River Temple is blessed with many windows. They allow for spectacular views over the endless fields of NorthGroningen and keep us in touch with the big, ever-changing skies. Yet windows require a lot of upkeep and some of
them now need replacing. The Zen River maintenance crew, using every moment of this year’s long hot summer, has
done a remarkable job with improving and repainting most of the window frames. And after an appeal in the Spring
Newsletter, we received enough funds to substitute two windows at the top floor of the main building with modern
double-pane models, including a new concrete support beam that was necessary above them - altogether an expert
job by contractor Klaas de Boer who also built the Zendo three years ago.
Next on our urgent “to-do” list are the windows of the new wing. The west side windows are double-glazed and
in good shape. But those on the east side are only single-glazed and in poor condition, thus making that side of the
building very cold, drafty, and wasteful of heat. It would be best to refurbish them all with double-pane glass and
new hinges and locks. Of course this would be a big and costly undertaking, but lower energy bills would help us
earn much of it back over time. In any case, Klaas de Boer gave us an estimate of 9.000 Euro; and needless to say, we
appreciate all donations, great or small, to contribute to getting the job done.
Many thanks and deep gassho,
Ze n Ri ve r At el ier
Hand-Tailored Meditation Supplies
In the Shop
Zafus & zabutons; okesa, koromo, lay
robe; jubon, kimono, obi, shikin &
samue tailored to individual sizes & fabric; rakusus, kits & covers; monk-style
shoulder bags; oryoki cloth sets; altar
cloths. All items sewn under the direction of head seamstress, Ranka de Hullu.
Mango wood oryoki sets, recordings
of dharma talks by Tenkei Roshi; Zen
River Anthology I & II a collection of
key buddhist texts throughout the ages;
essential buddhist study books.
www.zenrivertemple.org/shop.html
Over the last few
weeks the Kaisando
has gone through a
serious make-over.
With new tatamimats and a wooden
trim, the butsudan
replaced in the
north wall cabinet
structure, the whole
room has gone up
to the next level; a
worthy sanctuary
for Maezumi Roshi’s
legacy.
Have you noticed, you can see if people have their hands
free or not. How about you? Are you free? Are you free from
yourself? Did you put down your burden and lighten up?
Are you enlightened?
While reviewing one’s life in great detail, it is important
to articulate specific burdens. We can’t just say, “Yeah, I
had a difficult life.” That is not enough. That would be like
going to the doctor and saying: “I have pain everywhere.”
A doctor wants to know exactly where you feel the hurt. Is
it in your arms or legs, or somewhere else? The trouble has
to be located in order to be properly diagnosed. We need
to go into the details, but it is not easy to go there. Fear,
anger, and the desire to ignore what is actually happening
can totally block us. Maezumi Roshi used to say, “What is
it that’s bugging you?” What is your burden, do you know?
When you really take the backward step and turn your
own light inward then whatever you encounter becomes
your life. Mind absorbs it all. Looking without an agenda,
without liking or disliking, any situation, good or bad, can
be transformed. Problems disappear because they don’t bug
you anymore. You just accept difficulties as part of your life,
something you can work with. In fact, they can help you.
Weaknesses can become strengths when you work with
them and see that they are not fixed. In this way, zazen can
become an incredible process of healing. And obviously,
we first need to heal ourselves before we can help anybody
else. According to Trungpa Rinpoche, we cannot skip the
path of self liberation, the Hinayana path. If we haven’t put
down our own burden, we can’t open up to the pain of
others; we are just too busy or too tired, and probably both.
In fact, if we haven’t already dealt with our own pain it
could be dangerous to try to help others; we may end up
projecting our personal pain onto someone else, and that
wouldn’t help anyone.
“Seirin replied, ‘It completely disappeared.’” Yes, but
not in the way we expected. The snakes are still there,
but they don’t bug us anymore. The great Tibetan sage
Milarepa is an extreme example. Before he met Marpa, his
teacher, Milarepa had been an expert in black magic and
had actually killed people with it. Now, imagine Milarepa
meditating in a mountain cave for some twenty years; don’t
you think that those murders would occupy his mind now
and then? Maybe he even could remember the faces of his
victims. Wouldn’t that weigh heavy on his consciousness?
Yet somehow he came to terms with those crimes and
became the greatest sage Tibet has ever produced. How was
that possible? How did he manage to transform his life into
such a precious jewel?
When we really look at it, all of us have killed in some
ways. How do we live with that? Well first of all, you have to
see the faces of the people that you have harmed. You have
to dare to face what actually happened, to really see it for
what it is. Acknowledging the plain facts could constitute
what we now call the First Mode of Meditation. Discovering
the spaciousness of your own mind is the Second Mode
of Meditation. In that spaciousness you start to see that
nothing is fixed, that things move around. Everything is
in flux, empty of any everlasting substance. And gradually,
you start daring to identify with your own burden and to
take full responsibility for it. The separation vanishes; there
is no burden to be found. At last you are free enough to
really be there for others and respond appropriately to their
needs.
Just now, I suddenly wondered, would an elephant
inwardly feel heavier than a lion? What do you think? It is
a strange question. An elephant is obviously heavier than
a lion, but does he actually feel heavier? I don’t think so.
An elephant just feels like an elephant. Yet it carries a big
burden, doesn’t it? It has a heavy body, but because an
elephant is one with its own weight, it just walks. Elephants
can even run, quite fast actually. So the question is: Can we
carry our own weight? And again, if we do not start there,
it becomes very difficult to move on to the next step. Self
liberation never becomes superfluous. It is always important
because poisonous snakes can sneak up on any level of the
path. Pride, for example, can easily creep in, especially after
some realization.
When we encounter the snake, Seirin says we must
mourn our life. Whose life? Becoming one with the snake,
we lose the life we have known. But we first have to meet
our life head-on. We have to recognize what has really been
bugging us and feel our own pain. Underneath, we may
think that we don’t have the right to have problems or to
make mistakes. Do you recognize that? I mean, I live in
a peaceful country, have a half-decent education, and am
relatively healthy. Why should I complain?
Once you’ve put down your burden, however, it’s very
difficult to understand why you carried it in the first place.
It’s like waking from a dream; once you’ve stepped out of
it, you can’t go back to accepting it as real. Sometimes I try,
but never quite manage. A few nights ago I dreamt that I
woke up. Five or ten minutes later I really woke up! And I
realized that I had dreamt waking up, but really hadn’t. So
it can get complicated! It makes me wonder, where am I
now? Although I was convinced I had woken up, I woke up
again! Maybe tomorrow something similar will happen. I’ll
wake up and think, “Gosh, I really thought I gave this talk.
Didn’t know I was safe in my bed all the time!”
So we can wonder, where are we now? The grass is so
deep that we can’t find ourselves anywhere. Seirin rubbed
his palms together, which is supposed to chase away bad
spirits. You and I are both poisonous snakes. What makes
us poisonous is the idea that we exist, separate and apart
from each other and the world around us. The real poison
is the notion of separation. So we need to make a leap and
go beyond all such dualistic notions.
The appreciatory verse says: “The ferryman in darkness
turns the rudder. The lone boat at night turns its bow.” We
need to turn our own light inward, in the night. Apparently
real transformation can only take place in the dark. In other
words, we have to go to where we don’t know left from right
anymore, where all coordinates fail to inform us. That is the
very place where we can put down our burden and lighten
up. My wish is to create the right conditions for those who
want to go there. Maybe “wanting” to go there isn’t quite
right. Instead, maybe certain conditions can at least help
us to stop avoiding going there. Together we can provide
opportunities for doing just that, because we need more
people in this world who turn the rudder. Thank you.
(With thanks to Ide Keijo Hejlskov Larsen,
Dina Shorin Pasman, Wynn Seishin Wright)
Journey to the Ancient Roots of Zen
by Ingrid Shugetsu Appels
Over the years, Zen River has developed close connections
with Japan. Now it is exciting to see that connections are
being built with the world of Chinese Zen. Last October,
a small group of Zen River members, graciously led by our
“godfather” Hojo-san, joined a tour of ancient temples in
China. Our group included Tenkei Roshi, Myoho Sensei,
Jorge Ryusho Sensei, Marisa Emyo González, and myself,
Shugetsu. We were actually part of a larger delegation from
Japan (30 total) which was hosted by Otani Roshi, former
president of Komazawa University and Jokeshi at the Hossenshiki for Ranka de Hullu last year, and by Keshu Roshi,
Tanto (“senior teacher”) at Daijoji. We made many new
and interesting connections on this tour which may very
well prove to be fruitful in the future.
Our journey began with the “First International Zen
Culture Conference” on an invitation from Tiantong
Temple in Ningbo. The abbot of this temple, Rev. Master Cheng Xin, together with Rev. Master Ke Xiang from
Qita Temple, were the ones who
inaugurated the new Zendo at
Zen River two years ago. It was
wonderful to meet him again
when he warmly welcomed us to
the conference. During evening
performances, Hojo-san, Myoho
Sensei, and I had the chance to
sing our favorite song for the 500
participants!
Following this happy and
strengthening reunion, we visited
more wonderful places. We traveled primarily by bus. But overnight on our way to Lushan,
we took a train with sleeping compartments which were
equipped with bunk-beds for four to six people—a sure
way to bond with others! Emyo was able to teach our Japanese friends the proper way to shout “Olé!”
The highlights of our adventure were the temples of the
Fourth and Fifth Patriarchs. These temples have been in
existence for 1400 years, so we were able to see the ancient
roots of Zen. It was truly amazing and inspiring to experience these old temples on Huang Mei Mountain. The
surrounding forested peaks, shrouded in mist, emphasized
the timelessness of Hui-neng’s awakening experience (Sixth
Patriarch). We were walking the same paths, literally. As we
came to the wall where he wrote the verses that established
him as the true dharma heir, our guide loudly recited in
Chinese the poem with the famous line: “Fundamentally
there is not a single thing” (本來無一物). The sound still
resonates within.
Winter Shuso
Calendar of Events
Gert Zen’etsu Klopman
has been appointed as
Shuso (head-monk) for
the upcoming Winter
Ango, starting with Rohatsu. Born in 1957,
Gert studied Coastal
Engineering at Delft
University and earned a
PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Twente. He has
worked for Delft Hydraulics, Twente University, and Witteveen & Bos, a civil engineering consultancy firm. He still takes on small expert assignments while
living at Zen River. Zen’etsu specialised in sea and ocean
waves, and their effects on the coast and man-made structures (harbours, dikes, breakwaters, etc). In other words,
he is the engineer in our Zen River team and always finds
interesting solutions for technical problems.
Zen’etsu started his Zen training with Nico Tydeman
Sensei in 1991, and for some seven years went to Japan
regularly to study at Bukkokuji with Harada Tangen
Roshi from whom he received Jukai. In 2003, Zen’etsu
met and continued his training with Tenkei Roshi at
Zen River. He became a full-time resident in 2011 and
received Shukke Tokudo (monk’s ordination) two years
later. Besides other duties, Zen’etsu is presently in charge
of domestic affairs and is always available when you need
anything for your room! Good luck, Zen’etsu! It’s also
wonderful to know that Rev. Hoitsu Suzuki Roshi, son
of the famous Shunryu Suzuki and official guest teacher
at Toshoji, will come over from Japan to take on the position of Jokeshi (official witness of the Soto School) during your Hossenshiki on February 21, 2015.
Winter
November 22–February 21 ‘15---------Winter Ango
November 22–29----------------------Rohatsu Sesshin
December 27–Jan. 1 ‘15-------------New Year Sesshin
January 23–25 ------------------------Weekend Sesshin
February 7--------------------------------Intro Zazenkai
February 14–21------------------Ango Closing Sesshin
February 21 ---------------------------------- Hossenshiki
February 28–March 8---------------------Spring Break
Spring
March 14---------------------------Zazenkai Düsseldorf
April 3–5-------------------------------Weekend Sesshin
April 25–30------------5 nights Sakura Spring Sesshin
May 22–24-----------------------------Weekend sesshin
Summer
June 4---------------------------------- Teisho Den Haag
June 6 -------------------------------------Intro Zazenkai
June 19–21----------------------------Weekend Sesshin
July 18–23 ---------------------------------Family Week
August 1–29 ----------------------Month Long Sesshin
August 1–6 -------------------5 nights, Part one
August 8–13------------------ 5 nights, Part two
August 15–20--------------- 5 nights, Part three
August 22–29--------------- 7 nights, Part four
August 29------------------------------------ Hossenshiki
August T.B.A. -----------------Outdoor Island Retreat
September 5–13------------------------- Summer Break
Fall
September 19 ----------------------------Intro Zazenkai
September 25–27-------------------- Weekend Sesshin
October 3--------------------------Zazenkai Düsseldorf
October 4------------------------------Zazenkai Madrid
October 10–15----------------------- Fall Jukai Sesshin
CONTACT: Zen River, Oldörpsterweg 1, 9981 NL Uithuizen, Netherlands www.zenrivertemple.org zenriver@zenrivertemple.org Tel. +31 (0)595 435039
After their trip to China, Tenkei Roshi and Myoho Sensei visited Toshoji where Helma Jifu Vulink is doing Ango
training right now, together with around twenty five other monks, half from Japan and half from the West. Myoho
joined the program for two weeks while Tenkei had to return to Zen River sooner. On the evening before he left,
Seido Suzuki Roshi asked him to give a lecture that was translated into Japanese by one of the American monks.