Reading the Lotus Sutra

"Who, with avoidance of any distraction of thoughts and with attentive mind, during thousands of kotis of years have meditated in the caves of the wilderness; these strive for enlightenment by dint of meditation." 

Attentive mind is very important. From the beginning it always has been important point for our practice. Attentive mind: as a practice counting breathing is a very old and traditional way to always have an attentive mind. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Wet

If you want to practice zazen, it is necessary to choose your friends, to have good friends. To be in good contact with your friends, good friends. Then naturally you will have good practice. Dogen Zenji says zazen practice is like going through the mist. If you go through the mist, your robes will be wet; even though you don't notice it, your robe will be naturally wet. When you go out in a sudden shower, even though you feel your robe is wet, it doesn't get through your robe. But when you get wet in the mist, even though you don't feel it, the moisture will penetrate into your body, even. That is how we should practice zazen. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Reading Lotus Sutra

"Further, I see Bodhisattvas, who have forsaken all wanton pleasures, shun unwise companions and delight in having intercourse with genteel men (Aryas)."

This is supposed to be a very important practice: to choose your friends and to live in a suitable place for practice. It doesn't say zazen practice, but actually it means zazen practice.

-------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

More Lotus Sutra reading and comment

The bodhisattva has six prajna paramitas. Dana prajna paramita, and precepts...prajna paramita. Alms giving and precepts observation, and vigourous practice, and patience, and zazen practice, and wisdom, prajna paramita.

"Some sons of the Gina, whose strength consists in forbearance, patiently endure abuse, censure, and threats from proud monks": Proud monks will give various critical words, and sometimes blame their conduct. But the bodhisattvas should not be disturbed by those words or treatment. They try to attain enlightenment by dint of forbearance. "

This is the third prajna paramita, prajna paramita of endurance. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Purify (continuing with comments on Lotus Sutra)

To purify our own self is to purify our surrounding. In this way we are supposed to obtain the five transcendent faculties. One is mystic power, and next is clairvoyance, or the ability to see through things; next is the ability to know others' minds; and then the power to know one's own past lives, and one's own karma. And Arhats have six faculties. The last one is the perfect knowledge faculty. After extinguishing all the physical and mental feelings, they will have perfect wisdom. That is the last one. But for Bodhisattvas they have five. So here we may count five faculties. -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

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Reading from the Lotus Sutra

"Others who have renounced all sensual desires, by purifying their own self, have cleared their sphere and obtained the five transcendent faculties, live in the wilderness, as (true) sons of the Sugata."

This is so called "Arhat practice." To attain Arhatship they have to purify their own self and they have to extinguish their sensual desires.
First of all, we should not stop thinking, but we should be free from thinking. Thinking desires and mental joy and physical joy. In this way we should purify our own self.  -------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Jane Hirshfield lecture on Youtube

Here's a Buddhist lecture Jane Hirshfield gave last month at Smith College. (The others in the same "Putting Pen to Palm Leaf" series should also be there-- Norman Fischer, Kate Wheeler, Ruth Ozeki.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC_E-F7AQXY

Love that photo of Jane from a few years back.

On the Okesa

As you know, the okesa is made of material which people are not using any more. And Buddha collected that material and purified it, and sewed it together, like this (with many rectangles like a rice field). The most important robe for us is the okesa, not the Chinese or Japanese dress (which are underobes for Japanese monks). And there are traditional, strict rules about how to make it. Joyce, you know, is studying how, is actually making her okesa by hand, stitch after stitch, reciting the Sutra in Japan. That is how we do it. You are laughing, but you will do it, you know. Now you are laughing.  [Joyce Browning was ordained as a priest by Suzuki with her husband Ron before they went to Japan to enter Soto Zen monasteries. It's interesting he makes a point here that we'd be sewing our robes because that wasn't his trip - it was Katagiri's]-------------------------------- Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture - 68-02-00-A as found on shunryusuzuki.com. Edited by DC

Kobun Chino at the Opera

Hideko Oga wrote, "I am a member of SF Opera for a  long time (smallest donor) and receive the new season catalog. There is a new opera titled Steve Jobs with four singers. The roles are Steve Jobs, his wife and co-founder, and the 4^th person is – Chino Kobun Otogawa."

It reminded her of the movie (and book), The Parrots of Telegraph Hill with a parrot named Shunryu after Suzuki Roshi.

Kobun  Chino was her late husband Grahame Petchey’s senior at Eihei-ji and she wondered if that could be part of the reason why he came to California.  

She and Grahame saw him in Santa Fe in 1986 or 7.  He recognized Grahame’s voice at a small Japanese restaurant and came over to their table.  That was the only time Hideko saw Kobun.

The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs comes in June 2020 to the San Francisco Opera.

Rave review on this Grammy winning opera - with video excerpts

Kobun Chino Cuke page