Muho on”The God of Zen” (Part 3), April 6th 2018
Critical Buddhism: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Buddhism
Shobogenzo Shoji (Living and dying): antaiji.org/en/classics/shoji/
When you let go of your body and mind and forget them completely and you throw yourself into the Buddha’s abode, then everything is done from the side of Buddha and you just follow along without effort or anxiety – you break free from life’s suffering and are Buddha yourself. How can you then have any hindrance in your mind?
There is a very easy way to be a Buddha: Do not do any evil. Do not try to cling to life and death but, with deep compassion, work for all beings. Respect your elders and sympathize with those younger. When you do neither deny things nor seek them or think and worry about them – then you are called a buddha. Don’t look for anything else.
Different translations of Sobogenzo Zazenshin:
“The Lancet of Zazen” translated by Carl Bielefeldt (terebess.hu/zen/dogen/KS-Zazenshin.html):
“…There is someone in “nonthinking”, and this someone maintains us.”
“A needle for Zazen” translated by Gudo Nishijima (thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo_2_NC.pdf):
“…In “non-thinking” there is someone, and that someone is maintaining and relying upon me.”
“On Wanshi’s ‘Kindly Advice for Doing Seated Meditation’ ” translated by Hubert Nearman (shastaabbey.org/pdf/shoboAll.pdf):
“…There is a someone involved in not deliberately trying to think about something, and that someone is maintaining and supporting an I. ”
Negative (apophatic) theology: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophatic_theology
Muho on”The God of Zen” (Part 3), April 6th 2018
Critical Buddhism: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Buddhism
Shobogenzo Shoji (Living and dying): antaiji.org/en/classics/shoji/
When you let go of your body and mind and forget them completely and you throw yourself into the Buddha’s abode, then everything is done from the side of Buddha and you just follow along without effort or anxiety – you break free from life’s suffering and are Buddha yourself. How can you then have any hindrance in your mind?
There is a very easy way to be a Buddha: Do not do any evil. Do not try to cling to life and death but, with deep compassion, work for all beings. Respect your elders and sympathize with those younger. When you do neither deny things nor seek them or think and worry about them – then you are called a buddha. Don’t look for anything else.
Different translations of Sobogenzo Zazenshin:
“The Lancet of Zazen” translated by Carl Bielefeldt (terebess.hu/zen/dogen/KS-Zazenshin.html):
“…There is someone in “nonthinking”, and this someone maintains us.”
“A needle for Zazen” translated by Gudo Nishijima (thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/Shobogenzo_2_NC.pdf):
“…In “non-thinking” there is someone, and that someone is maintaining and relying upon me.”
“On Wanshi’s ‘Kindly Advice for Doing Seated Meditation’ ” translated by Hubert Nearman (shastaabbey.org/pdf/shoboAll.pdf):
“…There is a someone involved in not deliberately trying to think about something, and that someone is maintaining and supporting an I. ”
Negative (apophatic) theology: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophatic_theology
Walk around the hall & WEST COAST PREMIERE: ZEN FOR NOTHING, March 8th 2018
BuddhaFest Presents Zen For Nothing
Directed by Werner Penzel (Step Across the Border, Middle of the Moment)
Germany, Japan / 2016 / English, Japanese, and German, with English subtitles / 100 min plus Q&A / Drama
The title may be provocative, but this film is a masterly immersion into life at a Japanese Zen monastery over three seasons of a year. Swiss novice Sabine arrives at Antaiji (the abbot of which is German national Muho Nölke) in autumn, and after a brief welcome, the learning process of the monastery rules begins: how to bow; how to sit in the meditation hall on the pillow in front of the empty wall; how to carry out the individual movements with the chopsticks in connection with the three black painted wooden bowls; how to behave…
There’s more to life in the monastery than meditation and maintenance; there are picnics and music, and Wi-Fi. After the last snow has melted away, the new rice is planted, bamboo shoots are dug up in the forest and young shoots are cut. In May, the nuns and monks travel to Osaka where they recite sutras in front of subway entrances as they solicit offerings in their monk’s robes. Quotes from renowned early 20th century Antaiji abbot Koda Sawaki are interjected throughout.
Simple, and beautifully filmed, this is Into Great Silence meets Enlightenment Guaranteed, with Fred Frith, composer (Rivers and Tides, Before Sunrise), performing the eclectic and elegant score.
Director Werner Penzel will be in attendance for Q&A.