Juniji-Hogo By Zen Master Daichi Sokei Zenji

Juniji-Hogo By Zen Master Daichi Sokei Zenji

What the buddhas and patriarchs have been properly transmitting is nothing but sitting. When you sit, hold your hands in hokkai join (cosmic mudra), cross your legs, keep your body upright without leaning; do not think of anything, do not be concerned with anything, not even the buddha dharma. This is beyond buddha, much less the cycle of life and death. Once you have thrown yourself into the ocean of the vows of the buddhas, just conduct yourself with the demeanor of the buddhas, and forget the attachment to your own body.

The demeanor of the buddhas means that once you enter a temple, you must not visit the homes of lay people; just practice according to the regulations of the temple. The regulations prescribe the conduct to be followed throughout the day and night, while living at the temple. If you spend a single day and night, practicing fully in accord with the regulations of the buddha patriarchs, one year, two years your whole life will be as the activities of a single day and night.

The day begins at the Hour of the Tiger (3 am). Get up when you hear the sound of the morning bell and drum, put on your kesa (robe), and sit zazen until the middle of the Hour of the Rabbit (6 am). If it is too long for you, ring the bell at the middle of the Hour of the Tiger (4 am), and sit until the middle of the Hour of the Rabbit (6 am). Spend the Hour of the Tiger free from the karma of life and death (samsara).

At the end of the Hour of the Rabbit, have gruel for breakfast. At the point, give up the mind of zazen. Concentrate on eating gruel; reflecting on the six paramitas tasting the six flavors (bitter, sour, sweet, hot, salty, and moderate) and chanting the ten benefits of eating gruel. Do not think of anything good, much less anything evil. When you have breakfast, just attend fully to the gruel, with both body and mind and do not be concerned with zazen or any other activities. This is called clarifying the time of gruel and realizing the mind of gruel. At this very time, you have a pure realization of the mind of the buddha patriarchs.

In the Hour of the Dragon (7 am), if it is still dark, practice as if it were the Hour of the Rabbit. The point of sutra chanting is just to hold the sutra book with both hands and to chant wholeheartedly, forgetting both zazen and the meal. Do not pay attention to anything else. This is called realizing and clarifying the chanting of the sutra. At that very time the karma of life and death is exhausted and you will enter the rank of the buddha patriarchs. After the practice of chanting, rest for a while. When you rest, be careful not to think or speak of meaningless worldly affairs.

From the middle of the Hour of the Dragon to the middle of the Hour of the Snake (8 am to 10 am), burn incense, ring the bell, and sit zazen. When doing zazen, cast off thoughts of both the buddha patriarchs and of good or bad in the secular world. Being free from thought and activity is called zazen. This is also called zanmai ozanmai (the king of samdhi). Sitting zazen for even a little while is the primary practice which goes beyond the pinnacle of buddhahood. The karma of life and death is exhausted enabling entry into the rank of the buddha patriarchs.

After zazen, rest until lunchtime. There are rules for this time of rest. Respect as you respect the Buddha those who are older than you, even if only by one year. Care for the sick as if they were your mother or father. Do not speak loudly, nor chat about meaningless worldly affairs. Do not foget about the impermanence of life and death, that you may die before you take your next breath. Conduct your self in accordance with the buddha dharma when you sit on the floor in the sodo (sangha hall), when you go out of the hall, when you walk, or when you talk quietly with people. These are the rules to follow while resting.

Have lunch at the beginning of the Hour of the Horse (11 a.m.). Remember the same points mentioned earlier in the case of breakfast; for then the karma of life and death will be exhausted and you will join the rank of the buddha patriarchs.

The time from the Hour of the Sheep to the middle of the Monkey (1 pm to 4 pm) is unscheduled. As I cautioned earlier, be careful not to forget that the matter of life and death is great, and things are impermanent and change very swift. You should lament having spent your time wastefully in an situation whatsoever. This is how to use your mind in the Hour of the Sheep. Then there will be no karma of life and death and you will join the rank of the buddha-patriarchs.

From the middle of the Hour of the Monkey to the middle of the Hour of the Chicken (4 pm to 6 pm), sit zazen. Remember my earlier advice on zazen. Then the karma of life and death will be exhausted and your body and mind will join the rank of the buddha patriarchs.

You may skip sutra chanting and have free time from the middle of the Hour of the Chicken (6 pm) to the beginning of the Hour of the Dog (7 pm). Do not worry about things except for the day's swift passing, and see that impermanence delays not even a moment. At that time, your body and mind are those of the buddha patriarchs.

Sit during the Hour of the dog (7 pm to 9 pm). Be alert as mentioned above. Then, the karma of life and death will be exhausted and your body and mind will be those of the buddha patriarchs.

You are free during the Hour of the Wild Boar (9 pm to 11 pm). Although this is free time, act in accordance with your aspiration and sit if you like, lie down if you like, or if you wish, return to the dormitory and take comfort in talking over the buddha dharma with others. These are the best things to do. Needless to say, a quiet atmosphere should be maintained if you sit. Also, if you return to the dormitory and lie down, do so as the Buddha did. Do not think of sleeping as a trifling thing compared to zazen or sutra chanting. The Buddha's sleeping posture is as follows; lie down on your right side and do not untie the belt of your robe. Do not think of the buddha dharma, much less of things having to do with life and death. Just sleep. Then, the karma of life and death is exhausted, and your body and mind are nothing but the buddha patriarchs.

According to Sakyamuni-Buddha, you should go to bed at the beginning of the Hour of the Mouse (11 pm) and get up at the beginning of the Hour of the Tiger (3 am). So the Hour of the Mouse is the time to sleep. It is also fine to sit zazen. When it is quiet in your hermitage at night and the moon is shinning brightly, it is excellent to sit on your sleeping mat. Even when sleeping you should do so as the Buddha did. At that time, the karma of life and death will be exhausted and your body and mind, lying down, will be buddha. In this way, you will not be spending the Hour of the Mouse wastefully.

During the Hour of the Cow (1 am to 3 am), you should deport yourself similarly. Your body and mind are buddha. Do not waste the Hour of the Cow. As I said above, both in sitting and in lying down, do not deviate from the Way of the Buddha. In this manner, you will be alert in the Hour of the Cow, the karma of life and death is exhausted and your body and mind are buddha. Both standing and lying down are nothing but enlightenment. It is a great mistake to think that you have to practice zazen sincerely but need not be sincere the rest of the time.

From the Hour of the Tiger to the end of the Hour of the Cow, one day and night, there is no time when you can deviate from the way of the practice of the Buddha. If you spend one day and night practicing in accordance with the way of the buddha patriarchs, twenty or thirty years, or your whole life will be nothing but this one day and night.

If you do not deviate from the teachings of the buddha patriarchs or your teacher, once you cease to hold your body dear and enter the ocean of the vow of the Three Treasures, your body and mind will be nothing but the buddha. The karma of life and death (samsara) is immediately exhausted and you will repay your debt to your parents. It is said that the Buddha practiced for many lives during immeasurable kalpas; yet it was nothing but the practice of one day and night. Just do not leave the temple and do not stay in the homes of lay people for even one day.

Therefore, practice (gyoji) is the Ozanmai (king of samadhis) of the buddha patriarchs. If you really wish to become buddha in this present life, just practice continuously.

Dojo Cleaning

The teaching of cleaning the dojo is multilayered. Our teaching is based on postures and movements of wholeself. Wholeself includes not just each individual self but everything, yes? This is often the first glimpse many receive, that all is not seperate, all is conjoined. So as we clean a shared space is we actively use ourselves to join with that which is beyond ourself. It is the easier to expand this mindful aciton to include everything.

All postures count. All thoughts and words count too. We call these Gyo(u) usually translated as action or activity. There are 3 kinds,:Good, Bad, and other. Good and bad Gyo plant (tane) or seeds. But those done with wholeself, in harmony with all that is, are other; these 'other' actions need not plant tane or seeds that would sprout later.

There are some Gyo that lend themselves best to being 'other'. In our teaching, zazen or seated meditation is the most condusive.

The teaching says that those who know how to 'listen' will know which are other and which are not; perhaps we really all know, deep down inside; it's just a matter of if we are really willing to take a look.
When we don't know which activities are 'other'. We can rely on the traditions within the teaching. Again zazen is considered an adept skilfull means. In my particular stream we also have yoga, tai Chi like poses and movements. For me particularly is the Japanese Zen archery. All these can be skilfull means to bridge our seated meditation to our daily lives.

In our style of seated meditation we simply sit upright, quiet, and still. When this happens to us we naturally absorb all that is and become absorbed in all that is, so no seperation exists.

It is not so much, however, the sitting upright, quiet and still that is the key. It is the absorbtion. Absorbtion can take place while sitting, standing, walking, or lying down. But Sitting upright, quiet and still, it naturally happens to us, if we allow it to do so.   There are many other meditation methods, and various skilfull means. These are just the ones that our teaching uses, we feel they work best for many. But we have thousands of others at our disposal should one of the others be best for a particualar individual.