She’ll never know

- the diligent lay guest -

that after she weeded his rare chinese flavouring grasses

to oblivion,

and the cook bowed and thanked her,

he wept.

Hiya,

It was supposed to be the Celebration of the Buddha’s birthday today (a bit like Buddhist christmas, I suppose), but the weather was fine so we went out in the early light digging bamboo shoots. Normally the day starts with chanting sutras, at breakneck speed and accelerating, and then a teisho, or encouragement talk by the Roshi or zen master. He’s sixty eight years old, has cured himself of stomach cancer and being mauled by a bear and he still teaches every morning with incandescent vigour. The monastery he trained in, which isn’t far away, has the nickname, “The Devil’s Dojo”, it’s so severe. But this temple was founded four hundred years ago by Bankei Zenji, one of the most gentle and enlightened people who ever walked the mountains of Japan. So the master here has two approaches. Or, as he said to me, “I am like samurai, with two swords in my belt.”

I haven’t seen much of the strict side, because I guess I’m keen. He doesn’t tolerate dawdling and shilly-shallying. But if you want to really do something, he’s right behind you.

Having already spent years studying and teaching the other stream of Zen, Soto, which is softer and more meticulous and has a deeply transformative inner structure, it’s great to be able to broaden things out with this approach with its straight-ahead, fearless quality emphasising direct experience of reality and vigorous action. “Full speed ahead and damn the torpedos.” Life lessons galore – it’s great!

More later. In the meantime, wishing you fearlessness and vigour.

Hiya,

It’s absolutely pouring with rain and shooting off the temple eaves in torrents. We have a little space in our pretty packed schedule to wash clothes etc. so I want to let you know that I’m at Gyokuryuji, a little Zen temple in the mountains of central Japan founded about three hundred years ago by Bankei Zenji, one of the most famous Zen masters ever. There:s a life-size wooden statue of him in the main hall, glowering through the peeling paint. The mountains here are wooded right to the top, very green with monkeys who live on the I don’ have time to tell you about the temple residents but just to say there are nine of us. We’re dining on rice, miso and veg three times a day and there’s a lot of bamboo in the diet, chopped straight from the mountain. All’s well and more later. See you soon.