Wishing you health, happiness and great success in 2012.

New Year’s first snow — ah –
just barely enough to tilt
the daffodil.

Basho

This is a picture of Gyokuryuji, our home temple, in the snow. Over here in London it’s been a mild winter so far. We’re pleased to welcome Zen monk, Matt Kuke Kane from Japan to practice with us over the next few months.

Thinking back to May, 2011. Here’s a picture of Shinzan Roshi and Daizan Roshi at Wadham College, Oxford University, immediately before Shinzan Roshi’s lecture on the zen philosopher, Nishida. The Zenways Sangha were so happy to welcome Shinzan Roshi to the UK. We look forward to practicing with Shinzan Roshi in the future.

We’d like to invite you to a talk the on spiritual aspect of the samurai art of the sword at Zen Yoga on Sunday, November, 13th; 7-8:30pm. Our speaker is John Evans who trained for many years in Japan and is one of the highest ranking sword practitioners in the world. He’ll be talking about his recent book, “Kurikara; The Sword and the Serpent. It’s all completely free. There will be a collection afterwards – donations to go to Japan Red Cross to aid victims of the recent tsunami. It’s going to be fascinating. Please come and join us.

In the Zen school, Rohatsu – the anniversary of the Buddha’s Enlightenment is traditionally celebrated in early December by meditating through the night to the dawn. It is said that the Buddha sat down beneath the Bodhi tree and made the great resolve, “Though only my bones and sinews remain and my skin and flesh wither away, I will not leave this place until I realise complete  enlightenment”. He practiced through the night.

In the Denkoroku (The Transmission of the Light) Zen Master Keizan picks up the story:

Shakyamuni Buddha realized enlightenment on seeing the morning star. He said, ” I and all beings on earth together realize enlightenment simultaneously.”

After this great realisation, he spent the forty years of the rest of his life helping others to find what he’d found. This is the essence of Zen – to find the happiness that doesn’t depend on external conditions and to be a useful person in the world.

At our training place, Yugagyo Dojo, Camberwell, London, we’re celebrating the anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment with all night zazen meditation, December 6th-7th, 9pm-8am. There will also be sanzen, private practice interviews. You are very welcome to join us. Places are limited so you can book on the zenyoga.org.uk website.

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Kajiura Itsugai is the eighty-second ancestor in our lineage. As a young Zen monk he practiced in Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto. Later he became abbot of Shogenji, the strictest Zen temple in Japan and later still, as the abbot of Myoshinji, became the seniormost Zen Master of the Rinzai School.

When he was in training at Daitokuji, every single one of his contemporaries had experience the joyful awakening of kensho – the perception of your true nature. Itsugai alone had not found this. He vowed to meditate all night in the temple graveyard for one hundred day. It was in the middle of winter and of all Japan, Kyoto is notable for its winter cold. Even when snow fell on him, the earnest young monk didn’t falter in his practice. When he went to see his teacher for sanzen, the private interview where a trainee expresses his understanding, sometimes Itsugai would faint from cold. He battled on through the hundred days, seeming to make no progress at all.

Snow, Moon, Flower – Kajiura Itsugai Roshi

Then came a rest day. The Daitokuji monks wondered into the city, but not Itsugai. He spent a little time at a nearby shrine his mother used to visit. He bowed his head and prayed that his spiritual eye would open. Then he returned to Daitokuji and continued his meditation. Evening came , it began to get dark, but the monks had not yet returned. Their laundry  was still hanging outside so he brought it in, mindfully folded it and placed it in front of their rooms. The rest day is also the bathing day in a Zen temple so he prepared the bath. He filled the furnace with firewood. Unconsciously, automatically he piled on more wood and lit the fire. All of a sudden a stream of fire and heat came out and hit his body. At that moment he realised his true nature. The returning monks found him dancing and singing with joy.

Alone, passgates closed, not inspecting the state.
Here, who is the Dharma King?
If people request a winter quote -
“From this dawn, day lengthens by a thread.”
Zen Master Ikkyu

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and from the next day the days lengthen. It is called the return of the yang. When yin reaches extremity it turns into yang. Similarly when we are able to fully open our hands, we realise the Way. The first line above is an allusion to the I Ching hexagram no 24, “Turning Back” which illustrates this day. “The ancient king, on the day of solstice, closed the gates of the passes, merchants did not travel, and the king did not inspect the state.”

Ikkyu follows this by echoing the Lotus Sutra and asking you to identify who you really are. And in this momentous change, at the same time things have hardly changed at all.
As the year turns, wishing you health, happiness and great success on all levels.

When sitting in the morning, courage will spring up
When sitting in the evening, gratitude will be born
When sitting alone, you will enjoy stillness
When all are sitting, harmony will arise
When sitting properly, you will keep your good health
When keeping on sitting, you are promised a long life.
From Rinzaishu Shingyo Kyoten (The Rinzai School book of scriptures)

Hiya, If you’ve ever felt held-back by fear, if you’ve ever avoided following your heart, if you’ve ever backed-away from stepping into something new and perhaps a little unknown, then you might be interested in what we have coming up.

The Japanese Zen teacher, Suzuki Shosan (1579-1655), a battle-hardened samurai who became a monk later in life taught his students, ‘True ‘no-thought, no-mind’ zazen is just one thing – to have a fearless mind.’

He developed a unique style of teaching and practice which emphasized fearlessness, freedom and complete engagement with life. He particularly urged his students to squarely face the koan or spiritual problem of death.

In October 12-17 we have a Zen retreat at Anam Cara in Scotland where we will be exploring Shosan’s teachings to transcend your deepest fears so that you can become freely able to shape your most authentic and satisfying life. There are only 12 places available. It’s suitable for new people as well as experienced practitioners. You can register at http://www.anamcara.org/. Please come and join us. Life is short. Let’s really live before time runs out.

Best wishes Daizan

“Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one’s own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom. By making us drink right from the fountain of life it liberates us from all the yokes under which we finite beings are usually suffering in this world. We can say that Zen liberates all the energies properly and naturally stored in each of us, which are in ordinary circumstances cramped and distorted so that they find no adequate channel for activity.

“This body of ours is something like an electric battery in which a mysterious power latently lies. When this power is not properly brought into operation, it either grows mouldy and withers away or is warped and expresses itself abnormally. It is the object of Zen, therefore, to save us from going crazy or being crippled. This is what I mean by freedom, giving free play to all the creative and benevolent impulses inherently lying in our hearts.”

“When the cloud of ignorance disappears, the infinity of the heavens is manifested, where we see for the first time into the nature of our own being. We now know the signification of life, we know that it is not blind striving, nor is it a mere display of brutal forces, but that while we know not definitely what the ultimate purport of life is, there is something in it that makes us feel infinitely blessed in the living of it and remain quite contented with it in all its evolution, without raising questions or entertaining pessimistic doubts.”

Written back in 1927 by D.T. Suzuki, I don’t think anyone has ever better defined Zen.

We have some up-coming events you might be interested in. Firstly Wednesday 7th July, 6.30pm at the Buddhist Society, 58 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1PH, near Victoria Station, I’m doing a talk entitled, “Sculptor of Bliss – The Japanese Monk Enku and His Work”. The flyer says, “The seventeenth century yamabushi or mountain-practice monk Enku, completed a vow to carve and distribute 120,000 statues. He also wrote numerous poems and engaged in prodigious pilgrimages the length of Japan. Considered an enlightened man in his lifetime, the extraordinary creativity, vitality and compassion of Enku’s work make him a fascinating figure even today.

Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi studied in a Zen temple just eleven kilometres from Enku’s grave. During this time he was fortunate to meet and study with Enju Kuze Sensei, twentieth generation Dharma descendent of Enku. He has translated a collection of 100 of Enku’s poems.” So there you have it. Please come and join us, it’s free admission.

Also coming up we have the following:

Saturday 24th July-Saturday 7th August 2010 – Yoga teacher training course at Beacon Centre, Devon.
Saturday 21st August-Saturday 28th August 2010 – Meditation teacher training course at Beacon Centre, Devon.
Tuesday 12th-Sunday 17th October “Wake Up and Live”, dynamic Zen retreat at Anam Cara in the Scottish Highlands. Cost only £305 all-inclusive. Check www.anamcara.org for details.

Drop me a note if you’d be interested, full details on the website.

Best wishes Daizan

Announcing the publication of Wake Up and Live, a comprehensive guide to Zen meditation. For the first time, the full range of Rinzai Zen meditation is presented in English. The set of eight DVDs and two CDs provide a sophisticated and broad-based system which will enhance your health and well-being and foster the unfolding of your spiritual awakening. The first fifty are signed and individually numbered and available on limited release at £79. Email daizan@london.com to order your copy.

At Oxford University with Dr. Barbara Gabrys to teach “Mind-Body Harmony – A Dynamic Approach.” If you’re interested in practicing in the Oxford area, drop a note to daizan@london.com.