To Our Dear Sangha

As we wrap up the year, we hope you and your loved ones have had a meaningful 2024.

In this issue, we send you some thoughts inspired by autumn leaves. Matsumoto-san explains what Truth is, referring to a poem by Zen Master Ryokan. I am laughing at myself while sharing another zazen experience.

Announcements

I. Upcoming Online Zazenkai Schedule (Japan time):

1. Zazenkai with Matsumoto-san:
   January 5, 2025 (Sun) 18:00-22:00
    January 20, 2025 (Mon) 9:00-13:00
    February 9, 2025 (Sun) 18:00-22:00
   February 17, 2025 (Mon) 9:00-13:00

2. Wednesday Zazenkai with Madoka:
   In 2025 we will begin again on January 8, 2025.
   21:00-22:00 Japan time. Anyone is welcome!

II. Changing Website Hosts—our site may be clumsy for a while:

1. Contact page not working: Please do not use the contact form on the website. To get in touch, please send us e-mail at: <lets.sit[put at-mark here]zen-online.info>. Messaging with FB and Instagram is also possible.

2. February zazenkai dates may take a little while before being updated on the website. They are listed above.

Zazenkai reservations can be made here:  https://www.zen-online.info/reservations

Convenient Time Converter
We love this time converter! https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

(Translated by Madoka)

True Nature Manifesting as One Falling Leaf

In this season in Japan, there are many fallen autumn leaves. I recently saw some while taking a walk, and was reminded of a poem by Zen Master Ryōkan.

Ryōkan was a Zen monk who lived in Japan’s Edo Era, born around 1758. He wrote the following poem:

At a glance, it seems very ordinary—not something to bother writing a poem about.

But Ryōkan is expressing the true nature of reality.

What is the true nature of reality?

When it is the back, it’s the back. And when it’s the front, it’s the front.

To explain a little more, when it’s the back, there is only the back.  When it’s the front, there is only the front.

“Only the back” doesn’t mean that I (as a subject) am looking at a falling leaf (as an object) and am perceiving only the back of the leaf. “Only the back” means there is only the back. There is no I.

“Only the front” doesn’t mean I am here thinking that there’s only the front. It means that without any subject of self, there is only the way the front is.

This is what no-self is (in Japanese, muga 無我).

“No-self” is not the concept of there not being a self, or feeling like one’s self does not exist.

It means only Truth exists.

Would you like to know for yourself what “true nature” is?
The purpose of sitting in zazen is to realize this. Please come to our online zazenkai and find out.

My “vroooom!” experience

(I share this experience in hopes it helps a little with understanding “only the back,” and “only the front.”)

In my early days of sitting with Matsumoto-san, a friend who also did zazen enlightened. When we would meet for coffee, I would tell her about zazenkai or my latest developments. One conversation we had irked me. I was talking about noise during zazenkai, and said something to the effect of, “you know how sometimes an ambulance will drive by…”

She said, “Ambulance? Drive by? What?…What do you mean?”

I didn’t understand why she looked confused. I explained how while sitting, sometimes I can hear cars, or ambulances with their sirens… and she said, “Oh! To me there’s just weee-wooo weee-wooooo.”

I looked at her in disbelief. Ok…so “ambulance” is the name of a vehicle and the name is not the real thing itself. Sure. But wee-woo is onomatopoeia pointing to the same thing, right? Why not just allow me to call it an ambulance?!

It bothered me so much, the next time I went to Matsumoto-san’s zazenkai, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The questions kept coming. Why did she insist on “wee-woo”?  Why not just say “ambulance”? Aren’t they just different names for the same thing? Are they different? Was she kidding? No, she must have had some reason...

…and then all of a sudden: VROOOM!!

The VROOM! snapped me out of it. That’s when I realized that VROOOM! had been the sound of a motorcycle. But when there was VROOOM!, there was no notion or awareness of a motorcycle, and I certainly did not see a motorcycle. All there had been, was VROOOM! 

I was so excited, I jumped up and ran to Matsumoto-san to request dokusan. It went something like this:

Me: (explaining how there had been only VROOM! and no motorcycle)

Matsumoto-san (smiling): That’s nice. Sure, it’s helped you understand some more. But don’t get attached to vrooom. …Where is it now anyway?

Me (very happy to be understanding more): I’m not attached. It’s GONE! 😄 

I think I almost skipped back to my zafu. I felt like I had made a breakthrough. I told myself not to think I was any wiser, because I hadn’t enlightened. But I was still quite pleased to better understand why my friend said, “for me there is only wee-woo.” Just as there was only VROOM and no motorcycle, for her there was no ambulance.

I must emphasize that experiences like this are not a requirement for enlightenment. Nor are they a sign that enlightenment will happen soon. So if you practice zazen but have not had such an experience, do not be concerned. Such experiences are sometimes referred to as “coming into contact with fact,” but enlightenment can happen without having had such experiences too.

When I told my friend about it, she laughed and said she may have been too nit picky in insisting on wee-woo, as it’s not like being enlightened makes you incapable of normal conversation. But Matsumoto-san commented she had given me a good koan. I had done many koan at a different teimple, but his comment made me realize for the first time what koans were really meant to do.

And on that note, happy holidays and sincere wishes for an enlightening 2025 ⭐️ 

We wish you a very happy holiday season and look forward to continuing to support your practice in the new year!

Love and Gassho _/\_