With palms together,
Good Morning Sangha,
Yesterday I was re-reading a tiny little book bu Senzaki. He was a Japanese monk who came to America before there was much in the way of Zen here. He was a wanderer, not affiliated with a home temple, and despised what he called "Cathedral Zen." Cathedral Zen is the Zen of large Temples, rich patrons, and lavish pomp and circumstance. There is a tendency to move in this direction among American Zen Centers.
Americans like their Churches, Synagogues and Mosques to be large and ostentatious. We have the idea that if it is large and rich it must be doing something right and everyone wants to hang on to a winner. Yet even when full these places are empty. Something essential is missing.
True Zen begins as a temple of one and works its way out. True Zen is free. It is the color of the grass, the feel of the sand, the taste of a cold cucumber on a hot summer day. It has nothing to do with robes and bells, priests and laymen. We put on a robe, shave our head, sit Zazen because we are buddhas, not to become like buddhas.
Today be the buddha you are in everything you do. How is that possible? Be yourself.
Be well.
Thank you sensei, That seems very true. Americans do tend to want to build up their institutions. But thinking about it, most other countries and cultures do the same thing. the San Francisco Zen center is an example of a good thing that became unwieldy. Suzuki-Roshi wanted more than he probably needed. When he saw what was possible in America he maybe forgot what was really necessary.
ReplyDeleteAs Dogen Zenji said: it does not matter if one's practice is deep or shallow, just as long as it is genuine. What "True Zen" is to one person will not resonate with another person. Some people may find the Great Peace by "Cathedral" Zen practice. I prefer not to pick and choose for others - hey, that's a koan ;-)
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