I was little confused as to what this ceremony was supposed to be about as Roko had received Inka from Eido something like a decade ago. This meant she was a fully authorized and to the best of my knowledge the first Western woman to be fully authorized an “orthodox” Japanese Rinzai Zen master. I’ve known Roko for many years. As I recall we first met at an AZTA Meeting a very long time ago. And from the first I’ve admired her. The list of why is long. In sum she is very bright, she has genuine clarity about her, and while there isn’t much “sweet” in her aura, she has always been kind and generous. What’s not to adore?
So, even though I knew my calendar would be very complicated, I said, you bet! I’ll be there.
Yesterday morning, very, very early I got up and drove to the Boston area to pick up my old friend and co-conspirator in the Boundless Way project, Josh Bartok, and the two of us drove to Syracuse. Many hours later we checked into a motel, freshened up, and made our way to the Zen Center of Syracuse.
We were anticipated, shown where to put on our robes, then ushered to the expensive seats.
The ceremony began with an “eye opening” ceremony for a newly carved, exquisite Buddha image on their altar. The ceremony continued with a blessing on the temple and center itself. There was a musical interlude where the American shakuhachi master Ronnie Seldin played. Then they launched into the entrustment ceremony. Eido Roshi explained that while he had transmitted the dharma to Roko that, as it turned out, decade prior, she had refrained from using the title “roshi.”
(Roshi roughly translates as old fart and is a much abused term of art in Western Zen, where even the likes of me hold it. In Japan it is used rather less frequently, particularly within the Rinzai community.)
At this ceremony Eido asked all present to start calling Roko “roshi” as an acknowledgement of her seniority within the Rinzai community and because she has shown herself an effective teacher for many years…
The crowd appeared to agree…
I know I thought it appropriate. And I, as you may have picked up, tend to think the term vastly overused hereabouts…
There was a brief stretching interlude.
And then a lovely concert. It led off with another presentation by Ronnie Seldin. This was followed by a virtuoso performance on the mandolin by Rene Berblinger. And the concert concluded with a lovely Bach piece conducted by the De Vere String trio composed of Anita and Eric Gustafson and Hakan Tayga–Hromek.
The evening concluded with a vegetarian feast.
Exhausted, Josh and I drove back to the motel and fell into a deep sleep.
We’re how up early and off for our return trip to Massachusetts and Rhode Island…
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