![\"\"](\"https:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SnYLgOZ-XHI\/AAAAAAAACuU\/7EKY4vWF7ZE\/s1600-h\/sesshin+1+2009.jpg\")
<\/a>As all things are buddha-dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, and birth and death, and there are buddhas and sentient beings. <\/p>\n
As the myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death. <\/p>\n
The buddha way is, basically, leaping clear of the many of the one; thus there are birth and death, delusion and realization, sentient beings and buddhas. <\/p>\n
Yet in attachment blossoms fall, and in aversion weeds spread. <\/p>\n
To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening. <\/p>\n
Those who have great realization of delusion are buddhas; those who are greatly deluded about realization are sentient beings. Further, there are those who continue realizing beyond realization, who are in delusion throughout delusion. <\/p>\n
When buddhas are truly buddhas they do not necessarily notice that they are buddhas. However, they are actualized buddhas, who go on actualizing buddhas. <\/p>\n
When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you grasp things directly. Unlike things and their reflections in the mirror, and unlike the moon and its reflection in the water, when one side is illumined the other side is dark. <\/p>\n
To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly. <\/p>\n
Dogen Kigen, Genjokoan<\/a><\/p>\n When Jan, Chris and I arrived at Alyson\u2019s Orchard<\/a> I was once again struck at its beauty. The orchard which we\u2019ve used for many of our Zen retreats in past years sits comfortably atop a hill and commands spectacular New Hampshire views. Also, while the sleeping facilities are not quite up to our current size, currently registering nearly fifty people, the hall which we convert into our Zendo, the meditation hall, is perfect for the purposes of Zen practice. And, we\u2019ve been there any number of times. So, knowing with the purchase of the temple in Worcester, there was a very good chance this will be the last time we use this facility brought with that knowing its own poignancy\u2026<\/p>\n We also immediately ran into what happens when you\u2019re a renter. We couldn\u2019t even get the full seven days we wanted and in order to maximize the time we could devote to our formal practice were beginning in the morning rather the evening before. Laura Wallace, our tanto, the practice leader, had put together a graceful combination of setting up and sitting schedule which, worked well\u2026<\/p>\n Soon we were launched into the rhythms of a Boundless Way sesshin<\/a>. Sitting<\/a>, more sitting, a little bit more sitting on top of that. And for dessert some sitting. As dokusan<\/a> is a central part of our practice those rhythms wove into the sitting periods throughout the day. In mid morning we celebrated liturgy, and for the first time introduced the doshi position as part of the service allowing the formal Soto Zen liturgical practice of Eko or \u201ctransference of merit.\u201d I felt it folded into our discipline sweetly\u2026<\/p>\n Three people took jukai<\/a>, embracing the discipline of the Bodhisattva precepts as a touchstone to their lives and we were all given a chance to recall and reengage the deep way of relationship for ourselves\u2026<\/p>\n Paul Lynch<\/a>, a teacher in master Seung Sahn\u2019s lineage, although not part of the Kwan Um School, was a guest teacher with us. His robes and rather different style brought me, at least, to feel the range and differences within our way. He is a quick learner, and except for very small stylistic flourishes (and robes), quickly folded into our community\u2019s style. We asked him to give the fourth day Dharma talk and one would have thought he had been with us for much more than four days\u2026<\/p>\n We also continued the practice of having brief \u201cencouragement talks\u201d at the beginning of the evening sitting block. In addition to our own senior Dharma teachers Josh Bartok and Jan Seymour-Ford, two old hands from other traditions were willing to step up and speak to our practice.<\/p>\n We began with the family, Josh taking the first evening, Jan the second. For me, knowing them for years, it was such a treat hearing their words, spoken with clarity and heart. It is obvious Josh is so close to becoming a formal teacher and how he is already a teacher for us. And with Jan, it is sometimes hard to really see one\u2019s own spouse within the day in and day out. But here as she took the seat and spoke I realized why my fellow teachers had named her one of our senior Dharma teachers. I felt the grace of the Zen way flow with her words\u2026<\/p>\n Then the next night Jay Weik<\/a> spoke. Jay is an old Zen hand who has studied in the White Plum lineage for many years. Together with his spouse Karen he guides the independent Toledo Zen Center. This year Jay formally asked to study with me and we\u2019re beginning the conversation to see how there can be an alignment with the Boundless Way for a group so far from New England. But whatever those issues might be what was so obvious in his presentation was how his practice was completely aligned with ours. And I felt comforted, challenged and encouraged by his words.<\/p>\n