{"id":1512,"date":"2013-01-26T09:45:57","date_gmt":"2013-01-26T15:45:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?p=1512"},"modified":"2013-01-26T14:37:42","modified_gmt":"2013-01-26T20:37:42","slug":"hanging-out-with-homeleavers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2013\/01\/hanging-out-with-homeleavers.html","title":{"rendered":"Hanging Out With Homeleavers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Sometimes I get called \u201cReverend\u201d and it just doesn\u2019t sit right.<\/p>\n

You see, I don\u2019t see myself as a minister in the Protestant mold or a priest in the Catholic\/Anglican mold either. Neither molds approximate the Zen mold.<\/p>\n

Seems to me that in American Zen we\u2019re desperate for an English word that labels what we do but haven\u2019t found a good one yet. In grasping for a fitting cultural paradigm for those who\u2019ve undertaken homeleaving, we resort to minister and priest speak.<\/p>\n

Maybe we have some belonging needs that we hope to meet by fitting into the Christian culture or want to present as professionals to legitimize what we do. Meanwhile the culture hops along in another direction \u2013 nonwhite with almost 30% of young people identifying as \u201cnone\u201d (no religious affiliation).<\/p>\n

Now if you follow this blog, you know that this is a regular peeve of mine. But today I\u2019m not just fussily bitching. I actually have a proposal \u2026 which I\u2019ll get to in a minute but first I want to say a bit more about why the minister\/priest words don\u2019t fit.<\/p>\n

A minister is someone who ministers to somebody or some group of somebodies \u2013 that\u2019s not what Zen practice is about. A priest is into being a \u201cmediatory agent between humans and God\u201d and when it comes to God, imv, you\u2019re on your own, buddy.<\/span><\/p>\n

My training has been in the old ways of Dogen Zen as practiced by Katagiri Roshi, including how to eat, walk, sit, intone the sutras, etc. Reflecting deeply on human life was especially important for Roshi. Which really led me to koan Zen. None of which has led me to minister or mediate.<\/p>\n

Keizan put it this way, \u201cNow the basic point of Zen study is to clarify the mind and awaken to reality. \u2026Being a teacher is not merely a matter of gathering a group and looking after people \u2013 it is to make people penetrate directly to the root source and realize the fundamental.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what should we call people who have undertaken homeleaving (aka, priest ordination)?<\/p>\n

A Zen guy I respect who lives in Japan and speaks the old tongue tells me that he and those he hangs out with call themselves s\u014dryo (\u50e7\u4fb6) or \u201ccompanion of monks\u201d (i.e., those who\u2019ve undergone homeleaving).<\/p>\n

I like that. It\u2019s humble \u2013 I just hang out with homeleavers. It leaves whether I\u2019m a homeleaver or not up to others, and because moment by moment we\u2019re all prone to enlightened, free, homeleaving action or incredibly attached stupidity, it fits reality quite nicely.<\/p>\n

As such, s\u014dryo also suggests something that isn\u2019t fixed. It\u2019s about intimate relationship rather than ministering or mediating.<\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0s\u014dryo is a \u201cforeign\u201d word \u2013 like Zen, zazen, and spaghetti \u2013 so some Roshis might not like it (warning: previous comment intended to be ironic).<\/p>\n

And, btw, from the point of view of those who hang with homeleavers, I\u2019m guessing that everybody is always leaving home (even in our stupidity) so we\u2019re all included.<\/p>\n

Like Keizan\u2019s poem:<\/p>\n

A solitary boat is making its way without oars in the dim moonlight.<\/em>
\n Turning the head, one can see waterweed motionless on the old bank.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes I get called \u201cReverend\u201d and it just doesn\u2019t sit right. You see, I don\u2019t see myself as a minister in the Protestant mold or a priest in the Catholic\/Anglican mold either. Neither molds approximate the Zen mold. Seems to me that in American Zen we\u2019re desperate for an English word that labels what we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,43],"class_list":["post-1512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-soto-zen-buddhism","tag-zen-priest"],"yoast_head":"\nHanging Out With Homeleavers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sometimes I get called "Reverend" and it just doesn't sit right. 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