![](\"https:\/\/www.prairiezen.org\/news\/09-7\/July%20Calig.jpg\")
The above is by <\/span><\/span>Soen Nakagawa Roshi<\/span><\/span><\/span> (thanks to Genmyo Smith for allowing me to share this calligraphy, a gift to him from <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Maezumi Roshi that appears in his <\/span><\/span>Prairie Sky Newsletter<\/span><\/a> <\/span>and includes a well-done talk by Genmyo on <\/span><\/span>Zazenshin<\/span><\/span><\/span>).<\/span><\/span> Soen Roshi\u2019s calligraphy is a pattern concealed in a freedom and so is difficult to read. It might be \u201cBuddha\u201d or \u201cNew\u201d or something else.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/a>It conveys what I have in mind to say today.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/span>\n While he demanded total dedication from his monks, temple routine was relatively informal. There were no set schedules for sutra-chanting or other rituals and, if temple legend is to be believed, Hakuin would appear for teisho, formal Zen lectures, wearing a tattered old jacket and carrying a long kisera pipe in his hand.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This prompted a couple reflections. First, it\u2019s a lot like early reports of Dogen\u2019s monastery where they\u2019d chant a sutra if the rice wasn\u2019t cooked yet when zazen was over. Interesting to me that the founders didn\u2019t seem to stress \u201cdiscipline\u201d (as in strict schedules and routines) so much as the later tradition.<\/p>\n This spirit might go back to the Buddha. His Seven Factors of Enlightenment \u2013 mindfulness (sati), investigaion (dhamma vicaya) into the nature of dhamma, enthusiasm (viriya), joy or rapture (piti), tranquility (passaddhi), concentration (samadhi), and equanimity (upekkha) \u2013 don\u2019t include \u201cdiscipline\u201d or \u201cfollowing the schedule.\u201d Attachment to rules and rituals is regarded as a fetter to freedom.<\/p>\n I understand this as suggesting that \u201cinvestigation\u201d and \u201centhusiasm\u201d are more reliable guides. I\u2019m reminded of Trungpa\u2019s phrase \u201cdisciple in delight.\u201d This is really important for people who are doing home-based practice today. A practice with too much super-egoish discipline will break when the conditions are challenging.<\/p>\n So when investigation and enthusiasm are strong, as in the early communities of Hakuin and Dogen, there isn\u2019t so much need for rigid schedules.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/4330911338438640912-471334404198926539?l=wildfoxzen.blogspot.com\")
<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"