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<\/a><\/p>\nThere are no barbs in this old wire. Zen is really fishing without hook.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking of which, it\u2019s Day 2 of the current 100 days and here\u2019s the first post on the Genjokoan<\/span><\/span>. I\u2019ll be posting a summary of the work from the Thursday night <\/span>Genjokoan<\/span><\/span> study group, usually on Fridays. During the next week, the local and virtual participants will post comments. <\/span><\/p>\n Last night we sat and then performed the memorial service for Katagiri Roshi. He died nineteen years ago on March 1 (see below for more on the ceremony). Then as usual we had tea, Shodo brought some spice cake, shared the offerings from the ceremony, and talked.<\/p>\n The first topic of conversation was about whether to record the sessions as some in the virtual practice have requested. The point of meeting and studying together, as well as listening to recordings of such discussions, imv, is to learn how to do dharma<\/a> introspection and then hone our skills joyfully rolling with the dharma \u2013 alone and together.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not so sure that our study sessions will help. It wouldn\u2019t be like listening to a dharma talk, more like a conversation (wiggling around the sacred and mundane), so listeners might not find it very interesting. Also we apply (intwine) the dharma with our personal lives and talk about that. This is a direction we want to develop in our small group and are concerned that recording the sessions will damp that down or put more out there than we feel would be appropriate.<\/p>\n Almost everyone deferred to me (while stating their concerns). With my interest in post-modern power, I didn\u2019t want to make this kind of decision and impose it on the group. So I decided to continue the conversation and consideration process. I\u2019ll report more about this later.<\/p>\n Then we talked about practice commitments. We\u2019re coming from almost three months \u201coff\u201d and so everybody seemed eager to ramp up the focus and time spent on formal practice. We\u2019re also going to begin finding \u201ccapping phrases\u201d to express our practice each week. The capping phrase is an aspect of koan practice. After a student has seen a koan, the traditional Rinzai Zen teacher will ask them to find a capping phrase to test and\/or express their understanding.<\/p>\n In the Soto Zen <\/p><\/span>Genjokoan<\/span><\/span> context, we\u2019ll be using the capping phrase to express the student\u2019s understanding of the issue at hand, the week\u2019s practice. For example, one student last night brought this: \u201cPut on your clothes, eat your food,\u201d <\/span>Zen Sand<\/span><\/span><\/a> 4.394. Then students will be asked to present how that fits for their practice.\n Finally, we got around to working a little bit with <\/p><\/span>Genjokoan. <\/span><\/span>We\u2019re beginning with the second paragraph:\n \u201cTo convey the self toward the 10,000 dharmas to do practice\/verification is illusion. For now, I\u2019m going to make three points on the translation and then the provide practice instructions and a focus for comments by participants. I\u2019ll leave playing with the meaning of this passage to your own your discovery. <\/p><\/span><\/div>\n
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The 10,000 dharmas advancing and practicing\/verifying through the self is satori.\u201d<\/p>\n