{"id":40,"date":"2011-06-04T12:36:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-04T12:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination\/"},"modified":"2011-06-04T12:36:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-04T12:36:00","slug":"the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html","title":{"rendered":"The Who? What? How? of Zen – Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma<\/a> to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of Zen.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a thread in that fabric, James Ford has woven together some posts by Jiryu, Brad Warner, myself and added his clear thinking to boot. Check it out.<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I\u2019ve written here about the topic quite a bit. Here\u2019s one post from last year: What the Heck is a Zen Priest?<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Anyway, James characterizes something I\u2019d written<\/a> as follows: \u201cFor Dosho, if I correctly characterize his point, ordination was a step along the way of practice. It has its own currents, mostly going on beneath the waves. He specifically questioned the point of a ministerial aspect to ordination.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Well, that\u2019s sorta what I wanted to say. Let me try again.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Soto Zen priest practice is one way of digging into the heart of the matter (a.k.a., the genjokoan<\/i>) so that the practitioner can then express the heart of the matter through the Soto Zen priest art forms \u2013 walking, sitting, standing, lying down. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The priest lifestyle can then be, as Hakuin says commenting on Dongshan\u2019s Heat and Cold koan, \u201c\u2026 a pearl that lights up the night, presented along with a tray and all.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Being a Zen priest isn\u2019t just about the pearl or just about the tray. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Zen training is about becoming a mature human being, about spiritual security actualized in daily life, not primarily about being a minister and\/or teacher (lay or priest) \u2013 although it might include that and I hope that it does for me again (when I graduate from Child-Raising U).\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When being a priest becomes primarily about the tray in the form of a career path, our life can easily careen off course. I\u2019ve been there, baby. Danger!<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
We\u2019re true to the various ordinations \u2013 receiving the precepts, homeleaving (a.k.a., priest ordination), lead practitioner, and the three aspects of dharma transmission \u2013 when the ritual reflects what\u2019s already going on in the person\u2019s practice.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
And we\u2019re almost always not quite right, a bit off course, growing into our ideal image of human life.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When we ourselves can stand upright, then we can really offer the ordination to someone else, not primarily as a minister but as a mature human being. Otherwise, it\u2019s a wobbly approximation.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of Zen.\u00a0 As a thread in that fabric, James Ford has woven together some posts by Jiryu, Brad Warner, myself and added his clear thinking to boot. Check it out. […]<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Who? What? How? of Zen - Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Who? What? How? of Zen - Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Fox Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-04T12:36:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-kgicx-EYsSs\/TepVryTTFKI\/AAAAAAAABcQ\/j6SDb02n9dE\/s320\/-21.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html\",\"name\":\"The Who? What? How? of Zen - Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-04T12:36:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-06-04T12:36:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Who? What? How? of Zen – Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Fox Zen\",\"description\":\"Living the Dream\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\",\"name\":\"Dosho Port\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dosho Port\"},\"description\":\"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. Dosho received dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri Roshi and inka shomei from James Myoun Ford Roshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is the author of \\\"Keep Me In Your Heart Awhile: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri,\\\" \\\"The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans,\\\" and \\\"Going Through the Mystery's One Hundred Questions.\\\"\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.vineobstacleszen.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/author\/doshoport\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Who? What? How? of Zen - Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination","description":"A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Who? What? How? of Zen - Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination","og_description":"A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html","og_site_name":"Wild Fox Zen","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port","article_published_time":"2011-06-04T12:36:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-kgicx-EYsSs\/TepVryTTFKI\/AAAAAAAABcQ\/j6SDb02n9dE\/s320\/-21.jpg"}],"author":"Dosho Port","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dosho Port","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html","name":"The Who? What? How? of Zen - Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-04T12:36:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-06-04T12:36:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd"},"description":"A fun thing about this stage in the transmission of dharma to the global culture is the on-going conversation regarding the who, what, and how of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2011\/06\/the-who-what-how-of-zen-especially-soto-zen-priest-ordination.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Who? What? How? of Zen – Especially Soto Zen Priest Ordination"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/","name":"Wild Fox Zen","description":"Living the Dream","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd","name":"Dosho Port","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dosho Port"},"description":"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. Dosho received dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri Roshi and inka shomei from James Myoun Ford Roshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is the author of \"Keep Me In Your Heart Awhile: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri,\" \"The Record of Empty Hall: One Hundred Classic Koans,\" and \"Going Through the Mystery's One Hundred Questions.\"","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.vineobstacleszen.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/author\/doshoport"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}