This morning we celebrated the Festival of the Autumn Equinox. This is a time when we remember and make food offerings for those who have died. And also for those, alive or dead, who my be traveling in disquiet. Typically the disquiet is because there is an aspect that’s not getting what is longed for, which is Truth. It is that aspect one can see in oneself where one wants, wants wants but can’t seem to get enough to satisfy. So the want want want keeps on wanting. Terrible state to be in. The ceremony is about helping this aspect to wake up to what is really wanted. And to eat it. Some times this ceremony is called Segaki or The Feeding of the Hungry Ghosts. It is basically a massive offering of spiritual merit to help the hungry get what they really want.

Spiritual merit, and offering ‘it’, is hard enough to get ones head around and Segaki can be a particular challenge for westerners to appreciate since we are talking about ‘feeding’ ‘ghosts’. This ceremony was the first big one I attended when I came to Shasta to be a monk. Interestingly I was not phased by it and seemed to be able to embrace the intent behind it without much desire to understand it rationally. I guess I had faith that something good was happening. In Chinese and Japanese Buddhism Segaki is colourful, loud and very elaborate. Ours is that way too however a bit less so I suspect.

After the ceremony the Abbess gave a dharma talk titled New Beginnings.

I do so appreciate Rev. Master Meian’s refreshingly direct and simple way of talking about training. There are lessons in this talk for all of us.

I have been pondering the matter of teaching. That’s with respect to teaching about practice as well as about general life circumstance teaching. What I have come up with is that the best of teaching in the widest possible meaning, from formal talks to so called obsticles on the path, is the drawing out of that which is already there. But what makes that drawing out happen?

I was at a ceremony yesterday where each resident monk is asked, formally, if they will fulfill a certain monastic responsibility for this training term. Since I’m not a resident I don’t have a job so when my name came around I was Rev. Master Mugo; honored and esteemed guest. Honored and esteemed! Esteemed? To hold in high regard. I was touched. And it seems to me that holding oneself and all things in high esteem/regard, to elevate rather than pull down, is to draw out the very best teaching in all circumstances, including within oneself and others.

For some crazy reason grooming cats, dogs and horses comes to mind. One simple cannot groom an animal successfully if they are not esteemed. Held with proper regard. I’m not talking about being sickly sentimental and cooing to them. Far from it. More about…drawing out the best in them through ones own simple actions. Taking care, honoring them, and oneself, for being. Just that.

As is so often the case I don’t know where a post is going or what it is really going to be about. What point or teaching I am going to get to. It would seem however that the process of writing (as an example of an activity) draws out that which is within and it is so often a surprise as to what ones expression ends up being.

I guess that’s the beauty of it. One is teaching self and other, at the same time, while not trying to!

are not separate
from the Way.

Words at the start of the 90 day monastic training ‘term’.

And another way of putting the same thing:
Conditions reveal the next step…

Zen Master Dogen had a couple of major turn arounds while he was in China and both were connected with mushrooms! The first was his encounter with an elderly chief cook who came to buy mushrooms from the boat the young Dogen was on. (When he arrived in China he was not able to immediately disembark and so had to remain on the boat until he was clear to land – immigration difficulties even in those days). The second encounter was when he had gone ashore and had finally arrived at Tendozan. There he came across another elderly monk who was drying mushrooms in the heat of the day. Both encounters were formative and they both pointed to the primacy of simple work and the importance of applying oneself to that as a priority.

We celebrated the Festival of Zen Master Dogen here at Shasta Abbey this morning and Rev. Master Daishin, the Vice Abbot, gave the talk after the ceremony. The title of the talk is Great Master Dogen’s Three Minds and can be downloaded from the Shasta Abbey website. I wholeheatedly recommend listening to it.

Rev. Master Daishin was the Chief Cook while I was training here and I, like most of the novices, benefited from working with him in the kitchen in the 1980’s. The talk reflects his hands on practical approach to monastic life as well as his upbeat sense of fun and joy in living, which have had a huge impact on me. Fantastic. This afternoon I tracked him down to check something he said in the talk that I wanted to quote him on. He was splitting wood, hands on practical as ever. Unfortunately I’m not confident in my memory to quote him now. You will just have to go listen to the whole talk. Mushrooms are mentioned since the Reverend elaborates on Dogens two formative encounters mentioned earlier. I’m so glad too since I was wondering how I’d be able to post this photograph taken at the Monterey Market and have any kind of link to Buddhism. Thank you Zen Master Dogen and thanks to the Rev. Master Daishin too.

This post is for a young Reverend who reads posts here. And for all young Reverends, and trainees generally, everywhere

The following information, in edited form, is from the comment section.

For those who are interested, you can find four talks Rev. Master Daishin gave on the whole chapter of Instructions to the Chief Cook by Great Master Dogen.

The text for the above chapter can be found within Zen Is Eternal Life, by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett. It’s a free download.

Thanks to the ‘young Reverend’. You should know it is my choice not to mention monks by name, unless I’ve got their permission.