These two senior monks were so kind and showed us another, less formal, side to the monastic life in the temple. Even though we look kinda formal.
All posts by Mugo
Inside Eiheiji
In 2005 I was witness to the training going on here at Eiheiji. We, the late Iain Robinson and I were escorted everywhere and left in no doubt as to where and what was expected of us. Interesting, informative, educational, and stressful! The highlight for me was being invited to offer incense at the main altar during Morning Service. All very formal, we survived! I thought readers would want to view this ‘window’ on how young monks are trained to be priests in Japan.
Eiheiji is a world-famous Zen monastery located in the mountains 200 kilometers northeast of Kyoto. As the temple’s founder Dogen prescribed, the core practice is zazen: simply sitting to calm the mind and examine one’s self. Most of the 150 monks are in their 20’s. They live at the temple, devoting themselves to uninterrupted Zen practice. With unprecedented access inside this remarkable temple, where Dogen’s teachings have been practiced unchanged for over 770 years, the program follows the monks’ lives over the course of 6 months.
Update May 2021 – the video referred to above is no longer available. There are however a number of films showing the training going on at Eiheiji.
Making Manifest
Carried away
making Marmalade
today.
Emails unanswered
phone calls
not made.
Something
about creating
gets under yer skin.
Make manifest
Making manifest
Living life.
This post is for a young lad I heard about recently who is dealing with terminal brain cancer. He’s living the life he has left fund raising for cancer research. He’s making manifest. He’s inspired. Inspiring.
Buddhas Are Nigh
Day’s Done
Gone the sun
From the sea
From the hills
From the sky.
All is well
Safely rest
Buddhas are
Nigh.
With a hat tip to Guiding circa late 1950’s.
A Knowing Smile
He died 15 years ago yesterday, our late Head of the Order Rev. Master Daizui MacPhillamy. Many people who follow Hounmugo on Facebook have been leaving comments with personal memories of their encounter with this ancient monk. He left a lasting impression on so many of us. In memory here is a short verse he wrote.
The Great Silence
enfolds
the world.
Who could have
guessed its
Tenderness?
Daizui MacPhillamy
My memories are many and varied spanning over 20 years from the time of my ordination to his struggle with cancer early in 2003 and his death that April. A senior monk at the hospital in Redding California where Rev. M. Daizui was undergoing treatment called me in Cornwall, England. ‘If you want to see Daizui alive you had better get on a plane now’, and I did. The call came at 2.00 am and having caught a flight from Heathrow I arrived at his bedside late afternoon the same day. He smiled a greeting, ‘THERE you are Mugo’! Pleased to see me. That was the 20th March the day the USA invaded Iraq. The news broke as I was mid Atlantic. So that was my international dash to be by his side during the last days of his life.
He had many great qualities, for example while he cooked a meal he would wash up dirty dishes as he went along, leaving few for after meal clean-up – an admirable practice for any cook. I was particularly grateful for his compassionate acceptance of me. Memorably the time I came back from a walk by the ocean in Southern Oregon dripping wet! He said not a word, asked not a question! He just smiled a knowing smile. Showing his acceptance of our humanity, and his own.
Note: I’d lost my footing on a path and fallen into the ocean below! Thankfully I was in no danger, just thoroughly soaked.