December 21, 2011
Rohatsu sesshin and a winter hike
Dear Sanga and Friends,
We just completed our 7 day rohatsu sesshin at Prajna Zendo. Coming at the darkest time of the year, and commemorating Shakyamuni Buddha's great awakening, this sesshin has always had a deep significance for me. This year we began under an overcast sky in bitterly cold weather. After a couple of days the sun reappeared, the temperature moderated, and as sesshin progressed the moon waxed to full. During early morning kinhin, on the day the moon completed its cycle, we watched a full eclipse of that huge golden circle low in the western sky, just before dawn. That evening we made atonement and renewed our vows in the ceremony of fusatsu.
A new member at PZ, Dan Best, received jukai during rohatsu. I gave him the dharma name of Eido, Endless Path, and Dan tells me that in Ancient Greek Eido means "I see." I am always moved by this ceremony, in which the participant commits to living according the the Buddhist pr
ecepts and takes on the Bodhisattva Vows:
Sentient beings are numberless
I vow to save them
Attachments are inexhaustible
I Vow to put an end to them
The dharmas are boundless
I vow to master them
The Buddha Way is unsurpassable
I vow to attain it
Our next retreat is a 3 day sesshin, February 9 through 12, which will be led by Daishin Sensei. I will be there too, teaching and seeing students in dokusan. Let me know if you plan to attend.
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The Saturday following sesshin I took a mid-winter hike through the sculpted sandstone of Canon Madera, near Abiquiu. In my account of the hike on our website [which will be posted on 12/23/11] I wrote, "We are almost to the solstice, when the sun is a low arc across the southern sky and the day is shortest. I love these midwinter hikes. No flowers or foliage, the colors all muted browns and grays, with patches of crystallized snow on north slopes, glittering in sunlight. My footsteps crunch as I walk and it seems as though the bones of the earth have been exposed."
The sandstone of the canyon walls has been sculpted into intricate shapes by wind and water...
...and the views from the hills around the canyon sweep all the way to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
For more photos and a full description of the hike, go to our website <prajnazendo.org> and click on "Off The Path, On The Way."
Gassho,
Musai
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