Tesshin Roshi took a minute to congratulate everyone in the Sangha who participated in last week’s Sesshin.  

 

For this week’s talk, Roshi wanted to focus on the ritualistic aspects of our practice.  Experiencing these rituals can be intimidating for people new to Zen.  Is all this chanting and bowing some type of brainwashing?  Is bowing to the teacher some kind of patriarchal manifestation?  What about that idol on the alter which everyone is paying homage to?  One could argue that westerns stopped worshipping idols thousands of years ago – why start again now!

 

Yes, there are a lot of strange forms in Zen – and many of them come from the Eastern religious tradition.  Roshi posed the question – is there any value in any of these practices.  Here Roshi was clear – YES these rituals have value and are critical for our practice.  He likened ritual to a miniature ceremony.  We all have ceremonies which mark the important moments in our life.  One can go to the courthouse to get a marriage license, but a real ceremony makes it so much more meaningful.  Ceremonies mark those events which change our very state and allow us to realize this along with the people who are most important to us. 

 

It is the same thing in Zen.  There is a thread of thought in Soto Zen that all is needed is seated meditation and mindful breathing.  This practice is called ‘Shikantaza’.  Roshi likened this to eating only rice and beans.  Your body will be healthy and fit, but there is so much more needed to broaden our lived experience.  Teaching Zen is about using ALL the tools available to open up the mind.  Sitting is the foundation, of course, but there are many other tools which can be brought to bear.  This is where the rituals come in.  

 

Roshi asked to group to consider the breath for a moment.  We breathe a certain way when we are in deep Zazen.  However, we breathe differently when we are chanting.  It could be said that the sutra we are chanting is controlling the breath – not us.  What happens to the breath when we bow or when we ring a bell?  Can you see how it changes?  Being mindful of our breath as it changes during a ritual is just one more practice we can do in Zen.

 

Rituals are also deeply symbolic.  This symbolism communicates deep and profound concepts outside of language.  For instance, how does one change when putting on the Kesa or the Rakusu?  These are simple pieces of cloth – but there is a symbolic change which occurs.  These things represent Buddha’s robes.  We immediately understand that something important is happening when we don these articles.  For instance, Roshi noted that when a teacher puts on the Kesa, the individual teacher disappears and the only thing left is the universal dharma transmitted over innumerable eons.

 

Roshi wrapped up by noting that rituals have another purpose.  The repetition of action and the attention to detail help us reach perfection.  This is not about boring repetition – rather it is about “Polishing the Stone” of our mind.