Choboji - Spring Sesshin

I'm back from "Dai Ban Zan Cho Bo Ji" (trans. Great Plum Mountain, Listening to the Dharma Zen Temple), where I attended Spring Sesshin (trans. to gather the mind). Given that this is my first post since I'm back, I thought that I would share a few reflections of my experience.

Generosity and compassion are the words I would use to describe the week long experience. The Sangha (Community of Buddhist practitioners) where always helpful, showed great respect and immense kindness which came through in a lot of different ways. A great example is if someone was hurting from the physical strain from sitting, a chair would almost magically (and mercifully appear). If you where helping in meal clean up and couldn't get downstairs to grab a cup of tea, someone would as, "can I bring you something... coffee or tea?" You just felt like you where at home, with a very kind and attentive family. Even if I made some error or were unmindful, someone would just point it out, so that I knew it happened, but oddly I felt no judgment, and because of this never felt embarrassed or outside the group of people there. If I put it another way, I'd have to say healthy, mature, no game playing or psychobabble.

The overall flow was pretty much like a good watch. This was really important, cause you always knew how long the sits would be, then a brief intermission or scheduled Kinhin (Walking meditation). The structure was comforting in it's own way. It actually helped to let go of those type of concerns and just concentrate on the practice of Zazen (Trans. To sit in unification) itself. Even Dokusan (Private interview with Genjo Marinello Osho) was orderly. Since it's usually first come first serve, the persons facilitating it made sure no one who wanted to go was missed or people "cut" in line. That may seem like an odd thing to mention, but it helps to underline the point that I felt somehow safe.

Teisho was given daily by Genjo Marinello Osho or a Dharma-talk by Genko Blackman Ni-Osho. I'd have to say, this was a personal high point for me daily, because when my concentration was off, the Teisho or Dharma-talk was like a train-rail that guided my mind back to its focus. There's no real way to fully do justice to these moments, because there were impactful on so many different levels.

As a part of the day-to-day practice, I have to mention two very helpful elements. One is Samu (Mindful work practice). I had the opportunity to work with some other participants in a street beautification project which Choboji supports. Working with plants and really taking care of the area in city-scape of Seattle felt really special. What I found a little odd, is that as people passed by, they would say to me, "thanks for doing that." Other people driving down the street, would give a thumbs up. Though I didn't know these people one on level, I did know them on another and they where appreciating what we where doing. Maybe it's just because someone took the time to make the effort.

The second opportunity that I found very powerful in its own way was working with the Tenzo (kind of the chef for Sesshin). On two occasions, I had the opportunity to learn how to prepare healthy (and delicious) vegetarian meals. Doing something for people who have been doing so much for me throughout Sesshin was really nice. But the Tenzo pointed out how the state of mind when cooking is important to the quality of the food itself. The other nice thing is I had no real idea how to cook this way on a daily basis. In those two short experiences, he was able to show me a lot of simple elements to employ which I found really fun and doable. Like I said, they weren't holding anything back.

And last but not least, I feel humbled by the opportunity to take Jukai from Genjo Osho and become a member of the Choboji Sangha. I find it difficult to express the depth of what this means to me to move in this direction on the path of Zen (Unification). This especially true for people which I respect, not because I think of feel that they are somehow so-called special, but rather because they are so down-to-earth and extra-ordinary. There is a certain simplicity and elegance to that. Nothing is out of place.

Given that I'm just back, I'm still digesting the experience and I imagine this will be so for some time. I place to resume writing Monday through Friday. I hope that you find it useful in some small way.

Gassho,

Jaye Seiho Morris, Curator
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