( Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook – XVI) A chant heard daily in Zen temples is the “Sandokai“, the “Merging of Relative and Absolute“, by Sekito Kisen, the 8th Zen Ancestor in China. It includes images such as these, speaking of the “light” and the “dark” … conveying the relationship of this world of “relative”…

( Dogen’s Instructions for the Cook – XV) Uchiyama Roshi translates this section in a very nice way … It is vital that we clarify and harmonize our lives with our work, and not lose sight of either the absolute or the practical. Handle even a single leaf of a green in such a way…

When Dogen was in China, he heard this verse that we are all still chanting as we are about to put the Kesa on.  Vast is the robe of liberation  formless robe, field of happiness.  I wear the Tathagatha’s teaching  Liberating all sentient beings.    Dai sai ge dap pu ku,  Mu so fu ku…

DUE TO THE NETCAST EQUIPMENT NOT DOING ITS THING … TODAY IS A RECORDED ‘RE-SIT’ …  THANK YOU FOR SITTING ANYWAY … Please join our weekly “Live from Treeleaf” Zazenkai meditation … We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH (see below), then sit about 40 minutes…

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