Unsui:%20A%20Diary%20of%20Zen%20Monastic%20Life

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Unsui A Diary of Zen Monastic Life

• Presented by Chris Acon, Tracy Backes, Danny
  Eastman, Junko Nakamura, Carl Nygaard, Alison
  Ryan, and Stephanie Tan

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Overview of Buddhism

• Developed twenty-five centuries ago in India with
  the Buddha Shakyamuni
• Two main aspects True awareness which refers
  to the Buddhas religious experience and Buddhas
  teachings themselves
• Various sects of Buddhism have developed from the
  two main schools Theravada and Mahayana. The
  sect we will explore is Zen Buddhism.

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Zen Buddhism

• Originated in China in 520 A.D. with Bodhidharma,
  an Indian Buddhist monk
• Bodhidharma stressed the importance of true
  awareness instead of simply studying or
  lecturing on Buddhist scriptures
• Founded in Japan by Master Dogen who emphasized a
  lifes dedication to the salvation of living
  creatures. He preached universal and humanistic
  views which were new to Japan.

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Representations of Bodhidharma
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Zen Buddhism

• Zen Buddhism maintains that it is crucial to
  bring man back to the center of the Buddhism
  that is Buddhas religious experience,
  whileholding all of Buddhas teachings in
  respect as being the expressions of that original
  experience (Smith, vii).

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Japanese Zen Buddhism

• Two main sects Soto and Rinzai
• Soto teaches the oneness of zazen practice or
  meditation in a perscribed, cross-legged posture
• Rinzai emphasizes satori (enlightenment) through
  hard discipline of koan exercise
• Unsui A Diary of Zen Monastic Life explores the
  Rinzai sect

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Zen Master Hakuin

• Established the koan method to bring the student
  to satori awareness
• Instrumental in regulating monastic life in its
  present form
• Compassion through preaching, art, and writing

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Zen Buddhism the West

• Unsui aims to provide Western readers with a
  realistic introduction to monastic life
• The Wests interest in Zen Buddhism is moving
  from mere curiosity to a more sincere
  understanding
• Westerners are changing from an
  intellectual/theoretical interest towards actual
  practice

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Zendo Life

• Zendo life can be analyzed as a life of humility,
  labor, service, prayer, gratitude, and meditation
• Japanese Zen Buddhist temples are often located
  close to cities which relates to the act of
  begging and the interdependence it represents

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Important Aspects of Monastic Life

• Closeness to nature Mirrored by Zen gardens and
  regimen geared to seasonal patterns
• Begging raises funds for the monastery while
  furthering awareness of interdependency of all
  existence
• Bathing and cleansing Bathing in silence
  emphasizes awareness of attachment and freedom,
  impurity and purity
• Drinking of tea Relates to each day and
  connects all time
• Silence Wisdom comes only when men are reduced
  to silence.
• Gates Suggest passageway between secular and
  sacred

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Unsui A Diary of Zen Monastic Life

• Similar formatting to a comic book
• Daily life of the monastery is portrayed in
  ninety-seven watercolor sketches
• Illustrations are by Rev. Giei Sato a Rinzai Zen
  priest
• Comments written by Rev. Eshin Nishimura, a
  former monk

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Unsui A Diary of Zen Monastic Life

• Unsui refers to a monk undergoing Zen training
• Chinese characters translate to cloud, water
• Monks in training gather around the Zen master
  like clouds and they live their lives smoothly
  like a moving cloud or running water

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Sarei Daily Tea Ceremony
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Sarei Daily Tea Ceremony

• 12th Century Japanese Zen Buddhist monk Eisai
  visited China and brought back origins of tea
  ceremony
• Monks drank tea to stay awake during long
  meditation sessions
• Slowly developed into the sarei that is practiced
  today

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Sarei

• Sarei is held each morning as an informal ritual
• Sozarei is the longer formal ceremony held
  several times a year
• The formal tea ceremony practiced by the public
  of Japan was inspired by these ceremonies

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Principles of Sarei

• Reverence (kei)
• Harmony and peace (wa)
• Inner and outer purity (sei)
• Quietness (jaku)
• WABI (a combination of the above) is the
  ultimate of the tea principles

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Rice in Zen Buddhism
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Shojin Ryori

• Strict vegan diet that the Zen Buddhists followed
• No fish or meat was allowed
• No garlic, onions, or chives were permitted
• Kelp seaweed was used to prepare the dashi stock
• Vegetables were thought of as being able to
  provide nourishment for the body and soul, yet
  took nothing in return
• Goals to promote purity of both the body and the
  spirit. This is referred to as advancement of
  the spirit
• Shojin Ryori was only practiced within the
  confines of the Zen Buddhist temple

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Breakfast

• Elder monks would wake up earlier than the other
  monks to make breakfast
• Soft cooked rice is served each grain of rice
  is thought of as having the same value as Mount
  Sumeru (the holiest mountain in the Indian
  Buddhist world)

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Breakfast

• Example of typical breakfast three bowls of
  rice, pickled plums, vegetables
• Vegetables were grown by the monks in their own
  gardens
• Left over rice is then put into buckets, which
  are later offered to the spirits, then to the
  birds and fish

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Lunch

• All monks receive a bowl of rice that is mixed in
  with wheat (three parts of rice, seven parts of
  wheat)
• Also part of the meal is miso soup, vegetables,
  and pickles
• Largest meal of the day
• Leftovers are then collected and first offered to
  spirits, then to the birds and fish
• Dinner is not viewed as a meal, rather it is
  viewed as being a medicine

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Feeding Hungry Spirits

• A wooden platform is built and placed on the
  veranda of the main hall inside the monastery
• Monks will chant scriptures during the evening,
  while scattering healing water to call out to the
  hungry spirit, gaki
• Fifteenth of August was an important day, where
  the Master and monks perform a ceremony calling
  for the spirits, and serving different kinds of
  foods from nature
• Rice and water is then scattered by laymen and
  monastic participants in the ceremony

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New Year in Japan

• Rice cakes were a custom at the end of the year
• Tasks of monks were divided into three phrases
• Steaming the rice
• Pounding it when steamed
• Making the round cakes

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• When hunger comes, I eat my rice
• When sleep comes, I close my eyes
• Fools laugh at me, but
• The wise man understands
• -offering teaching from Lin Chi