Zazen and Nembutsu
We were originally scheduled to go to Nagoya on November 28, but I was
still quite weak from the cold. So I had to spend one more day in
Fukuoka to rest. I called Yano Shiku, the monk of Kokushou Temple in
Aichi, Nagoya and initially cancelled our visit all together. I felt
really bad doing this as I had planned this several months previous and
then cancelled last minute. I slept in a bit that morning then our
group met in the lobby at 11:30 AM as we had a schedule to visit
Iccho-ken again to do zazen with Iso Jozan.
At the temple, after tea and sweets, we all entered once again the
zendo. This time we all sat all around the perimeter of the space
facing outwards (not towards the wall as in the Soto tradition.) The
session began with 5 minutes or so of silent sitting. Then suddenly,
without warning Iso Jozan gave one solid and piercing hit each on his
hand bell and hiyoushigi (wood clappers); then yelled some kind of
sacred syllable. Then we sat again for several minutes in silence. Then
without warning, Iso Jozan picked up his kyosaku (hitting stick) and
walked around the space. Then he proceeded to correct each of our
postures then give each of us 8 solid whacks on the flats of our backs
(4 on each side near our shoulder) as we bent forward. It wasn't
painful but quite powerful and energizing. Then we sat for another
several minutes in silence. The session ended with a solid ring of the
gong.
We all went back to the guest room and talked more. I asked them if we
could see some of their sheet music which he took from his room and
showed us. All the music was written in an old Japanese-style folding
book which was penned by his teacher. I asked Iso Jozan to give us a
lesson, but he said there was not enough time this time. Next year
perhaps! He invited us to play shakuhachi more in the zendo, but we
ended up just talking and asking him more questions. Soon we had to
leave and bade him farewell till next year. As we walked away from the
temple down the long, narrow walkway, Iso Jozan waved goodbye to us
until we turned the corner and were out of sight.
I spent the rest of the evening resting. Feeling terrible about
canceling our meeting with Yano Shiku, I called him back that night and
apologized to him again about canceling, but told him that I wanted to
make the effort to see him, if but only for a few hours. He gave us
our meeting point at Nagoya Station then we all went to the train
station to get tickets for our shinkansen which was leaving the next
morning at 6:00 AM.
We woke up at 4:30 the next morning and were at the station by 5:30 and
were safely on our train by 6:00 AM. We got the Nagoya Station by 10 AM
and met Yano Shiku who was dressed in a blue samue and white zori. We
had to put some of our baggage in a locker in the station as his car
wasn't big enough for all of it. He drove all of us 40 minutes to his
temple in the countryside. As we drove he told us a little of his life
as a shakuhachi player and monk of Jodo Shu sect of Buddhism. He
originally was on track to become a high school teacher as his father
was a high school principal. But he fell in love with shakuhachi when
one of his high school friends introduced him to it. In university he
met a priest of the Jodo Shu that influenced him deeply to study
Nembutsu (chanting Namo Amida Butsu). He also studied shakuhachi with
Katsuya Yokoyama for 2 years and passed the NHK audition as he also
aspired to become a professional shakuhachi player. Eventually he chose
the path of Jodo Shu and was put in charge of an old temple which he
has been rebuilding for the last 30 years. He still plays shakuhachi as
a musician and often travels to Europe to perform contemporary pieces
with other musicians. He also talked about the differences between Jodo
Shu and Jodo Shin Shu and why he chose his particular path.
We were pleasantly surprised by his beautiful temple and home which he
certainly did a wonderful job in building up. The Jodo Shu alter is
drastically different from the dark, austere alters of the Zen temples.
His alter is amazingly bright and luxurious, full of gold and reds and
blues, greens with many golden statues of buddhas and bodhisattvas on
lotuses. Like a vision of a Buddhist paradise. Yano Shiku stepped up
onto the raised area of the alter and took his place on the main
cushion facing the front of the alter between the large mokugyou
(percussive wooden fish) and gong as the rest of us sat below on the
tatami floor in a line behind him on zabuton. We all had small mokugyou
with striking implements next to us. We were going to perform a
nembutsu meditation with him. We took our mokugyou sticks. He
instructed us to chant "Namo Amida Butsu" as we kept a steady beat by
hitting the mokugyou. Yano Shiku started, then we just followed. We
chanted with him for about 15 minutes. Then he played Tamuke while
facing us. As he played, a sudden and turbulent gush of wind blew upon
and through the temple. The wind continued throughout the piece and was
quite dramatic and beautiful.
Afterwards, we all gathered in the dining room where Yano Shiku's wife
prepared a sumptuous lunch of various dishes of tofu, vegetables,
soups, fish, and meats. One of Yano Shiku's students, Livio, from
Germany also joined us. He is a young filmmaker who wants to learn
shakuhachi. Since we were pressed for time we had to leave right after
lunch. I promised Yano Shiku that we spend more time with him next year
at Kokushou temple. Yano and his other disciple, Matsuda-san drove us
to the nearest train station where we took the local line back to
Nagoya Station where we retrieved our bags from the lockers then jumped
on the 2:14 Shinkansen back to Tokyo.
To be continued.......
The last part: Zazen at Daihonzan Sojiji in Yokohama
=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=<+>=
Alcvin Takegawa Ramos
Director
The Shakuhachi Society of BC (Bamboo-In)
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Madeira Park, B.C.,V0N 2H0
Canada
tel: 604.883.2023
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MAIL: ramos@bamboo-in.com
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