Shundo David Haye – Zen Priest

‘The assembly of students in the hall should blend like milk and water to support the activity of the way. Although now for some period you are either guest or host, later you will be buddha ancestors equally throughout time. Therefore, you should not forget the feeling of gratitude. It is rare to meet one another and practice what is rare to practice… Do not waste a moment. Concentrate your effort.

Day or night, always inform the director of the hall where you are going to be. Do not play around according to your own impulses; your actions affect the discipline of the entire assembly. Who knows? This may be the last day of your life. It would be truly regrettable to die while indulging in pleasures…

Do not enter the hall intoxicated with wine. If you do so by accident, you should make a formal repentance. Do not enter the hall smelling of onions…

Wish to be serenely composed for your entire life and to practice the way free of expectations.’ (Regulations for the Auxiliary Cloud Hall at the Kannondori Kosho Gokoku Monastery)

I was going through my Notes app looking for passages that I had copied as potential posts and came across this from a few years ago, and I was surprised that I had never posted it. I read this passage when I was the ino at City Center, and found it very apt for living in community. I ended up posting a printed version of the middle few lines out in the hallway in front of the ino’s office, on the table where the tenken book lived. Tenkening, to use a typical Zen Center neologism, was taking attendance for zazen and other events that were part of the schedule all residents were expected to follow. Those who missed an event were asked to write the reason for their absence in the book (the records were part of what was burned in the post-midnight bonfire on New Year’s Eve). I thought it would be a good idea to remind some people that while they were living in the temple. It was imperative to make an effort, and to remember that when they didn’t, it impacted others as well.

(This post first appeared on my Patreon page)