January Jukai Photos

My friend Darrell Pacini was in attendance at the January Jukai ceremony and took some awesome pictures of us. He also spent quite a few hours editing and polishing the pictures to get them to the state they are in now. I have uploaded them to Flickr and you can view (and comment) on them by following the link below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/86302038@N00/sets/72157618117698118/

I have identified those of us going through Jukai in most of the pictures through comments...feel free to pass along to friends & family. I decided to do this through Flickr rather than Facebook as not all of us have an account. The pictures in the link should be viewable by anyone.

Enjoy!

Yushin

Zen Birthday Card

Japanese Pronunciation #1

Pronunciation of Japanese Vowels

Now that we have the updated, revised, corrected, super-duper new chant sheets, perhaps folks would be interested in getting their pronunciation of Japanese sounds a little closer to “correct.” I’ll start with trying to explain the vowel sounds.

First: Why do we have trouble with Japanese vowels?

The Japanese sound system challenges English speakers because it’s simple.

If you ask most English speakers how many vowels there are in English, they will usually answer something like, “Five or six. A E I O U and sometimes Y.” But those, of course, are just the roman characters that we use to REPRESENT the vowels in writing.

How many actual vowel sounds there are in English depends on the dialect you’re looking at: West Coh-oost Canajun? Noo Yawk? Strine (Australian)? Etc. But whichever dialect of English you’re looking at, the vowel sounds will almost certainly number well over twenty. The machinations we go through to represent those vowel sounds with six measly characters cause our own young a certain amount of grief, and have foreign learners shaking their heads in dismay.

How many vowel sounds are there in Japanese? Well, putting regional differences and the complexities of phonological processes aside, we can say with confidence that there are five vowel sounds in Japanese.

FIVE VOWEL SOUNDS!

That’s right. Compare that to the 25 or more vowel sounds in most English dialects.

Because of its plethora of vowel sounds, English tends to be quite forgiving of weird pronunciation. Often people can substitute one vowel sound for another and they still have a good chance of being understood.

The same is not true of Japanese. Here’s an example of what can happen:

Kirei (beautiful, clean, pure)

Kirai (dislike, hate)

One little difference makes a big difference!

Ok, I could go on and on about the phonologies of English and Japanese, but I’d better get down to brass tacks. What ARE the five vowels of Japanese, and how are they represented in roman letters (romaji)?

THE VOWELS OF JAPANESE

A I U E O

You might like to start by listening to a song about them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xST1wANc3qU

Click on the romaji to hear an audio file of the vowel. (I hope the links work!)

/A/ is more or less like the /a/ in “father” for Canadian speakers.

/I/ is like the vowel sound in “cheese.” NOT like the vowel sound in “hit.” So, for example, “Yushin” would rhyme with “you seen.” Have you seen Yushin?

/U/ is like the vowel sound in “soon.” Not exactly the same, but close enough.

/E/ causes a lot of trouble. It’s like the vowel sound in “bed.” This is true even when it comes at the end of a word! A place where I often hear it mispronounced is in the syllable /ke/ that shows up in our chants. Since this vowel sound doesn’t come at the end of words in English, we tend to turn it into the Canajun “eh,” eh? Try to isolate the /e/ of “bed” and say it by itself. You’ll be on your way to saying /ke/ the way it should be said.

/O/ Big trouble for Canadians. We tend to turn this into a diphthong, which is the fancy word for one vowel sound gliding into another. Just say, “No, I won’t go” and listen to your vowels. By the time you’ve finished saying “No” or “go” the vowel has actually become /u/, hasn’t it? This is especially pronounced in most Canajun English, eh?
The deal is, /o/ is not a diphthong in Japanese. It’s just /o/. Imagine you started to say “Oh” and suddenly had to stop before you got to the end of it. Just /o/, without gliding to the /u/ the way we Canajuns do.

You can listen to sound files of all the syllables at:
http://japanese.about.com/library/blhiraganaaudio.htm

WARNING: THE VOWELS ARE WHAT THEY ARE!

So, if you see a couple of vowels together, like “ee” or “oo,” the sound represented doesn’t change! “oo” is just /o/, but you say it a little longer. Same with “ee.” It’s the same sound as one /e/, but you say it a little longer.

If you see two different vowels together, such as “ai” or “ae” or “ei” or “ie,” each vowel of the pair is pronounced in the usual way, separately from the other. For example, “ai” is the sound /a/ followed by the sound /i/. “Ei” is an /e/ followed by an /i/.

This was an issue, now fixed by the new super-duper chant book, in the word “Rifui,” that appears in the Offering to the Hungry Ghosts. If it were written in hiragana, the Japanese syllabary, it wouldn’t have been an issue because it would obviously be three syllables: ri, fu, and i. But naturally this wasn’t obvious to English speakers who hadn’t learned about the sound system of Japanese. (Perhaps your computer will show you these three kana: りふい )

Here are some more songs about A I U E O:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crsG1TRpXZk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUJTtnRpQzk

Happy chanting!

Sesshin Followup

Returning from the recent 5 day intensive, I have been mulling over what happened for me there. On the last night, after the closing bell, we put the house furniture back in order and had a group meeting in which we talked about our experiences – I didn’t say much at the time, and now want to offer to the group a little of what is going on in my practice.

This practice really calls to me. Particularly during chanting and dharma talks, it is often painfully clear how much I long for liberation, and always have - what else is there to do? It is as if all the patriarchs and ancestors are inviting me to just 'drop body and mind' and follow this deep yearning that I feel – so natural, so simple. At the same time, I become gripped by fear, even terror, mixed with a sense of being unworthy to aspire to such an exalted path. At some underlying level, my daily life unfolds as though I’m inauthentic, or perhaps an impostor, and if I don’t manage my external façade of competence adequately, I’ll be found out, to my great shame.

I cope fairly well in most situations, but when the chips are down and a challenging interaction arises, what will happen if I don’t measure up as a father, a husband, a Buddhist practitioner, or just as a person? So I build my walls and hide behind them. I seek familiar and safe situations, like interacting with and manipulating objects, and avoid, or tiptoe cautiously through, the inevitable human relationships that life requires.

I see now that it was no accident that for years I practiced at a centre located 3000 miles away from where I lived – a comfortable buffer that I could deal with. I could show up once or twice a year for sesshin, drop in and do my solitary practice, and then disappear when it was over, without the need for engaging with the people in that sangha.

It’s a different story at VZC, and I want you all to know that I truly appreciate the love and support that you show me, and the opportunity that I have to contribute to this community we’re building. The sesshin form is so wonderful – a chance to engage with our private delights and demons, and to do it together with others, in a loving crucible. This time around I find that I’m a little more at ease and comfortable in my own skin, a little less driven to ‘get better’, and a lot more excited about the adventure of life and practice. I was Lars for 55 years, and have been Doshu for a little over 2. Now, with ordination approaching, I feel like maybe I’m leaving Doshu behind and moving into something else - I don’t really know what yet, but the prospect seems less daunting than it has in the past. If I’m lucky, I may get 20 or 30 more years in which to kick this can around, and I want to do it with it my family, friends, teacher, and sangha.

To all of our sangha, to Venerable Eshu particularly, and to my family and friends, I just want to say thank-you for all that you do.

nine bows,
Doshu

Second Sangha Sunday a Smashing Success

On Sunday April 26, 2009 we held our second Sangha Sunday at Elk Lake.

Sangha Ball involved a plethora of rowdy all-ages team activities, including water balloon relay toss, group soccer, backwards croquet, musical performance, blindfolded gummy worm eating, animal drawing, and...well...carrying water in long PVC pipes and trying not to dump it on your team-mates. Many thanks to the 24 people (and 2 dogs) who came for the morning and for the picnic afterwards, sharing laughter, good company, and yummy treats.

Photos of the day's activities and videos of music performances are online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/37799529@N02/sets/72157617265553919/

We hope to see you and your loved ones at the Buddha's Birthday celebration in May! The next Sangha Sunday will be June 21 -- mark your calendars.

Photo Scavenger Hunt...

What a wonderful, sunny day for such a fun event! We split up into different teams and had to take photos of different items on a list. Here are some of photo's that were taken:

"Crazy Kid"
Cory, Joshua, Ruth, Isabel & Maggie









"Joke"
(Monk walks into a bar...)
Eshu











"Someone Kicking a Ball"
Emma & Gwen














"Love"
Ben & Emily


















"A Loud Noise"
Eric Jordan














"10 People Jumping"
Jundo, Eshu, Mitra, Matteo, Joe, Darius, Alizeah & Kigen

Upcoming Sesshin - Posted by Sei-in

As everyone probably knows, we have a sesshin coming up from May 2-8th. A friend had posted this comic on Facebook and it seemed fitting...

I did not make this comic. I am merely reposting it. Enjoy!

On balance - Chris Holt

About a year ago whilst I was writing my own blog I wrote a small bit about the balance that came to me physically because of meditation practice. I thought I'd share that here as it is still relevant today.

I recently had a blood test to assess the state of my liver. For many years I have had significantly elevated enzyme levels which if untreated over time would lead to a deterioration in my liver. The difficult thing has been that for years the doctors have scratched their heads at not being able to find out why the enzyme levels stay high. We have switched medications, diet, drinking alcohol, no drinking alcohol, no smoking, change diet, exercise and nothing worked until I lost significant weight at which point two of three enzymes balanced out, but the GGT which is sensitive to alcohol did not. I don't drink (or at least didn't drink until I went to Italy and enjoyed the Chianti).

This particular enzyme has a normal reading of between 35 and 50 (on whatever scale they use) and mine has been as high as 400 somewhat significantly out of range. Just over a year ago I was in the 200 range still four times higher than the maximum, with no good ideas as to why from anyone. So for the last year, you will have noticed that I have been doing a lot of meditation, more than at any other time in my life.

The meditation is the one consistent thing over the last year. I have not been drinking, then have had wine, I've played with diet and gone up and down in weight and hover now about in the middle between overweight and feeling a little emaciated. I have had work changes and written a lot of haiku, but only the meditation has been consistent...and I am happy to report that in the last reading of my blood, all enzymes are within normal range and the GGT enzyme is now in the 90s only about double the normal range. This is a marvelous outcome or turn of events as I was looking forward to liver disease in a few years.

We still do not know the cause, but I attribute the change to the meditation..can not prove it, but intuition gives me the signal.

Thought this might be of interest as I have always felt that the sitting practice works as much if not more in the background than it does in the conscious mind to balance one's being.

Balance - Soshin Ruth McMurchy

A couple of things come up for me, thinking about balance. One is from early days getting to know Doshu, we often spent time in playgrounds on the teeter totter. What he taught me was that the farther out you are on the arm of the teeter totter, the more power you have. As any child with an older brother will know, the temptation to misuse one's power on a teeter totter is overwhelming. Lessons learned here with simple physics have a myriad applications in everyday life, and so we were able to balance our disparate weights and simultaneously learn to harmoniously share the power.

In my family balance doesn't look like it 'should'. My mom often reminds me to use my new buddhist name, whereas another family member refuses to use it and doesn't want it used in their presence.

A beloved aunt is worried by the new name and fears that I will become someone she won't recognize. So we made a pact together just the two of us, never to change - that may seem like a comforting fantasy, but it's also true - the outer personality stuff may come and go, but the deep love I feel for her will remain, until it dissolves along with this body sometime within the next few decades, but that will have been long enough.

Balance looks like days of bliss after a particularly deep one-day intensive, followed by irritation at my computer as it becomes unmanageably slow.

My early experiences with Zen practice - Frances Bryan

I went to my first sit in August 2006 after chatting with Venerable Eshu for a while one day about the Lotus Sutra and the sometimes contrasting beliefs of different Buddhist traditions. I found the "form" rather intimidating and the focused look of the participants ominous, but I was intrigued by the silence. The tea circle was a bit of a relief because suddenly everyone loosened up, and I was allowed to shift and move again.

I don't remember anything significant about my next few sits, but the practice and community interested me, and in December I found myself asking Eshu, "How can I learn more?" The next step was to take the introductory course at the Zendo, so there I was, early one Saturday morning in January 2007, setting off to Sooke wearing a black gi. I snuck out of my house that first morning because I was sure my partner would laugh at my outfit (he did). Over the course of the eight-week intro course I developed a great respect and affection for my classmates and the practice, and enjoyed observing my increasing comfort with sitting on the floor.

Early in 2007 Venerable Eshin came from Vancouver to speak at a Tuesday night sit and there were a lot of people there to hear him. The walking meditation was challenging because the room was so full and people were getting out of step. I forced myself to really let go and follow the person in front of me, and I had my first experience of oneness. I felt that our hip joints were linked, and that I was flowing along completely in sync with him. What a cool feeling!

A year later I am now often playing the role of Shoji. One of my favourite parts is working with Jikijitsu to do the call and response drumming and bell ringing that starts many of the chants. If both of us are listening well and feeling the musicality and the beat I can have that experience of flow and unity I had in the walking meditation, and I just love that.

I'm not sure what I expected from practicing Zen; probably some sort of undefined "peace". My motivation to continue with sitting (and chanting and kinhin), has been my enjoyment of the practice itself rather any clear goals about outcomes. But there have been some wonderful outcomes. The first was that I started sleeping a lot better. (I have a long history of insomnia). Recently I have found that if I get involved in an argument I'm not able to summon up the desire to continue to argue. It feels as if I am no longer attached to being right. It's really interesting to see "peace" manifesting itself in my life in these subtle, unexpected and specific ways. I'm looking forward to seeing what else is around the corner (while of course, being fully in the present!)