Rohatsu

Sunday morning, after a week of getting up at 6:45 a.m. to go diving, I got to sleep until the luxurious hour of . . . 6:00 a.m. This week was my turn on the rotation to open the Zen Center, which begins its Sunday morning services at 7:30 a.m. So it was up at 6, into the shower to shave my head and clean myself, a cup of coffee and a quick breakfast, and out the door by 7, or at least shortly thereafter.

Today was the last day of a weekend sesshin - I missed the first two days while I was off on my Caymans diving trip - so the turnout was good. Sesshin, literally translated as unifying or gathering of the mind, is an extended period of intensive meditation practice. This month's sesshin was centered around Rohatsu.

Every year when December approaches, Zen monks intensify their training energy in preparation for the Rohatsu sesshin. Traditionally held at the start of December, the Rohatsu sesshin is the consummation of a year’s training, a time when everyone faces the final reckoning of a year of practice.

The Buddha was enlightened on the eighth of December ("Rohatsu" is Japanese for "December 8") when he looked up at the morning star, the planet we call Venus. The brightness of this planet was seen by Buddha from the depths of one week of samadhi (deep awareness). The Buddha received that brightness with the same eyes of zazen that also enable us to realize perfect enlightenment.

One week straight of this deepest possible samadhi was burst through by the brilliance of that morning star, plunging into the Buddha's eyes and giving rebirth to the Buddha’s consciousness. He was deeply moved by what he felt. From within this state of mind, the Buddha said, "How wondrous! All beings are endowed with this same pure nature! What a wondrous, astonishing thing has been realized!"

From within this deep illumination of the mind of the Buddha, all the Buddha’s wisdom was born. All of Zen is held within the deep impression of the Buddha’s mind at that moment. As they approach the Rohatsu sesshin, people vow to experience the very same experience as the Buddha. In zendos across the world, people put their lives on the line to be able to experience the exact same state of mind, on the eighth of December, as that of the Buddha. This is the firm vow with which they come to the Rohatsu sesshin.

Today, we sat in meditation from 7:30 to 8:00, when we chanted the Japanese version of the Great Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra (the Maka Hanya Shingyo, or, as I irreverently call it, the Hanya Macarena). From there, zazen continued from 8 to 10 a.m., with dokusan (private interview with the teacher) offered. After chanting the English versin of the Heart Sutra, a dharma talk was offered in mondo style (open discussion between the sensei and senior disciples) at 10, and the service and sesshin formally ended at the end of the teaching at 11:00 a.m. The Zen Center serves lunch between 11:30 and 12:30 for those willing to stay, and I helped wash dishes and clean until about 1:30 p.m. and got home by 2:30.