Sejiki Ceremony Preview

[00:00:00] Speaker A: For more information on Ancient Dragon Zen. [00:00:03] Speaker B: Gate, please visit our website at www.ancientdragon.org. our teachings are offered to the community through the generosity of our supporters. To make a donation online, please visit our website. [00:00:16] Speaker A: I wanted to welcome Hasan to us. I think this is your first time here. Everyone else, Everyone else, usual suspects. Okay. So welcome. And you just moved to Chicago, is that right? This summer. Great. Well, welcome. And so today's dharma talk is actually kind of a preview of October events and a little bit of a taste of rehearsal for a ceremony we'll do at the end of the month. So I just want to mention a few things which I'm sure will be repeated maybe during, you know, announcements. But next Saturday we're having a special guest teacher, Reverend Ben Connolly from Minnesota Zen Meditation center, who is a wonderful Dharma teacher and has a new book called Inside the Flower Garland Sutra. And Ben will be with us on Saturday and offering a retreat workshop one to five. So this won't be our typical kind of hardcore sitting sasheen. There'll be a little sitting, there won't be oreoke. There'll be some tea and cookies. And there'll be an exploration of how these wonderful teachings from the Flower Adornment Sutra or the Avatamsaka Sutra relate to our lives. And Ben says, quote, this workshop will balance teaching, dialogue, reflection and meditation to make space for integrated learning and transformation. That's a nice promise about his book he's written in this era when many folks see ever deepening divisions. Sounds like us. This retreat will explore how these flower ornament teachings. Teachings offer particular wisdom for those concerned about how to care for their lives as they work to end harms such as the list. The beginning of the list, ecological devastation, poverty, militarism, addiction, marginalization and exploitation. The Flower Garland traditions central theme of interdependence and emphasis on diversity of people and practices brings us timely medicine. So Ben has contemplated and worked with this vast, wonderful text, which we chant once a month on Friday evening, led by Tigan and David Ray Awe and brings it to our time and place. And Ben says we'll explore how can we truly live from a sense of interdependence of all things, how can we keep opening to the vast diversity of people, needs and liberative practices. So if you're up for that, I think Ben is a very positive and realistic and deep teacher and it'll be great. So sign up online. You know how to find it on our website. It's on the front page. And Ben will also have Some books for sale. And afterwards, he might be able even to have some dinner with us after the retreat. So that's one to five on Saturday. Then next Sunday, our dear scholar friend from the University of Chicago, Stefan Lika, will speak on the history of the Bodhisattva precepts in Sotozen at our next Sunday program. No registrations required for that. Just show up. And it should be a very interesting discussion because Stefan is a scholar. We just so happen to have a scholar of Soto Jazen, Japanese Buddhism, at the University of Chicago, who we can invite to come talk to us. And then in two weeks, Teigen, who's here today, I believe, or was. There you are. Okay. We'll also offer the Sunday Dharma talk. So our wonderful dragon community is rich dharma field. And today I'd like to warm us up for a special ceremony that we celebrate on an annual basis, typically the last Sunday of the month, which I think is October 25, called Sajiki. It's literally the offering of food. And Sajiki is an offering of nourishment, compassion, and awakening to starving, insatiable, restless, fearful, dissatisfied, suffering spirits of all realms, including this earth realm, and also including dissatisfied spirits of all realms and our internal realm, our internal psyche. And it does seem that a can't get enough mentality is running around more better, the best, you know. So this ceremony opens a portal between all realms and all the suffering spirits, all the craving spirits, you know, sometimes they're gnarly looking, or we don't like them, we don't want to see them. But in this ceremony, we invite them in, we welcome them, we offer them food ceremonially and nourishment and chanting. This ceremony is said to have roots in kind of a sweet story that one of Shakyamuni Buddha's close disciples found out that his deceased mother stuck in a hell of starving and craving and came to the Buddha wanting to help. And so the Buddha advised his friend, his student, to offer food and dedicating the merit of the monk's practice to this mother. And this kind of offering has flowed through Asia, China, Korea, Japan, and continues with us. And this is kind of a Halloween adjacent tradition. And many cultures have some ceremonies of connecting to deceased loved ones or suffering beings and caring for them. It's also kind of beyond our imagination or our logical thinking to actually think how do we care for beings that we can't see? How do we take care of suffering of those in realms we can never know in this vast world, this vast universe? And we do it anyway. Just like our Bodhisattva vows that are impossible, we just do it anyway. And the fruits of our practice, of our Bodhisattva's ethical conduct, these fruits are realized through a kind of inconceivable generosity, you know, that is part of this ceremony. And in addition to being an offering of nourishment and comfort, the Sajiki is a memorial service for loved ones who've died in the past year. So please send any names to us at InfoAntientDragon. Or you could give them to me or our Ino Jerry, and they'll be read during the ceremony. So please send those to us, and we will remember them. We'll also enjoy tea and treats after the ceremony. So we offer tea and treats, but then we get to eat them. And so you can also bring food or drink. And we invite the spirits in with a little bit of percussion or music. So if you'd like to bring an instrument, you're welcome to do that. You're even welcome to wear your Halloween costume if you'd like. You know, these spirits are a little shy. You know, maybe they feel a little bit of shame. So, no, for a little in disguise, it's maybe even encouraging to them. So will have instruments if you don't break any. I guess costumes are up to you. But what I'd like to do today is rehearse a few of the chant a couple chants from the ceremony, because it's a bit of a fancy ceremony, and most of the complicated stuff, most of you don't have to worry about. However, I want to warm you up for the ceremony with some of the chanting, which we don't do very often here at Ancient Dragon, you know, because we need everyone's energy in the room to create space to connect with that which is suffering deeply. Stuck in Never enough. So what'll happen is, after Zazen, instead of the Dharma talk on the last Sunday of the month, during Kin Hin, instead of Kin Hin, we'll have a transition. People can get their instruments that time. And then I'll introduce the ceremony, and then a procession will come in, and we'll. Then we'll invite the starving spirits to join us and chant some special texts, read names of deceased people that we love, and bid farewell to these nourished spirits. And I think I have a moment for brief questions. So if anybody in person or online has any burning question about this before we start to do a little chanting practice. [00:10:55] Speaker C: Wade, you say a little something about Durani. Seems to be chanting some. [00:11:04] Speaker A: Well, I don't like to say much about your. But just the physicality of having the syllables in your body is a way of. It's kind of a magic, you know, that might freak. Freak us out, but there is a quality of this sort of tonal embodiment of, you could say, ancient blessings. You know, some of these are mantras. And here, did you need something? Oh, okay. Echo gone. Okay. You know, I hesitate to really get into this too much, but I'll just say that we often don't even know what we're chanting because these duranis are in a strange language that sort of ended up in some form of Japanese sometimes or Sanskrit or something else. They're a little mysterious, and they're generating a spiritual energy that arises from our zazen and from our heart practice. And they're offered for the benefit. So we'll chant the Gate of Sweet Dew, which is the first thing we chant in this ceremony. So this is really this offering of blessings of all sorts. And, you know, we call in the Buddhas and ancestors, we invoke them, and then we go through and offer comfort, merit, blessings. And, you know, this is a. And then we chant these Dharanis. And you'll see in the text we don't chant the English version. But maybe I'll just say a little bit about some of these Dharanis. So in the Gate of Sweet Dew, they have titles to these. So, you know, we offer the. We invoke or we offer homage to the ancestors and offer them to come into the room with us too. So not just the tormented spirits, but the spirits of liberation and compassion. And then we arouse our vow to go full on into complete awakening so that we can realize great compassion. Then we start chanting these odd phrases. But they say things like darani, summoning spirits to the great assembly. No, Bohori gyari tari Tata gyataya. Whoa. Okay, so just those open syllables echoing through our bodies. Then we chanted Dharani for breaking open a passageway from the gates of hell. So this is wild, right? We even have a Dharani of the flavor of dharma covered with sweet dew. So this starts to create an awareness in our bodies, in our consciousness, in our minds, to go beyond what we normally hold onto. And in a durani, you could say we hold on to something a little deeper, something broader, something more mysterious, something not confined by our thinking of this and that. I like this. I don't like that. This dualistic thinking. Things like Dharani to the body, extensive as space. Vairochana Tathagata. So Dharani of all Buddha's radiant, true words pouring into the head top. So this is a summoning of energy, which could seem absurd and almost like some kind of cartoon show, but I invite you to fully engage in it, to be changed by Dharanis. And this, in some ways, they symbolize the way that we are comprehending and even being able to use the Dharma freely by virtue of our sincere, wondrous dharma practice. And we also chant a more common Dharani called the Daishandrani of Great Compassion. And that's a. That's got its whole history. There's a great Wikipedia article on it, so you can check that out. But it's. It ties back even to ancient India and this Bodhisattva here of thousand arms and hands to be able to care for the world and reduce suffering. So maybe that's enough about Durani right now. There are other people who could say more. That's enough, Irene. Thank you. Yeah, Irene will take the mic. [00:16:36] Speaker B: I've been sitting here looking disturbed for a while because I take something very kind of different. I'm not sure it's different. So if I may, I volunteer with the Night Ministry. And the Night Ministry gives supplies and harm reduction kits to homeless people. And they've been scattered, so we never know who we're gonna find when the bus pulls up at the service sites. And the last time that we pulled up in Garfield park, there was nobody. And then people started to materialize, and it really looked like they were coming from nowhere. And some were limping and in various states of overdress or undress or. And I nearly cried because I thought, look at them. And I actually asked the volunteer coordinator, like, is there a place to go? Take a time out? But then they got closer, and I thought, well, I need to serve lemonade. I need to give them lemonade. [00:17:36] Speaker A: And. [00:17:36] Speaker B: Sorry, I'm getting emotional, but, you know, the first guy, I was like, sir, would you like some lemonade? And it just changed. It changed the dynamic entirely. And so I take this as deeply practical and deeply transformative. Not just for me, but how I viewed the problem in the world. And I'm still kind of processing it, but I don't think there's. I mean, if there's something magical about it, it's. It's something to do with, you know, my own capacity to change by seeing people. So I. I just want to offer that. [00:18:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you. So I don't know if people are familiar with Night Ministry, but it's a really wonderful offering that cruises the city at night and offers care. Be great if we could have a night ministry volunteer night for the dragons. Maybe next year around Sagaki will. Sajiki. Sorry, new name. We'll do this. But this is. Yes, this is meeting that which we might really have difficulty meeting and being transformed. And transforming. So thank you very much. And offering dignity and care. So in our strange little Zen way, one way that we do this is through our voices together. So I think this might be a time to share the Gate of Sweet Dew. And it should be online, if not Gate of Sweet Dew. I know it's listed on San Francisco Zen Center's website. It's listed on H and Dry. Oh, there. Jerry has it up for people. And I believe our techno has things going right. Everybody can see the Gate of Sweet dew and page 29 of our champ books. And we'll have handouts during the actual ceremony, but we'll just go through the chanting and when Wade is ready as dawn. And do you need. Do you have a mic? You've got a mic there, Wade. Okay, so maybe, Wade, you could use one because you're near the bells and you'll be. You'll announce it. Is that right? Sure. Yeah. And you'll kind of be Quasi Kokyo. Okay, so we'll just chant this through. There's a lot more that'll go on during the ceremony, but I just want to get our voices and our hearts kind of aligned with this. So the italicized parts, as it says in the text, which are a lot of. Lot of parts, are italicized. But don't chant those. But you'll just chant along together with this. And online, people, please mute yourselves, but chant along. So, Wade, thank you. Lead us, please. [00:20:36] Speaker D: Gate of Sweet Do. Homage to the Buddhas in ten directions. Homage to the Dharma in ten directions. Homage to the Sangha in tender actions. Homage to our original teachers. Homage to the great merciful, compassionate, reliever of suffering, contemplating the world's cries. Kanzeon Bodhisattva. Homage to the expounder of the teachings. I, Arhadananda, all of us assembled together, arousing awakened mind, additionally offer up a bowl, pure food, furthest reaches of vast emptiness in the 10 directions, including every atom throughout the entire Dharmura. So as to give alms to hungry ghosts in every land. We invite all our departed ancestor back to ancient times, dwelling in mountains, rivers and earth, demonic spirits from the wilderness to come and gather here Thee. We offer food to all of you, praying that you will each accept this food and transfer it along, making offerings to Buddhas, sages and all sentient beings throughout the vast emptiness of the universe, so that you and all beings will be satisfied. Moreover, we sincerely wish for yourself to take advantage of these mantras and food to depart from thing and be liberated. Birth in heaven and receive joy with according intention. May you travel freely through the pure land ten directions and arouse Bodhi mind, practicing the Bodhi way and in the future definitely become a Buddha and treat those who have previously attained the Buddha. Ancient times, may you bring all being together to liberation. Day and night constantly protect us. We offer food to the Dharma realm so that every being will equally receive this fortunate offering. Whatever virtue and merit this produces, we completely transfer and dedicate to the unsurpassed with total clarity and wisdom of the whole Dharma realm of true reality, that all may speedily attain Buddhahood, incurring any other destinies. May all sentient beings of the Dharma realm take advantage of this teaching to quickly attain Buddhahood. [00:23:42] Speaker C: No Bohori gyaari tari tata yataya om Bohotheri gyaari tatagyataya no makusarabata gyatabaru kite om sambara sambarau no makusorobayatagyataya tanyata om. [00:24:15] Speaker D: Sorrow Sorrow. [00:24:27] Speaker C: Homage to the many jewels Removing the karma of greed Fully complete masing and wisdom. Homage to the wondrous form body Akshobyatagata no bobhagya bhat soro bhayatagyataya Destroying disgrace and vileness Fully complete with good marks Homage to the king of sweet dew. Amitabha tathagatap no bobhbate amirite aranjayata gyataya Pouring the Dharma into body and mind Granting pleasure. Homage to the body extensive as space Vairochana tathagata nobo bhagya bhate bi horagya tarayatagyataya Opening wide all throats, satisfying them. [00:25:54] Speaker D: With food and drink. [00:25:56] Speaker C: Homage to the departure from fear Shakyamuni tathagata nobo bhagyabade Completely banishing dread birth as hungry goes Ombosi sita boraharayami ombhayami ombharayami Om samaya satoban Om samaya satoban Om samaya satoban Om samaya satoban Om samaya satoban no makusarabatan o bi horagyaribe mani harabe ta tanita baby mar again bire un jin barajin barabura birokita kugya chishuta gyarabe omani Bhaji unumanidare un baata o maboya vero sham o makabudaramanihan domajin barahara bari thayam by the pop. [00:28:34] Speaker D: The. [00:28:34] Speaker C: Assembly'S good roots we repay the virtue of our parents, toil and trouble. May the living be blessed with joy and longevity without misery. May the dead depart from suffering and be born into peaceful nurturing. May all, all conscious beings in the three realms of desire, form and formlessness, having received the four benefactions of parents, teachers, elders and monks, together with those born to suffering in the threefold path of delusion and revolting misery, and the eight difficult situations in which the dharma is not met, all thoroughly repent their errors and wash away their defects, to finally depart the round of Samsara and be born in the pure land. [00:29:40] Speaker A: In a minute, we'll go through Dahi Shin Durani, but I want to congratulate everyone on such a wonderful recitation of this Gate of Sweet too. So I think you're getting warmed up for it. You know, you can also chant this at home. Make a little altar for some ancestors and offer them a little snack, a little food, a little love, f according to your schedule, and chant this in preparations. You get get it really going for yourself. And don't forget to send names of ancestors so often as part of memorial services. The next chant, the Dahi Shin Durrani is chanted. And this is. We have Jakon Mokugyo in the house, I think. I hope people can hear me. Sorry about that. Jakon Makugyo in the house. And Wade. So the Dahi Shin Durrani is on page 27. 27. Thanks, Howard. And can you announce that, please Wade. And we'll do the bop in the stop. [00:32:11] Speaker C: Kirimoko Fuji Sato Sabo Sabbath. [00:34:38] Speaker A: Okay, good work. Now. Now, when we do the actual ceremony on the end of the month for Sajiki, we chant it quite a bit more slowly. So it's especially good to have, even if you know it, to have the chant in front of you, because when you start to chant, you know, Namu Karatan, it can, if you're not used to that, it can trip you up a little bit. But the most important thing which I've really noticed is that everyone's really present with this. And, you know, last night I was reviewing this ceremony, the Sajiki ceremony, in kind of the official Japanese Soto Zen manual called the Gyoja Kihon, and it relates there's an offering of virtue of the monk's practice during this time that we don't chant. But I thought I'd read it for you because I think it really is this spirit, this kind of night ministry spirit, and this great practice that we don't practice for our own little selfish gain, but because we know that everything is connected and we offer our Bodhisattva vow is to offer our lives to the well being of everyone. In some ways everyone else but me. Give it all away, Bodhisattvas. So these words that I found in this manual, in this statement says, we offer this presentation modest gift to all starving beings in the innumerable realms within realms innumerable as the sands of the Ganges. May the great mass of all sentient beings receive this offering of Dharma nourishment which is incalculable and limitless. May they be instantly satiated with the taste of the Dharma in its true unconditioned form, its boundless form. May they immediately wander freely in self sufficient ease and joy. What beautiful words. May the living and the dead alike be led to liberation. May enemies and loved ones universally benefit. So this is the energy that we are generating, and it is an energy for this moment, I'll say that. And all moments. So, ah, we have a couple minutes. This is a preview. So like, if this really doesn't float your boat, you can don't show up for Siddiq or leave after zazen, you know, which is totally fine. This can seem weird, but you know, I find our vocalization so deep and wonderful and it's just another part of our zazen. So any questions or comments at this moment? Great. Thank you all very much for getting warmed up. And I hope that all enemies and loved ones universally benefit from our practice. Throughout space and time, beings are numberless, we vow to free them. [00:38:24] Speaker C: Delusions are inexhaustible, we vow to cut through them. Dharma gates are boundless, we vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable, we vow to realize that being thus, we vow to free them. Delusions are inexhaustible, we vow to cut through them. Dharma gates are boundless, we vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable, we vow to realize it. Beings are numberless, we vow to free them. Delusions are inexhaustible, we vow to cut through them. Dharma gates are boundless, we vow to enter them. Buddha's way is unsurpassable, we vow to realize it.