Collective Power

We’re getting ready to jump back into ango (peaceful dwelling), both online and at Transforming Through Play Temple. In the online version, we’ve been working on some creative ways to build in a key element of the Japanese monastic practice called mutual polishing. 

Now I tend to think that Americans aren’t so good at this aspect of practice, given our cowboy, me-first mentality. But today I listened to a clip of a talk by Katagiri Roshi. He said that when he was at Eiheiji there were several monks, not just one, he emphasized, that constantly criticized him and anyone else who was wholehearted in their practice, calling them “crazy” and “foolish.” “Boisterous, barking dogs,” Roshi called them back. 

I think too of Patrick Kennedy, one of Teddy’s sons, deciding not to run for re-election saying “Personal relationships are the most important thing.”

Maybe it’s just human: we rely on each other and yearn for independence. When either side of that pickle isn’t honored, we tend to make a mess.

Well, here’s Dogen from Record of Things Heard (Cleary, p. 73):

Although the color of the flowers is beautiful, they do not bloom of themselves; they need the spring breeze to open. The conditions of the Way are also like this; although the Way is complete in everyone, the realization of the Way depends upon collective conditions. Although individuals may be clever, the practice of the Way is done by means of collective power. Therefore, now you should make your minds as one, set your aspiration in one direction and study thoroughly, seek and inquire.

If you’d like to jump into the practice here, it isn’t too late yet. Seats remain open. Click here for more information or email Alan, the registrar, at [email protected].