Vow: Continuous Practice

By: Bob Zeglovitch

At our retreat this past Saturday, we continued our investigation of vow with the help of some passages from Dogen’s Gyoji (“Continuous Practice”). This is the longest fascicle in Dogen’s great work Shobogenzo. In it, he recounts the various ways in which dharma ancestors from Shakyamuni Buddha forward manifested continuous practice.

Here are some quotes that give a flavor of Gyoji. While the expression “continuous practice” could strike one as daunting, I think that instead what emerges from Dogen’s language is a sense of practice that is natural and imbued with ease.

“On the great road of buddhas and ancestors there is always unsurpassable practice, continuous and sustained.  It forms the circle of the way and is never cut off.  Between aspiration, practice, enlightenment, and nirvana, there is not a moment’s gap; continuous practice is the circle of the way.”

“As a result, the practice is not done by forcing oneself to do it and it is not done by being forced to do it by someone else: it is a ceaseless practice that is never tainted by forcing.  The merits from this ceaseless practice sustain us and sustain others.”

“The underlying principle of this practice is that the whole universe in all ten directions receives the merit of our ceaseless practice.  Though others may not recognize it, though we may not recognize it ourselves, still, it is so.”

“If we wish to grasp what ceaseless practice is, we should not make a special case out of every new thing that comes along.”

Bowing Practice and Vow

By: Ava Stanton

We are in the first half of our spring practice period, Living By Vow in Daily Life.   For this period, as much as I can, I have a daily practice of bowing.  Bowing is a great fit for me, for my personality, my weaknesses, for the encouragement of my practice.  Bowing is a good expression of Vow for me.

I try to be intimate with my weaknesses.  That is essential for a bodhisattva practice, wouldn’t you say?   I tend to space out, so a moving, embodied practice is great for me.  I do well with a beginning, middle and end (of what?), like a kid.  I can engage with my discomfort, irritability and malaise when I bow.  When there is peacefulness, I can offer it up, when I remember it is a gift, not a personal achievement.  Bowing reminds me, in a “can do” kind of way, that my job is to turn toward, turn toward, “approaching (myself) with peaceful and attentive confidence.” (Meditation on Metta)

When I am finished bowing, I can see the part of me that wants to check things off a list, to “be done,” with kindness. At least I bowed today!  The part of me that wants to engage, that wants order – I honor those needs in this practice.  At the same time, here I am, a body moving, acknowledging the infinite awesome mystery, as I touch my forehead to the floor, and bow to it. Here, in this repeated gesture, part of something I will never understand, expressing gratitude in the face of the unknowable.

Katagiri Roshi’s poem on Vow starts:

Being told that it’s impossible,

One believes, in despair, “Is it so?”

Being told that it is possible,

One believes, in excitement, “That’s right.”

But whichever is chosen,

It does not fit one’s heart neatly.

Practicing with a vow allows us to not fall into self-criticism, despair, or self-aggrandizement, and to be kindly with this endless “not fitting.”  He ends:

Just practice right here, now

And achieve continuity

Endlessly

Forever.

This is living in vow.

Herein is one’s peaceful life found.

Staying curious, practicing turning toward yourself with kindness, trying again – bodhicitta can arise and make peace with this endless not fitting. 

I once met a nun, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, who was experiencing a second diagnosis of cancer and treatment.  She told the support group, “I am saved.  That doesn’t mean I am safe.”   When we surrender “I” and substitute awareness that is not-knowing, we can perhaps glimpse what she meant. I don’t hear Catholic doctrine or belief, I hear Vow or bodhicitta or faith in action.

What practice are you choosing to help you bring Vow into your daily life?

Bodhicitta

By: Bob Zeglovitch and Ava Stanton

We are in the second week of our Spring 2022 Practice Period on the Four Great Vows—Living By Vow in Daily Life. The Four Great Vows are a succinct expression of the Bodhisattva path. This morning, we discussed bodhicitta (enlightening mind or awakening mind)—the fundamental intention or quality which the Four Great Vows express. Buddhist teacher Ken McLeod states that bodhicitta is the intention to awaken to life in order to help others awaken to life. Today we touched on several different ways of understanding bodhicitta—seeing it is a seed present at the very beginning of our practice, as something profound and precious that arises mysteriously and auspiciously and without fabrication in the course of our practice over a long stretch of time, and as a quality that we can cultivate.

On the Readings page of this blog, we have posted excellent quotes from McLeod, Taigen Dan Leighton, and Norman Fischer that provide further perspective on this fundamental aspect of Zen practice. We quoted them in whole or in part this morning—they are relatively short and worthy of reading and reflection. Bodhicitta is a deep and complex topic and we will return to it next week and have some more material posted on the readings page at that time. Our remarks on this topic from this morning’s session can be listened to on the Dharma Talks page of this website.