Introduction
In terms of our ceremonies, as lay practitioners, we only undertake a small part of what occurs in monastic communities, but, as with everything, we need to examine and question what it is that we actually do. We need to discover the larger sense of what constitutes our liturgy and to appreciate its place within the totality that is Chan Buddhism. Our liturgy reveals a history of the tradition of Buddhism, of Chan Buddhism, and indeed of Western Chan Buddhism and this revelation can be enacted in daily life. Liturgy is a coming together of thought, word and action and in our practice it is an occasion on which these three things are purposefully designed to link to each other and to encourage engagement on the spiritual path.
When we sit, all sort of thoughts and feelings arise and for each of us what arises is unique to our sense of self, our past and even the nature of our physiology. Hence, different feelings such as sorrow, anxiety, anger, feelings of blame, etc can readily arise for some, but not necessarily for others and as meditation deepens, feelings of this nature and their related thoughts emerge. Certainly, this is the process of meditation in which each of us is asked to confront our particular self, in our own distinctive way. There are however some feelings which arise through the meditation process that have a generality in that they are found to be common experiences for the majority of meditators. The most obvious example of this is the arising of feelings of compassion, that deep sense of love and connection to our fellow human beings. It is helpful to be aware of these common arisings as their mindful recognition assists us on our own peculiar path and because of this, since the beginning of Buddhism, teachers have recognised the importance of finding methods of encouraging and sponsoring common experiences and then placing them in a social context of sharing with fellow practitioners. The distillation of these methods has led to the construction of our liturgy, which is far more than the public presentation of our involvement with Buddhist practice as it is also an active encouragement of arisings that facilitate spiritual development. It is important, therefore, to look not just at the role of ritual in our liturgy, but also at the way its content promotes the common arisings, particularly those of gratitude and repentance. In undertaking this examination we shall see that our liturgy is not merely a typical religious service tacked on to our meditative practices, but is in fact a method in itself which is integral to that practice.
Ritual
It needs to be recognised that ritual is a part of everyday life; it is a universal feature of human existence. We get up, wash our hands and make a cup of tea and although we might do this in what we can call the manner of habits, in themselves these actions have elements of ritual - we do the same thing every day, in the same way, with this being our intention. Moreover, when we do these things in a mindful way we introduce the completeness of ritual. When we mindfully undertake any action as a ritual, it has been framed and given form and reciprocally it proffers a quality to the way we organise our life. So, when we introduce the quality of awareness into our actions and undertake regular things in a particular manner, then we are simply introducing ritual into our life. The ritual aspects of making our early morning tea clarifies the form of making tea - it directs us to what we are doing at that moment and so we become intimate with that moment. This is the way we introduce equanimity into our life, indeed, this is what mindfulness is all about. Hence, as so much of our activity may be viewed as a ritual when undertaken mindfully, the essence of whatever activity is to enact the meaning of the Buddha’s teaching in actualised practice. In this way Zazen is simply a ritualised mode of silent enquiry, it is not a routine, it is an enactment approach to realisation. Clearly then, in order to experience the unity of ourselves in the universe, the ritual does not have to be an action that is religiously defined, indeed it is simply just the ordinary behaviours of our everyday life and in order to enquire into this life we undertake meditation. To remind ourselves of the totality of this process of living, we then place it within the context of Buddhist practice and ethics. When this placement is undertaken in a social setting with other like-minded people, it becomes a ritual observance of that practice. In this social way, rituals whether sacred or secular, serve to bring people together and frame experience and they serve to shape that experience collectively by permitting us to participate within a larger whole. For us as lay Chan Buddhists our ritual, our public coming together, is expressed through our liturgy, which naturally is a part of the larger whole that is practice - and this is its unity. Hence, we construct a ritual with devotional and liturgical elements, in which we express our nature, express our practice, take refuge and make our vows.
The Process of our Liturgy
Our initial personal approach to liturgy is usually rooted in our culture and particularly in the way we were introduced to religious ceremonies as children, especially through school assemblies and the way our families related to religion. In our society a Christian culture is an underlying context and within this, liturgy, the church service, is taken as being an act of worship. But, for Buddhists, our ceremonial liturgy is not worship in this manner as there is nothing beyond our own Buddha nature and hence there is no deification or reification. Because of our past cultural background, there can be a tendency to focus only on the form of the liturgy, but given its importance as a basic expression of human cooperation, we need to consider it experientially as this is where the sponsoring and encouraging elements lie. However, it is very easy to become attached to liturgy, either positively or negatively or indeed both at the same time! The objects and the processes of our ceremonial offer themselves for attachment, hence by investigating our reaction to our liturgy we can discover much about ourselves emotionally and behaviourally even if these expressions are only fleeting in nature. Liturgy as with everything else in Chan practice is an investigation.
All of Chan's rituals and liturgy point to the same place, namely that there is no separation between the self and the universe. Indeed all types of practice point to this place and as with all aspects of practice, we can only arrive at the realisation of this by fully engaging in what we are doing. The focus in our liturgy is not to be separate from it, but to be intimate with the sounds, the chants, the words and the actions and intimate with the social context in which it takes place. To be fully intimate is to go beyond the chants, beyond the meaning of the words and beyond the action. This absorption is beyond expression, indeed it is just reality as it is, at this moment. To fully engage with this intimacy that is held within the liturgy is to invoke the Buddhamind.
Bodhidharma explains what ‘invoking’ is about in the Breakthrough Sermon. “To invoke the Buddha's name you have to understand the Dharma of invoking. If it’s not present in your mind, your mouth chants an empty name. As long as you’re troubled by the three poisons or by thoughts of yourself, your deluded mind will keep you from seeing the Buddha and you’ll only waste your effort. Chanting and invoking are worlds apart. Chanting is done with the mouth. Invoking is done with the mind. And because invoking comes from the mind it's called the door to awareness. Chanting is centred in the mouth and appears as sound. If you cling to appearances while searching for meaning you won't find a thing.” 1
He also outlines this in the Bloodstream Sermon. “If you use your mind to look for a buddha you won't see the buddha. As long as you look for a buddha somewhere else, you'll never see that your own mind is the Buddha. Don't use a buddha to worship a buddha. And don't use the mind to invoke a buddha. Buddha's don't recite sutras. Buddha's don’t keep precepts. And Buddha's don't break precepts. Buddha's don't keep or break anything.” 2
Our Basic Liturgy
Although there is a strong link in our liturgy to our historical past, in a manner similar to all rituals there have been adaptations to changing circumstances. Although we follow some liturgy that originates from Chinese, Japanese and even Tibetan practices, they are simply expression of the Buddhist path that has relevance today . Indeed our services and ceremonial which were eclectically constructed by John Crook are expressions not only of the pilgrimage of Buddhism through time but also of our personal pilgrimage in our quest for authenticity. There is always change within continuity, the past is present here and now and the abiding nature of the Dharma means that the future is also present. Liturgy is therefore an expression of the ways our realised mind experience time with the past, present and future being ‘now’. Even though each service independently expresses the tradition in a way that link it back to our mutual Buddhist history, it is also an original unique event with its own meaning and importance and is a moment that will never be repeated. For example, the meantime ceremonial is undertaken to precede activities in which we can very easily lose our conscious engagement. In our mealtime verse we offer reflection and gratitude, we express a reaffirmation of our place in the universe and we bring to awareness the activity that we are engaged in at that moment - we can then truly taste the food of the particular meal that has been offered.
Gratitude and Repentance
When we engage in our liturgy several feelings can arise in that they are encouraged and evoked by the content and actions. Of these we can focus on two feelings here namely, gratitude and repentance and both can be found referenced in the content. In the case of gratitude, the process of practice leads to the development of our sense of who we are and within this, gratitude arises naturally. There is the arising of a deep appreciation of what we are doing and what we are embarked upon; there is an appreciation of our life over its own time span. Within this, gratitude arises about the things that have been difficult for us and particularly those things that help us managed these difficulties. We become open about the way in which we live our lives and grateful for those situations, practices and people that have helped us in the past and which continue to help us on our life's journey. A cycle develops, openness leads naturally to gratitude and gratitude leads to the development of openness. With the cultivation of awareness, openness and mindfulness, the spirit of gratitude develops; this in turn fosters awareness further so eventually the one encourages the other. As Jack Kornfield says, “Cultivating an opening to gratitude also helps us to become more mindful of the life around us and what circumstance we’re in.” 3
The arising of gratitude is encouraged in our liturgy. In the elements that John Crook provided for us, at the beginning of the contract for an occasional retreat we recite in unison, “We vow to bow in gratitude for life, for being together in this place and time.” Our vow of gratitude is right there from the outset and it is also encouraged in the actions and intentions within the Maenllwyd Mandala,
With cupped hands filled with our limited understanding
We offer our world of great mountains and subtle valleys.
For many it is also expressed through the action of prostrations.
There is then a cycle of practice and gratitude which Dogen points to in a profound way. “Continuous practice, day after day, is the most appropriate way of expressing gratitude. This means that you practice continuously, without wasting a single day of your life, without using it for your own sake. Why is it so? Your life is a fortunate outcome of the continuous practice of the past. You should express your gratitude immediately.” 4
Practice is by its very essence the expression of gratitude. The heartfelt gratitude appreciation of the nature of our mind is indeed an expression of our continuous practice. It is with an understanding of this that we can appreciate liturgy as a part of practice and as a part of our life. What takes place when we engage in the liturgy is simply another expression of that practice and of that life. As the liturgy is a collective demonstration of our practice, it can be wholeheartedly embraced as a way of being together and in our own individual way express our humanity and gratitude alongside our fellow practitioners.
Another feeling that arises throughout the retreat process which is evoked, sponsored and encouraged during the liturgy is that of repentance. This is becoming aware of the mistakes we have made in our lives, the ways in which we have unfortunately harmed others and it is always combined with a desire not to repeat the same things. Master Sheng Yen notes that this is part of the process of self-affirmation in which we have to take responsibility for who we are and what we do 5. As we engage in practice, we construct a growing awareness of our self as cause and effect and we develop an understanding of our own weaknesses as well as our strengths. Feelings of regret arise as we become only too aware of the errors that we have made and these feelings are mingled with a desire for difference in the future. This, in Buddhism, is termed ‘repentance’ which is an important process in practice. In our culture the word itself, with its Christian overtones may not be well understood by those who come to lay practice from the west. Chan Master Hsing Yun introduces us to an understanding of this by repeating a saying of many Buddhist masters ‘Fear not the appearance of the thought; fear tardy observation of the thought.’
“‘Observation of the thought’, means that we reflect on the workings of our own minds. It is not being overly concerned about any thought as thoughts in themselves are empty of inherent existence, no, what we need to be mindful of, what we need to be watchful of is entertaining a negative thought, or worse, acting on one. It is in the observing of our thoughts and the thought processes of our own mind which the basic act of repentance.” 6
It is by recognising the rise of negative thoughts and then disengaging from the tendency to allow them to grow into negative intentions and acts that we develop the unity of our true selves. Hence, the focus of repentance is on being aware of our mistakes and the thoughts which gave rise to them. It is certainly not feeling guilty, for guilt is a self centred psychological process. Guilt maintains the stories we have about ourselves and why we have done particular things. To persist in replaying these stories removes us from the present and removes us from the opportunity to ‘observe the thought’. The recognition and acknowledgement of what we have done, the regretting of its occurrence and the desire to prevent re-occurrence removes us from any ego derived guilty feelings and moves us towards the experience of the present. We can see that repentance is the natural precursor of the Second Great Vows chanted in our liturgy “I vow to cut off endless vexations” and it is present as the fourth in the Ten Great Vows of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, where we seek, “to repent all karmic obstructions.” Katagiri Roshi says that repentance in Buddhism means perfect openness of heart. “The ritual of repentance is not to ask forgiveness from someone for what one has done…Repentance is not a preliminary stage to enter Buddha’s world or to become a good person. If repentance is understood in this way, we fall... into the trap of dualism, a big gap is created between us and whatever object we try to make repentance to. Real peace cannot be found in dualism.... [Repentance in Buddhism] is the perfect openness of our hearts that allows us to hear the voice of the universe beyond the irritation of our consciousness.” 7
Within the communal process of the liturgy, repentance involves admitting one's faults and taking responsibility in a way in which we each bear witness to each other. Through this process, we share each other’s suffering and we share each other’s path to the cessation of suffering.
Closing
As liturgy is a shared experience, it expresses the wholeness of the Sangha. It is a sharing of silence that is filled with sound. It is a ceremonial where there is a focus on group celebration as an expression of Dharma. In this way when you actively participate in the liturgy the Sangha recognises you and all other the participants just as they are. It is an invitation to realise that you are responsible for your own life and to realise what invitations you have chosen in living that life. Therefore, through its repetition it is a grounding experience and one that requires wholeheartedly embracing.
Endnote
Attributions of our liturgy
Western Zen Retreats follows standard Tibetan verses from Morning (Chenrezig) Puja
Morning verses in Silent Illumination and Koan Retreats
- Morning Dedication is the opening verse from a Tibetan Six Session Practice
- The Heart Sutra - an English translation of a Chinese text by Master Sheng-yen
- Prajnaparamita Dharani - Sinicised Sanskrit
- Samantabhadra Bodhisattva’s Ten Great Vows, The Four Great Vows, The Three Refuges, Transfer of Merit, are all standard traditional verses from Chinese liturgies also found in Japanese liturgies.
JHC compositions
- Zendo opening and closing ceremonies
- Maenllwyd Mandala
- On Pursuing That Which Leaves No Tracks
- Exhortation
- Benediction
Mealtime ceremonial is taken from Soto (Japanese) Ceremonial mixed with JHC elements.
References
- p111 The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. (Red Pine trans). 1987. North Point Press. New York
- p11 op cit
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/05/buddhist-teacher-jack-kor_n_5249627.html Accessed 24/07/17
- p365, Chap 31B, Continuous Practice, Part Two. Dogen. Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. K Tanahashi (ed.), 2012. Shambala. Boston.
- Master Sheng Yen. Self Affirmation. Part 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHXo1JbNZ0s
- http://hsingyun.org/repentance/ accessed 04/07/2017
- p72. Returning to Silence. Zen Practice in Daily Life. Dainin Katagiri 1988 Shambala. Boston
