Mountain Training

 

Ajari Tanaka has shared many forms of spiritual training with his students over the years.  Meditation, recitation, sadhana, shodo, shomyo, mudra and pilgrimage to name most.  Some have been enthusiastically taken up, while others are less commonly practiced among the small group of active students here in the states and Canada.  

One of my favorites of these lesser methods is what Ajari sometimes called "mountain practice."  On other occasions he called it "yamabushi training", elaborating that his maternal grandparents were part of a long line of yamabushi.  This type of practice for us takes two forms, one is a very simple waterfall practice and the other is just hiking in the Vermont hills and mountains.

Less than five miles from my house is the trail head for Buck Mountain.  It's not a big mountain, to be fair when compared to the bigger mountain in Vermont like Came's Hump or Mount Abe, it's just a good sized hill.  Be that as it may, it has a wonderful trail that passes though some beautiful forest and at the rocky summit one finds a gorgeous view of the Central Champlain Valley, Otter Creek, Lake Champlain and the High Peaks of New York's Adirondacks.  So well worth the forty-five or so minutes to the summit.

This summer we have had a ton of rain and so hiking took a back burner.  Muddy trails and mosquitoes make the adventure much less alluring.  But we are in a nice spell of dry weather and the trails are firmed up and the cooler temperatures have sent the bugs to their hiding places.   So at quarter to seven this morning I was walking from my car to the trail head.

The walk was as lovely as I remembered it, not too steep but with enough rise to get the heart going.  The leaves, viewed from the forest floor, showed their yellowing as autumn asserts itself.  But mostly it was quiet.  My car was the first in the parking lot and there was not a soul in sight.  Cool fresh air, chipmunks, birds, squirrels, and me.  It was fantastic.

At the summit I lingered longer than I usually do.  There was some cloud cover that got thicker to the south, that put some surreal distance between me and the High Peaks, turning their silhouettes to dark blue shadows.  The sky was slowly brightening, back lighting the mountains while the valley is still showing its late summer lush green.  I sat for a long time, enjoying the quiet and remembering some hikes we took with Ajari Tanaka, back in the day.  But mostly the tangible, quiet, the real relaxation from the effort, the spectacular view and all that space, that wide open space were the morning's reward.

My walk out was slow but very enjoyable.  I'm not as spry as I used to be, so I pick my way down hiking trails these days.  And truth be told, I was happy to drag out the walk.  The peaceful quiet was palpable and most enjoyable.  I was in no hurry for it to end.

Seishi Bosatsu

In Shingon the 23rd of the month is recognized as a day to honor Amida Buddha.  But it is also a day to celebrate Seishi Bosatsu, a much less known bodhisattva.

In his small book, "Junishi and Guardian Dieties", Rev. and Mrs. Taisen Miyata say the following about Seishi:

"The bodhisattva Mahastanaprapta (Seishi-bosatsu), together with Kanzeon is one of the two bodhisattvas that accompany the Buddha Amitabha.  Seishi stands to the left of Amida and Kanzeon to the right.  Seishi represents the active, outward manifestation of the working of the wisdom of Buddhahood, and Kanzeon represents the love and compassion inherent in that same Buddhahood.   Seishi is usually portrayed with his hands held together, in gassho, and this represents the lotus-like heart of man which has yet to fully open up to the truth of enlightenment.  It is Seishi's resolution to aid all men to speedily attain the state of supreme wisdom.  His mantra is made up of symbolic syllables only;  it is "On san zan saku sowaka!"  (Sanskrit: Om sam jam jam sah svaha).  The two words jam represent the arising (jati) of the two types of mental hindrances, the obvious hindrance of the defilements of the passions - hatred, ignorance, greed and the very subtle hindrance of the more sophisticated philosophical mistakes.  It is Seishi's purpose in the world to remove all men's hindrances, and so make it easier for him to attain the wisdom of Nirvana."

You can find the above quote on page 12 of Rev. & Mrs. Miyata's book, "Junishi and Guardian Dieties", published in affiliation with the Koyasan Buddhist Temple, Los Angeles in 1976.

Regarding the above quote, please consider two points.  First the Japanized form of the mantra does not correspond to the Sanskrit version and therefore may be missing a second "zan" (Sanskrit: jam).  Secondly, please consider the exclusive use of the masculine terms as an artifact of the time of publication.  We are pretty sure Seishi is a symbol meant to inspire everyone.

So please don't forget Seishi on the 23rd of the month and if you are inspired, practice his mantra.  Perhaps you will be inspired, like Seishi, to help others in their path.

Kobo Daishi's Birthday

For Shingon, June 15th is considered Kobo Daishi Kukai's birthday.  In his wonderful book "Sacred Koyasan", Professor Philip Nicoloff describes the date as follows:

"Kobo Daishi was born to Lady Tamayori and Saeki Tagimi on the island of Shikoku in 774.  The precise day of birth is unknown, but later tradition selects June 15 as probable, for on that day in 774 the sixth of the eight Shingon patriarchs, Amoghavajra, died in China.  The matching of dates lends credence to the notion that Kobo Daishi was Amoghavajra's reincarnation." (SK, p. 33).

In Chapter Eleven (p. 241 - 247) of that same book, Professor Nicoloff describes the Daishi-tanjo-e, Koyasan's Daishi Nativity Ceremony in depth.  It's well worth a read.

So please mark Kukai's birthday today and if you are inspired,  chant his mantra as all students of Shingon owe a debt of gratitude to the founder for his contribution to our practice and path.

"Namu daishi henjo kongo"

Enjoy the day and please reach out to us if there is anything we can do to help you in your study of Shingon, mandalavermont@gmail.com).

jim

("Sacred Koyasan: A Pilgrimage to the Mountain Temple of Saint Kobo Daishi and the Great Sun Buddha", 2008, by Philip L. Nicoloff, published by State University Press of New York, Albany) 

Lucky 13

In Shingon the thirteenth of the month is considered a "Kokuzo Day", honoring Akasagarbha Bodhisattva.  Kokuzo is figured prominently in the Taizo-kai Mandala, his assembly is located below the hall of the mantra holders.  Kokuzo is associated with space which is unhindered and holds all things.  For a really thorough explanation of the rich symbolism and meaning of Kokuzo and his assembly, please refer to Adrian Snodgrass's "The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism'.

Kokuzo is also the honzon or main object of meditation in the sadhana called the Gumonji-ho.  Kukai, Shingon's founder is said to have done three complete cycles of the Gumonji-ho, which entails chanting Kokuzo's mantra one million times per cycle.  On completing his third cycle, Shingon lore holds he had a profound enlightenment experience.  Kakuban, one of Shingon's great reformers is said to have completed eight cycles of the Gumonji-ho.  Ajari Tanaka has shared this practice with us and though demanding it is very powerful even if one is not able to practice it at the level of ancient masters.

So mark your calendar and if you are inspired, chant the Kokuzo mantra today and on the thirteenth of any month.  Ajari Tanaka has said on many occasions that if you chant the Kokuzo mantra regularly you will become very clever and your power to share the Dharma will be increased.

Here are a couple of little web resource that give a bit about Kokuzo and his mantra:

http://www.shingon.org/deities/jusanbutsu/kokuzo.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%80k%C4%81%C5%9Bagarbha  

And as always, if you'd like to know more about our practice and study of Shingon, please drop us a note at mandalavermont@gmail.com.

Take care,

jim

Another practice...

We had a great sangha practice again today.

A couple of long time students made the trip to my dojo and another five sangha members (both local and as far away as downstate New York and Quebec) joined via zoom.

It's great to again gather our old friends who have studied with Ajari Tanaka for so many years.

Today we practiced our dharani interspersed with silent meditation and walking.  It is a little bit of a challenging practice but many of our students are well versed in these practices so all went well.

We will take a little break from sangha practice as I am taking a vacation in Maine in late June,  but we'll be back at it by mid-July.

If your are interested in trying Shingon practice please contact us at mandalavermont@gmail.com.  We would be happy to help...

Renewing Yamabushi Training, Vermont Style

We're having a really nice dry and mild early summer here in Vermont.  Inspired by my recent trip to Japan (where I walked for hours every day), I've been getting out and hiking all the smaller mountains and hills nearby.  Mount Philo, Chipman Hill, Silver Lake, Snake Mountain and Buck Mountain are all small hills and mountains that are open for early season hiking.  Together they are a great way to get in hiking shape, to get ready for longer hikes on our bigger mountains later in the season.

Yesterday I was hiking up Buck Mountain and I remembered how Ajari Tanaka during his time here in Vermont used to hike, especially Mount Abraham.  He has described leaving his house in Lincoln on foot, walking the few miles to the trail head and then hiking the west slope of Mount Abraham to its summit.  Afterward he would hike down the southern trail to Lincoln Gap and walk the long road back home.  It was often a day long affair.  He called this his "yamabushi training".

In his youth, Ajari Tanaka spent a lot of time with his grandparents and he credits his grandfather as his first teacher.  Ajari has often said his grandfather was from a yamabushi family and introduced him to shodo, pilgrimage and dharma.  His grandparents maintained a "Fudo Myo-o" house on their property and held goma fire ceremonies there.

Ajari Tanaka invited us on his hikes periodically back in his Vermont days and also brought us to a few local waterfalls to do what he called "taki-gyo", waterfall practice.  This entailed standing or sitting under the cold water of our local rivers and chanting the Fudo Myo-o mantra while holding Fudo Myo-o mudra.  Brrrrr.

These were the practices included in his idea of yamabushi training, our local version of what he had inherited from his grandparents.  Getting out into Vermont's mountains, challenging yourself to hike every step to the summit, and then after that effort, take in the spacious view and the deep green of both wild and rural Vermont.  Then hike back down to our everyday lives with a little something special to bring back home.   Other times, he encouraged us to dunk under the bracing cold water of our local rivers, chant the mantra for as long as we could stand the cold to feel the natural invigoration of the whole experience.

It might sound a little kooky, but it was actually pretty awesome.

So this year I'm back out hiking again.  To be fair I hike every spring, summer and fall in Vermont, but never as much as I used to and certainly not as much as I usually hope.  But this year I am genuinely inspired.  I want to hike a ton and do my yamabushi training right.

So if you ever want to go for a hike and later in the summer when things really warm up, brave a local waterfall, let me know (mandalavermont@gmail.com) because this summer is a yamabushi summer.

Saturday Sangha Practice

We had a great sangha practice yesterday.  I was alone in my dojo and four long time Mandala Vermont students joined via zoom. Starting at 10 AM we opened our practice with the various mudra and mantra of the Goshinbo, moved on to sutra recitation and a period of silent meditation.  After a bit of walking meditation we did a long'ish practice of the mantras contained in the Jusan Butsu Goshingon, then a short silent meditation, closing with a dedication of merit.

Group practice is one of the real gifts Ajari Tanaka has shared with us.  A group of practitioners who have trained together for a while can really create an environment where meditation comes easily and naturally.  It's pretty great.

If you would like to learn more and try our practice please email us at mandalavermont@gmail.com.

Reconnecting After the Pandemic...

Hey all,

So sorry it has been such a long time since we have made an update to the Mandala Vermont blog, but like many things, our practices, activities and programs really got scrambled by the pandemic.  But now it looks like we are safely past the biggest challenges and are beginning the first efforts to start fresh.

In the spirit of starting again, a longtime student of Ajari Tanaka and I recently visited Japan and were able to spend quite a bit of time with him.  I'm happy to report Ajari is happy and healthy and very active in Japan.  He gives tons of lectures through the courses he teaches at Waseda University and other places as well as leading pilgrimages throughout Japan.   Check out this picture of him enjoying an orange creemee in a shop near Imabari City on Shikoku Island.

While we were in Tokyo he visited Sensoji with us and then Takahata Fudo where we were able to attend a fire ceremony.   Next we traveled with Ajari and a group of about twenty of his Japanese students to experience a taste of the Shikoku Pilgrimage.  On this bus tour pilgrimage we visited the temples in the third section of the pilgrimage, located in Ehime Prefecture.  We visited over twenty temples, learned the practice done by pilgrims at each temple, got to know many wonderful Japanese students of Ajari Tanaka, ate amazing local food and of course, spent lots of time with him.

Before our trip ended, back in Tokyo he accompanied us to Narita-san, a large Shingon temple a couple of train stops from the airport, to walk the grounds and attend another goma fire ceremony.

It was great to visit with Ajari Tanaka again but most importantly he hinted he may be coming to Vermont for another visit in 2024.  I will certainly keep you posted as we work to make that happen.

Closer to home, we are beginning to have regular monthly sangha practices, both in person at my home dojo in New Haven, VT and also via zoom.  During the pandemic a hardy group of our sangha members pioneered zoom practice and thanks to them it's now a regular part of our practice.  It's really great as students from as far away as Maine, California, New Orleans and New York can all take part.  That's pretty awesome.

And as always if you are interested in exploring Shingon with us, please feel free to email us at mandalavermont@gmail.com.

Take care,

jim

P.S. Our old website has lost its hosting service, so for now this blog will be where we share what's going on with Mandala Vermont.