Good morning, everyone. I think this might be the most people we've had in this room, with the possible exceptions of when Reb Anderson spoke here and when Joanna Macy spoke here. Anyway, welcome everyone. For those of you who are new here this morning, and for those of you who started sitting here after I started my sabbatical in March, I'm Taigen Dan Layton, the guiding dharma teacher here at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate. And maybe some of you are just here because we've been closed for a week, and you've just been eager to sit zazen with people. So anyway, welcome, everyone. This last week, we completed dharma transmission ceremonies for Nyozan Erikshut and Ishinenshi Easton. and they're wearing their new brown robes.

[01:03]

So I'm going to speak a little bit and then they will each speak and then Shosan Victoria Austin from San Francisco Zen Center who is here as the preceptor for the ceremonies will speak a little and we'll have some discussion. We won't have tempo cleaning as we usually do on Sundays just to allow for more discussion. So I want to speak about this ceremony a little bit and what it means, but I want to start by saying what it does not mean. So this is, does not mean that Nyozan and Eishin have reached some special exalted spiritual state of being. It does not mean they have reached some special attainment or some big E enlightenment or that they have received, that they have special,

[02:16]

This is not a certification of special powers like the Avengers. Now, they may have some of those things, but that's not what the ceremony was about. I don't know. That's not relevant to what the ceremony was about. What it is about is my trust in them, my trust in their practice, my trust in their commitment to continue our teaching and practice tradition and lineage, and to share it with you and others. So they are now authorized to perform lay ordination or jukai. They are now authorized to perform priest ordination. They're even now authorized to perform dharma transmission, as I have just performed for them.

[03:21]

None of those will probably happen very soon. I received my dharma transmission in the spring of 2000 at Tassajara. from my teacher, Tenshin Rev Anderson, so it's taken me a while. I think I did my first lay ordination maybe in 2005 at my sangha in California, Mountain Source Sangha. So anyway, we'll see. The ceremony that I did at Tassajara was in three weeks. But the last week, which is the week of where the most important part happens, was the same as what, well, basically the same as what they have done this past week. It's a little bit more than a week, actually.

[04:24]

But we, of course, had to adapt. this traditional ceremony which goes back many, many centuries in Japan to our space as a non-residential storefront temple. But that's also traditional to adapt it to a particular space. For example, at Tassajara, when I did it, I had to go and do offerings and bows at altars all around Tassajara, which is a large space for those of you who've been there. Here, they did this at I thought I had the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 different altars to I think 17 different figures.

[05:25]

So our temple was totally transformed. Every single room of this temple was totally transformed for the ceremony and transformed back. with the single exception of the pictures, which I'll talk about in a minute. So many people helped this happen. Part of what the ceremony involves lots of calligraphy and lots of prostrations, about 300 prostrations a day more or less. So again, there were various ways in which this space was transformed.

[06:31]

The altars are transformed, and this room is transformed. What's left of that, just for today, are what's called chinzo in Sino-Japanese, which is pictures of the ancestors. And at San Francisco Zen Center and at Tassajara, for example, there are, well, there may be more, but there are always, well, Gyakushitsu Sojon, Butsumon Sogaku, and Gyokujon, so on. There are small pictures on the first, second, and fourth plaque over there. and sometimes more are added. And of course, we had a table below Kaz's picture with Zhao Zhou, who's not there now, Zhou Shu from China, and Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, of course, our founder in San Francisco. But there are many other figures whose pictures are depicted.

[07:37]

How's Rufus doing? Rufus is the largest picture there. That's Asian's cat. How's he doing? Good. Oh, great. As well as can be. As well as can be. At the beginning of the week, he was. So there's also pictures, actually there are two pictures of my teacher, Tenshin Reb Anderson. There are pictures of other people in our lineage, like Dongshan, Tosan Ryokai, who we've talked about. And there are people from China and Japan. Bodhidharma and Huika is on the second one. And Ehei Dogen, our founder in Japan, is on the third one. They'll be up later and you can look at them. Hongzhe, who is sort of our Dharma uncle of Dogen, is on the fourth one. There are many pictures. People from San Francisco Zen Center, too. So Blanche Hartman and Lou Hartman and some of them.

[08:43]

My first teacher, Nakajima Sensei from New York, is on the first one. And anyway, these are pictures. Oh, Oksan Suzuki-sensei's widow. And other people like Joanna Macy, and Mary Oliver, and Bob Dylan died in the show. So, anyway, that's, those pictures were in front of Yoson and Asian as they were doing their calligraphy of various documents at tables right there. So again, the whole space was transformed. So this is about their receiving authorization as teachers in our lineage. And my teacher and San Francisco Zen Center and the Soto Zen Organization in America have been notified.

[10:00]

But this is really a wonderful event for this sangha. So earlier this year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our being in this temple. So many people in this sangha made this possible. Geoshin Laurel was our jisha, helping throughout the event. Of course, Shosan came from San Francisco and was the precept instructor, helped in lots and lots of ways. So there's too many people to thank. I'm sorry for those of you who I might leave out. Brian, where's Brian? He's there somewhere. Yeah, he constructed two of the most important pieces of furnishings, let me put it that way, for this event, unique furnishings.

[11:09]

Hoketsu, who's back here, is our sewing teacher, and she helped Zana Nation very much with their new cases and roxes. Dave and Kathy, where's Kathy? Kathy and Matt who's not here today. a committee of our board who assembled many, many, many, many materials that were essential for this ceremony. Bo, who I think is not here this morning, but Artenzo organized meals for us during this. It was more than a week. It was, I don't know, nine days and I was here for 10 or 11. I don't know. I lost count. But anyway, and many of you brought meals for us. And Jason constructed a couple of essential pieces for the ceremony.

[12:13]

So thank you, Jason, and everybody else who helped, and all of you. So I want to have time for questions, discussion, anything else. But also, I want to give time for the others to speak. So I'm going to pass the microphone. Actually, Aishan will give her first Dharma talk, full Dharma talk, as a new teacher tomorrow evening. It's really great to see so many people here. I've never seen so many of the Hyde Park Rockefeller Chapel group here at one time, which is really great. Outside still and inside trembling.

[13:17]

Outside still and inside trembling like a tethered colt, like a cowering rat. The ancient sages grieved for me. and offered me the Dharma. I'm sitting next to Aisin, a Dharma sister. We began the process of priest ordination in 2011. We ordained in 2011. We began earlier in 2010. We went to San Francisco Zen Center to begin sewing our own cases with Blanche Hartman. Blanche Hartman is the Dharma sister of Shosan. Shosan, how to run these things. Shosan became my sister Kiryu's teacher when Blanche died.

[14:24]

She's also a very old friend of Taigen, and came and gave us wonderful guidance and instruction, and continues to do so through this thing. Old friend of Taigen. And Taigen, of course, is my teacher. And I mentioned Keiryu, probably in the wrong order, but as I said, she's another sister. And she carved this beautiful object, as well as the new utensils for my new bowls. So I mention this, not because I'm To give you the impression that we all need a wider circle of rants, we need to get out more, it's too tight. Just the opposite, actually. There's something that sort of circulates up and down through the generations. Taigen and Shosan are not a lot older than me in years, but they are the previous generation.

[15:32]

circulates horizontally, and it actually includes all of you, and it excludes nothing really. One of our chants says, According to function and place, each thing has its merit. So now I have a new function and a new place. You know, I will hopefully grow to learn the merit of it and to be able to express that and bring it forth. It's clearly not a matter of competence, you know, and apparently that's not going to change, like down to the last moment. You know, I'm making significant mistakes, so apologies to the Buddha first of all, and Thay again, who I must, to whom I must be a kind of a constant source of embarrassment in some ways. But, so yeah, here I am in these new brown robes, you know, and who is that who's in these robes?

[16:40]

Well, you know, it's Eric Schott, you know, it's Nyozon, They're not quite the same, but they're also not different. And so part of the process for me clearly will be continuing to realize that non-difference and continuing to walk the path, bring forth and express the Dharma as well as I can. As they say, like those Ericshot and Nyozan are like the front and back foot in walking and somewhat, you know, opposed in some ways. We say they're opposed like the front and back foot in walking.

[17:40]

They work together and hopefully I can continue to learn how to do that, fumble, trip less, get my ropes on right. And part of that, as I said before, this thing that circulates all around and up and down excludes nothing, excludes no one, but there's near and far, and people here are near, the sangha, Obviously, the Sangha expands and expands and expands and expands, however you look at it. But you were the people here with me here and now. And so we've already, as Taigan said, had massive amounts of help from people all the way through this. It's been incredibly generous. But as I start to

[18:41]

grow into these robes, I really, really ask, you know, this didn't pop out of nowhere. And as I said before, it's not a matter of some kind of competence. As Taigan said, it's not a matter of some kind of special thing. But it is a matter of expression and growth and sharing. And I really, really ask your help in that. And I make the assurance to you that I will always, as well as I can, and with your help, try to be as good a friend to all of you as I can be, and in whatever way I can be. Dogen says, Taigen mentioned these documents that we worked on.

[19:44]

One is called shisho. You can say certificate of succession or document of succession. And Dogen, in his fascicle about that, says one of many things. He says something like, when succession occurs, many find that though they did not seek it, It has come, and though they did not expect it, succession has occurred. So that's the situation that I'm in, and again, I just want to express my gratitude first to Taigen, and to Shosan, and to Aitian, and to, happens all the time, and to, you know, all the people that are here. And I think with that, I will pass the mic. Buffering function, it may serve as yet unknown.

[21:01]

So, hello. It's hard to go third. Many of the good things have already been said. But there are still things to be said. And as Taigen and Nyozan have kind of alluded to already, this week has really been sort of an epic journey for me and for all of us. a very, I guess, distilled or concentrated version of what our Zen practice and training and the path that we walk always is. But when I came in today, came in this morning, kept seeing, you know, so many of you who I maybe haven't seen for a while or, you know, who I have been, well, you know, just haven't seen for a while.

[22:07]

and was sort of overwhelmed by all the gratitude that I was feeling towards all of you all this weekend, especially when I saw you today, it reminded me of one of my favorite movies, which is The Wizard of Oz, which is another epic journey in which four characters, or five if you include Toto, go on a little trip to find things that it turns out they already possessed. which is very much what... Zen training and maybe especially the process of Dharma transmission is all about that we find things that we already had in us, in ourselves. You know, whether it's a home or a brain or a heart or courage, we already have all those things, but sometimes we forget or sometimes we often were not able to use them skillfully.

[23:12]

And I think that that is one of the... responsibilities of a teacher is to help us all to, you know, get back in touch with things that are helpful and that the world needs of us that we sometimes forget that we have. Sometimes we attribute those things to somebody else, you know, or sometimes we doubt that those things could possibly occur at all and we feel very cynical. But they're there, you know? And even, you know, I've accepted to take on the role of a teacher. But like Taigan was saying, that doesn't mean that I am an infallible person or that I always have all those qualities.

[24:17]

myself or am in touch with them rather, but that is one of the responsibilities that I take as part of my own practice is to continually try to find those helpful and skillful qualities like a heart, or a brain, or courage, and to help others find them. Sometimes, and this is part of us being a sangha together, sometimes it's others who are helping me to find those things in myself and to help bring them to others. And you know, that's life. It's also, you know, it's also my responsibility to maintain presence of mind and to, you know, do my best to catch myself when I'm being unskillful with those qualities to, you know, come back and say, oh, okay, you know what? That wasn't very skillful.

[25:22]

I maybe need to compensate somehow for any harm that I may have caused and to get back on the path of continuing to try to find and cultivate those helpful qualities. The part that reminded me of The Wizard of Oz, of coming in today, was really seeing everybody. At the end of the movie, when Dorothy wakes up from her epic dream and realizes that she's sort of like, oh, I was on this great journey, and you were there, and you were there, and you were there, and this is how I felt walking in today, because really, there's literally nobody here today who wasn't spoken of or thought of in our very strenuous week, including the newcomers.

[26:26]

We didn't know that. you specific person would be the newcomer today. But we did think about the newcomers. And I would like to add for the newcomers, it's not always this crowded. Please come back on another occasion, and we can probably get you a better seat. But I want to encourage each person who's come here for the first time today. Because that is how everybody starts off. You're coming in on a very auspicious day, and there are lots of other days that you don't feel so inspired, but you come in and you keep trying. And you keep coming back to our practice of sitting and being present with whatever's happening. And it tends to transform itself and transform us.

[27:26]

So thank you for being part of this journey. I think we maybe all underestimate the extent to which we support each other, and the extent to which maybe people who appear to be prominent at any given time really rely on each of us. This is not something that we do on our own. And I was very aware of that this week. So thank you. And with that, I will pass the mic to Shoshana. Hi.

[28:30]

Hi. So yeah, the third person. Darn, the fourth person. OK, so first of all, time check. A little while? OK, great. So I want to pick up on some of the themes I heard so far. You know, usually the last person to speak is the one who asks for, who makes the pitch, who asks for donations or, you know, something like that. Okay. So, you know, if you want to do that, any amount from a smile to a million dollars is considered appropriate. But if you were to give 10 million, that would be okay, too. Okay, so that's done. Really, I'm not the person in the position to do that, but what I do want to do is to talk about us and what this has to do with us.

[29:38]

And I think it's important to know that everything that happens in an enclosure like this, in a safe space like this, has to do with our journey of the heart or our development of heart and mind, our development in the world and in ourselves. in the world and in ourselves is not actually different, because the self is everything that we don't think of as part of the world, and the world is everything we don't think of as part of the self. And that includes other people who we have intimacy with or who we have relationships with. So the first thing that I would like to do is to speculate a little bit and give great gratitude to Naomi Leighton, Teigen's wife. And I think this is super important because who keeps Teigen honest?

[30:49]

Right? I mean, am I right? Besides supervising the recovery in the sabbatical and driving us back and forth and providing the informal commentary at the end of the day. And what I want to say is that that's actually part of practice. This is part of practice. There are different types of transmission and Dharma transmission acknowledges some of them, but doesn't talk about what the life of those intimate relationships really are. To do that, you have to enact them. You know, you have to live them. You have to make the commitment and the vow and actually be with each other and see what that means. And so in Dharma transmission, we talk about horizontal and vertical dimensions.

[32:01]

So vertical transmission is, you know, when you recite the names of the Buddhas and we're in the 93rd generation or 94th generation, 92nd generation from the Buddha, and that the transmission has been handed down warm hand to warm hand for all those years. And it also includes the shadow transmission of who was not included, whose sweat has been part of this practice, but who hasn't been named in the lineage because maybe there was a political thing in the sangha or someone didn't notice or something like that. So there's the shadow transmission of who hasn't been included, who hasn't been expressed as a big teacher or a ... There's also the times when the lineage has died out in the vertical transmission. And when someone had to ask a cousin or an uncle or an aunt, not an aunt, but usually a male relative, Dharma relative, would you please carry my transmission across this space?

[33:17]

Because I'm going to die and my successor hasn't shown up. So all of those blood and guts are part of the vertical transmission of the Dharma. So that Buddha's simple teachings about there's always something, there's always something. No matter what life is. Life is suffering doesn't mean that there's always some great big angst. It means there's always something. There's always something annoying or something in the background that may not stay in the background, like climate change or wars. There's always something. And there's a start to that in our own lives. And that has to do with what we wanted or needed that can't arise. And there's an end to that. There's a possible end to that in our own lives, which is to turn towards the pain.

[34:22]

and to practice, to create a practice that makes us upright enough, open enough and deep enough to hold anything that comes up. And that is the Buddha's teaching. How do we do that? And how do we encourage each other and support each other to do that so that the world and we can manifest a deeper and more inclusive meaning. Something that even will hold us at the moment of our death or at the moment of our great pain. That's what we're working with. That's what we're looking for. As well as the moment when, you know, the cat runs away from us and tips over the vase of flowers that crashes the glass onto the bathroom floor. You know, as well as that kind of moment.

[35:24]

I hope I'm making sense. So that's vertical transmission, warm hand to warm hand through the years. Horizontal transmission is warm hand to warm hand this way. So this way, so given my own role as a human being, my own responsibilities, my talents, my hates, my needs, my friends, how does the Dharma arise in this form or this container? hand in hand with all beings. Dharma meaning the truth, the taste of the truth. How does that arise inclusively? How does that arise in what we ignore? How does that arise in the little thing, the little miracles that we don't notice, like the fact that sometimes people really do stay in their lanes on the highway. You know? That's a miracle.

[36:25]

That's a miracle of intimacy horizontally. So what I want to say is that vertical transmission is very much shown by these brown robes. And when you put on a brown robe, it's like, oh, no. You know? Because it means that this brown robe suddenly is on these people and they have this question of, given the form that's been handed down throughout the generations and the lore of it, how do I embody it? Not just body, but body, speech, and mind. So it's visible and palpable, audible. and all the rest of those evils so that it can be passed on. How do I do that? And I have to tell you that with every ordination I've ever received, it's become more and more embarrassing and painful because the gap between what I'm being asked to do and what I think I can do

[37:35]

Kind of goes... And my sense of my abilities goes... in relation to that. That's called comparative thinking. So, and it's a cause of suffering. So, you know, what you guys were saying about gratitude is our open door to being able to do that, to recognize that as imperfect beings, these people are taking on a very large task and that their practice is being kept honest by you. by your sense of stability and ballast and role and appreciation of the world in your own life. So vertical transmission has to include horizontal transmission, or it's meaningless. Horizontal transmission has to include vertical transmission, because those are the people who have the study hours

[38:41]

you know, to manifest in that particular reminder-oriented way. So I personally am so impressed by this sangha and your, the feeling, the life that you've created in this room and in this community. And I know that you can, do the important thing for these two people and for each other of inviting each other to teach in the ways that we really need to do. Whether it's horizontal, whether it's vertical, whether it's both, and to give each other feedback. in a considerate and appreciative way that brings awakeness, the truth, and the community forward on the path.

[39:46]

Thank you so much, and thanks for inviting me. Yeah, thanks for being such good sports when we kept asking you to do weird things, or physically difficult things, like, would you please do another 130 bows now? Would you please white out from here to here and redo this little teeny, teeny, teeny little thing with two hairs of a brush and ink that you have to grind yourself? Would you please do that? You know, and would you please take this up and ask about it in all of its dimensions and make it come alive. Thank you. So thank you to Nyozan and Aishin for your many years of practice, for being willing to take this on, for doing a great job of completing the difficult and wonderful and intense and intimate ceremony.

[41:33]

Ceremonies, many ceremonies. Thank you to Shosan, Victoria, old friends for coming and helping. Yeah, and thank you to all of you who made this necessary. So we have some time. We're not going to be doing temple cleaning, and we will have informal time with tea and cookies to just talk together, and you can go and harass anyone. But time for comments, questions, anything you would like to say or ask about any of this. Please feel free. Who would like to start? Kathy, hi. But I can say that in case I forget later,

[42:36]

or documents. Anyone else? Anything? Deb, hi. Hi. I'm Matt, a visitor. retreat in October. Can you hear Dylan? Yes. Yeah, okay. That's not what we wanted.

[44:03]

Thank you, Deb. And, you know, just to mention, you know, we're continuing, and Nyozan and Eishin are carrying on and keeping alive, and all of you also, a particular teaching and practice, lineage, and tradition. But part of this Sangha that I, you know, I've said this many times, some of you have heard me say this, but part of what I really appreciate about this Sangha, you know, in American Zen, in American Buddhism, there are a variety of slightly, sometimes a little bit more than slightly different traditions and lineages, and that's great. So there are different styles of walking, for example. So I should say I talked about how this authorization, to put it that way, of them as teachers does not mean that they have had some great spiritual attainment.

[45:56]

There are American Zen lineages where certification of teaching does mean they have passed through, for example, a curriculum of koans and there's a certain attainment involved in those lineages. That's not what we're about. But part of what I appreciate about the Sangha is that many of the, not everyone, some people started here, but many people who are part of the Sangha have practiced in a variety of different traditions and lineages, and I can give lots of examples. Nyozan started practice in a Tibetan tradition, and practiced in a Rinzai tradition, and practiced for a long time in a Korean lineage, and here he is. And many of you, and I can point out examples of practice in many different traditions, and I think that's,

[46:58]

part of what makes this sangha particularly rich and mature, that we include many perspectives. And that's important, that we're not that we follow one tradition. So when I started with my first teacher who's on the first board, Soto Zen, I knew this was it for me. But I've done practices and done teachings in many other traditions, too, as a Soto Zen practitioner. And I respect many traditions. And we have on our board an Episcopal priest, for example, And so we can appreciate the varieties of not just religious but cultural traditions. So Gary Snyder, Bob Dylan, and Mary Oliver are on the board there.

[48:01]

And they're all mentioned in my book, Send Questions. And they're all part of what we have to express our practice. So I'm sorry, I've already talked long enough. Who else would like to ask something or say something? The horizontal dimension is that we want you all to feel free to speak. Yes, Wade, hi. It's so new, they may not know yet. Ask them again in a month. I guess without having more than five seconds to think about this, I would say that almost everything has stayed the same as it was two weeks ago.

[49:02]

clothes, that's changed. But everything is changing. Our practice over time, even though we walk in with awakening, our practice does transform us. And it's certainly transformed me over I would say, I mean, this is kind of partly what I was talking about when I was talking You know, some things have not changed at all. Suzuki Roshi once said, you know, the problem you have now is a problem you will have forever, something like that.

[50:10]

And so, you know, I still have, there are certain things that I, I may be a little bit of an anomalous for somebody in this situation because I just, you know, as people know, what has changed, And there may be other things. One thing that's changed is, I think, an acknowledgment or an assumption to a different degree, maybe, of a certain responsibility. And so it's maybe a kind of enhancement of commitment, renewal of commitment. Hi, Tom. Oh, you were just bowing. Oh, good. Yeah. Oh, Shudo, please. So this question is for you, again, and respectfully for Chosun, if you can answer.

[51:12]

But do either of you ever struggle with ordaining or certifying? Well. Sure in some ways, but no. I knew that I could trust both of these people. The people that I do lay ordination for or priest ordination for are people that in some way already expressed that. So when I decide to do that, It's definite. But then I struggle with how to get it on the paper and how to do the mechanics and how to... This was a difficult week.

[52:13]

Some of the things that we have to do. But not the basic thing of... This person, I'm going to take care of that. Shoshana, what do you think? Yes. Well, thanks for your question, Shona. I think it's really important just to, I want to just answer it in a very straightforward way because struggling with ordaining with all of that. And this is also part of where the Sangha comes in, because the Sangha is the vehicle for understanding of the treasure of practice and what form that contribution will take in this particular society, which is probably going to take 500 years, and needs every single one of us, including

[53:28]

struggle with ordination, yes. My teacher was in a scandal a year after I was ordained, and so I had huge problems with ordination. I also was refused ordination many times before ordaining. And then, as I said, each successive ordination of, you know, jukai, bodhisattva vows, priest ordination, Head Monk at Tosahara, Dharma Transmission, and beyond. Each one of those coordinations has its own personal issues, for me, relating with how much I don't know, and how much I don't know in information. Where are my limitations?

[54:38]

Where are my prejudices? Where's my impact? That continually comes up moment to moment. Interpersonal reflects that. And so the mirror of other people and of a group has problems with ordaining. Some people aren't ordained. are ordained that creates a difference, interpersonal and institutional differences. But also structural. You know, for instance, how many teachers of color are ordained in the American system? to actually treat those with respect and to treat them appropriately to be danger than they pose.

[55:59]

So anyway, questions like this. What about women? What about the fact that I'm the first female on my lineage doctor's list? Lance and I were having a conversation one day, and we said, OK, we went down the list, and we were the first women. What about that? What does that mean? Where are the invisible women? Anyway, there's so many problems with ordaining. I've had problems ordaining people. And Dharma Transition, we had fights about these things, because they carry ranks or positions in society. Like for a chaplaincy, someone has be proved that they were ordained, or that they were full priests. So what kind of pressure does that create for my student who's a chaplain, who has a time limit on how many months can she work as a chaplain before she has to show that she has received Dharma transmission?

[57:02]

So anyway, there's all sorts of issues like this. It's just problems. I need to add one thing. This was a difficult week, I said. It was also a wonderful, joyful week. And I need to add something about what Shosan just said, because we have actually quite a few chaplains in our sangha. And it has been arranged that anyone with lay ordination can be a chaplain. And we've worked that through. So just to say that, and if anyone's interested. I'm interested, so I'd like to hear about that. Yeah, so anyway, just that for information. Yeah. Yeah, just saying that because I think if we think of the form of ordination, all those problems that we have to cope with, then I think we'll be a little bit lighter about working with all the impacts of people's fears, concerns, projections, limitations, and so on, which are actually the entire content of our path forward in awakening.

[58:24]

We have to turn towards and all of our, any and all of our issues. And be willing to feel and work with impacts at every level until the other person is satisfied. I'm not saying happy, I'm saying satisfied. Okay? Thank you. Thanks. We have time for one or two more comments or questions or whatever. Oh hi, Mike. Let's ask Taigen, because he hasn't really fully explained this to us yet.

[59:42]

How and when, how to hold, where to put. We just, yesterday, this is brand new. These are called kotsu. or nyoi, there's a technical difference between those two words, but not so much. These are just, they're actually not part of the ceremonial implements of the actual dharma transmission, but sort of after implements, and they're just carried by, authorized teachers and they're used when opening the zendo during, so they will be using it when, so practically they will use it when they are officiating for service, when they are opening the zendo, when at the beginning of all day sittings they will now be doing So, for those of you who've done all day sittings, they will be going around the Zendo as I do now. And it's just an emblem of, and I have a variety of them just because I've been doing this a while, but they're just emblems of teacher authorization.

[60:55]

And there are various such emblems. As Nyozan said, his sister, Reverend Lianne Schott, who's a priest at San Francisco Zen Center, made that for him. And the one that Ashen has is modeled after the one that I received at my Dharma Transmission 19 years ago at Tassajara that Shoson made for me. And Jason made that based on copying the one that I have, that I use, that you've seen me using. So anyway, they're one of the various implements that just represent teacher authorization. And so other questions like that, or anything else? Anybody else? Yes, Kathy, hi. I'm curious about the calligraphy that you did this week. Like, what were you doing? I know it was a lot, but I'm curious. So maybe I'll respond to that.

[61:56]

a few documents that have different significance. Some represent the vertical dimension, as Shosan was talking about, of actually one of them is like the kechimiyaku that you received at lay ordination, but it's like it, but a little bit amplified, showing the lineage from Shakyamuni through India, through China, And actually, in our lineage, and this isn't true of all Soto lineages, but in our lineage, both in lay ordination and in dharma transmission, it goes through both the Rinzai and Soto, or Linji and Saodong lineage, to Dogen, and then the Japanese lineage to Suzuki Roshi and beyond to Zana Nation. And then there's a couple of other documents that one is the horizontal dimension in which we are all included in a way.

[63:02]

And then another is a Soto expression of the inner meaning of these teachings. So there's a lot of calligraphy involved. A lot of names. I mean, there's more to it than that. There are more than certain names. Yeah, names and various designs that are symbols that show aspects of the teaching. So it's a lot of calligraphy. And so they have now brushes and stones and some of it's red and some of it's black. And it's just anyway, it's very involved and takes several days. If you think that Dharma transmission might be in the future in some way, you might want to start your practicing calligraphy The documents themselves, in support of what Yozon has just said, are six feet long and 17 inches wide. And they're made out of expensive silk.

[64:04]

And so the way that the calligraphy is done is that you take sticks of ink and you grind your ink until it's of the consistency of crème fraîche. So it starts out as water and ends up as a red or black ink. And then, they didn't have to do it in kanji or characters. They could use English. Yeah, I think was it all? There was one kanji. But it's mostly, yeah, so the ones that my teacher did were in Chinese characters. But he actually transformed and redesigned the documents, so now we do it in English. And it's important also to know that there are some things which we're allowed to talk about and some things that we're not allowed to talk about.

[65:09]

And it's not, they're not bad things, it's just that you talk about them in the context of studying them. It's not exactly that they're secret, it's just that they're private and intimate. It's private, yeah. So thank you all for coming to celebrate this. And please continue to celebrate this new situation for Neo-Zion and Asian. And they'll be wearing brown robes and brown rock shoes from now on. And so please support them to support you. So we'll close formally with the Four Bodhisattvas Vows, and then we'll have tea and treats. And thank you, Phyllis, for preparing that for us today, and a chance to just talk more informally. So thank you all.

[66:07]

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