Good evening. Now, I am atop of the hundred feet pole. I'm moving, moving, moving. I'm scared. Take deep breaths. And sit down on the ground. But still, my heart is beating. My practice with okesha sewing started 16 years ago with Eshun Yoshida-rosu. And before I met Yoshida-rosu, Katagiri-rosu asked often.

[01:03]

He asked me to repair his okesha. Or when we lived in Japan, he suggested me, sometimes it's better to learn how to make okesha. And at that time, I didn't know what is the okesha. Just okesha is priest's big square clothes. So I said, yes, I will. Yes, I will. Actually, I didn't like the sewing. My mother said, Oh, Tomoe, you better to learn how to make kimono. If you don't want to make the kimono, under kimono, jiban is fine. It's better to learn,

[02:06]

because when your husband's kimono needs to repair, if wife couldn't do it, it is trouble. Then I said, yes, it's okay. If I need the kimono, I will ask somebody to make it. My mother, no, it doesn't work. Okay, I will marry with a man who doesn't wear kimono. When I married with him, he served to Soto headquarters. When he went to the office, he didn't wear the kimono. He put the suits. So at that time, I didn't have any trouble.

[03:07]

I came to United States. He asked me, Oh, can you repair okesha? I said, yes, I will. So I bought the fabric. He said, if you can do it the same way with other part, by hand. But I didn't know the meaning of okesha sewing practice. So I said, no, no, I can do it with sewing machine. Sewing machine is beautiful. Then he said, Oh, if you can do by hand, it's better. Don't worry, the sewing machine is nice. I have a good sewing machine. He didn't say any more. So I put a big patch with many stitches.

[04:16]

And that okesha was the first okesha. It was made by himself when he was practicing at the AKG. So already at that time, my practice started. And Katagiri-dono didn't say. Just he watched me. And a few years later, Eshimu Yoshida-roshi visited San Francisco Zen Center. And Katagiri-roshi asked her if Yoshida-roshi could teach rakusu sewing for students. That was the first time to touch rakusu for me.

[05:20]

So Eshimu Yoshida-roshi opened my eyes about okesha sewing practice. Then really my practice started with okesha sewing. And also at that time, I really surprised if my mother knew I am sewing okesha by hand, how she would say. But at that time, already my mother passed away. And now I have opportunity to share about okesha sewing practice with you. And also I want to say thank you for many people here.

[06:27]

When we started okesha sewing, I was very terrible in structure. But anyway, people followed and they could finish okesha sewing. Maybe I was mean and strict. And very, very low in structure. It's dangerous in structure. Still I am dangerous. So that's why my heart is beating. So instead of to talk, for me it's better if you could read the part one.

[07:28]

The first part is about okesha's history. About 2,500 years ago, Shakyamuni Buddha was at Rajagra, a favorite resort of his. At that time, Buddha's disciples wore the same clothes as other religious practitioners. Therefore, it was very difficult to distinguish between disciples of Buddha and other practitioners. Many of them wrapped their bodies with large or small squares of fabric, some white, some made of bright colors, and some with decorations. One day, Bimbisara, the king of Magadha, noticed a man who looked like a Buddhist monk standing by the road in the distance.

[08:29]

The king was getting off his elephant to bow to the Buddhist monk when he noticed that the man was not a Buddhist monk, but a Brahmin. So he asked Shakyamuni Buddha to make clothes for his disciples symbolic of their practice. One day, when Shakyamuni Buddha was on his way from the Rajagriha, a capital to the south, to teach with his disciple Ananda, he stopped to look at a rice field and noticed its footpaths were formed in a marvelous order and neatness. The rice plants were growing together peacefully with other creatures without any discrimination. Shakyamuni Buddha pointed to the rice field and asked Ananda if he could create a Buddhist robe for the disciples of Buddha that had the same pattern as those rice fields. Ananda said that he could and went back to Rajagriha

[09:32]

for the purpose of making this robe. When Shakyamuni Buddha came back to Rajagriha, many of his disciples were already practicing with the robe, which took its pattern from the rice fields. This robe was made of long and short pieces of discarded fabric, dyed and sewn together. Shakyamuni Buddha respected the wisdom and intelligence that was revealed in the robe Ananda created. Ananda could understand Shakyamuni Buddha's intention very deeply, even though he had not told him how to make such a robe. At that time, Shakyamuni Buddha decided that from then on, all his disciples would wear this robe, kesa in Japanese and kashaya in Sanskrit. So, this one is the beginning of the story why Shakyamuni Buddha established okesa.

[10:38]

May I ask you more? Sure. Thank you, thank you. Do you want me to continue? There are three considerations concerning the wearing of the kesa for a disciple of Buddha. The first is its practical use as clothing. The second is its ceremonial use as a religious garment. And the third is receiving it as the Buddha's body and mind. In India, the kesa was used practically as clothing and as receiving the Buddha's body and mind. In Japan, however, its practical use disappeared and only its use as a ceremonial garment and as receiving the Buddha's body and mind remained. The formless teaching of the Buddha is contained in the form and shape of the kesa. The kesa which is one with Buddha's teaching is called yohohe. Thank you.

[11:42]

So, the first Buddhist practitioners wore the kesa Shakyamuni Buddha established. But when Buddhism went to China, the first time they put the kesa as their clothes, directly on the skin in India. But later the Buddhism went to China and Korea to Japan. At that time, China had different climate. So, already the people had clothes on their skin. Then the kesa was on the clothes. At that time,

[12:47]

it's a little changed. In India, it's established as their clothes, practically. Kesa was their clothes. Then in China, it became a kind of symbol. But still it is Buddha's robe. And in China, the emperor invited the priest to give a talk. And at that time, governors served to the palace. And governors dressed around with different color of the clothes. Then the priest offered

[13:51]

the Buddhist robe or kesa. At that time, for the priest, not degree, rank, kind of rank, they offered the same color which governors used. So, like highest is red and purple and something like that. And when priest was invited from the palace to give a talk for the emperor, they had to wear the color kesa. And later, that custom went to Japan. Before Dogen Zenji brought

[14:53]

traditional kesa to Japan, already Japan had that kind of kesa. And the colors are also adapted. And in Japan, the history is later the Buddhism had the support of the shogunate. And if priest had the support of the shogunate, their practice life changed. And before, the priest's life was on the practice.

[15:56]

But by political situation, they had to help government, shogunate. And at that time, their life became more rich. And their practice became more formalized. More ceremony. They gave more ceremony. And the okesa became more kind of costume, Buddhist garment. And for the ceremony, from the respectation, people offered very nice, gorgeous okesa.

[17:06]

And it became more fancier and fancier. And like accessory, they put some jewel or bone, ivory bones decoration. Then, besides that kind of priest, some other priest felt we should return to the source of Buddha's true teaching. So if we follow the Buddha's teaching, we should wear the robe that is made with Buddha's teaching. Then, in about 19th century, many priests started to emphasize to wear the nyohoe.

[18:08]

Nyohoe is made following the Buddha's teaching. And Dogen Zenji, when he returned to Japan from China, at that time, he early told to people to wear the nyohoe. And okesa is the big square the priest wears. And United States, San Francisco Zen Center, Buringa, Tassajara, and Minnesota Zen Center, and a few places, they make the nyohoe instead of to buy the commercial okesa. Because the okesa to wear, to wear the okesa is to wear the Buddha's teaching.

[19:09]

And if you make the okesa, if you don't follow the Buddha's teaching, you cannot make the okesa. And, so nyohoe, nyohoe's nyo is used as it is. It's a sense of showing the law or truth as it really is. Ho, ho means law or Dharma, truth or the Buddha's teaching or principle. E means robe or clothes, but usually in Soto Zen,

[20:11]

E means okesa. So the nyohoe means the okesa, the maid following the Buddha's teaching. So nyohoe and just okesa is a little different. So you will notice this San Francisco or Zen Center's priestess koromo and other priestess koromo. And nyohoe was transmitted from Shakyamuni Buddha to Bodhidharma in India. From Bodhidharma to Taisho Eka-Zenji,

[21:12]

Eka-Zenji to Kanji Sosan-Zenji, from Sosan-Zenji to Dai-Doshin-Zenji, Doshin-Zenji to Daiman-Konin-Zenji, from Konin-Zenji to Daikan-Eno-Zenji. The six patriarchs through successive Buddha's disciples to Tendo-Nyozo-Zenji, Dogen-Zenji, and recently in May of 1971, the nyohoe was brought by Eishun Yoshida Rose to San Francisco Zen Center. It was a great historical event in the transmission of Buddhism to the United States. Yoshida Rose was a disciple of Eiko Hashimoto Rose

[22:15]

who died July 10, 1965. She died at age of 75 December 26, 1982. And Yoshida Rose is a disciple of Eiko Hashimoto Rose. And Katagiri Rose practiced under Eiko Hashimoto Rose. And when he was a head monk, he practiced about okesa from Hashimoto Eiko Rose. Two years ago, Eiko Narasaki Rose visited here. And Eiko Narasaki Rose is also Eiko Hashimoto Rose's disciple

[23:15]

and Eishun Yoshida Rose's Dharma brother. And when Dogen-Zenji was 25 years old, he went to China and he had the practice. And at the monastery, he noticed the end of the zazen. A monk who sat next to him held up the kesa with both hands, put it on his head, and with gassho recited the verse of the kesa. Great love of liberation, virtuous will far beyond form and emptiness, we bow to save all beings.

[24:20]

We do the same. And after the monk chanted this verse three times, he put on the kesa. Dogen-Zenji had never seen this great practice before. He was deeply impressed and even shed tears from a meaningless feeling of joy and sorrow. And he talks about this in the last part of the Kesa Kudoku, The Merit of Kesa. Yvonne, will you read? Page 32, when I was in Japan. When I was in Japan, I read the Agama Sutras and found the verse of the kesa. I also found that before one puts on the kesa, they should put it on their head. I had not known when and how it correctly was done, as I had asked my master and friends,

[25:23]

but none of them knew. I felt very sorrowful that such a long span of time had passed wastefully, without knowing how to handle a kesa, in spite of having been at Kesa for three years and at Keninji for nine years. Now, I fortunately could see and hear with my own eyes and ears the manner in which to wear the kesa due to good deeds accumulated in previous existences. I was grateful and thankful. If I had stayed in Japan, I would not have had a chance to see this great scene. I took pity upon the people in my country because they could not see it. At this time, Dogen Zenji quietly vowed to become a direct disciple of Bodhidharma, correctly transmitting the teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha. He vowed to see, listen to, and wear

[26:25]

Buddha's pure, direct teaching. He vowed that all sentient beings would attain Buddhahood through seeing and wearing the Nyoho-e and through listening to the verse of the Kesa. After he went back to Japan, he strongly recommended to the people to wear the Nyoho-e, and by his earnest vow, many laypeople and monks began to wear it. So, Dogen Zenji emphasized to practice wearing the Nyoho-e. That's why this Nyoho-e is transmitted only so to Zen Buddhism. And other schools wear very different Kesa, but still it is Kesa. The name is Kesa. Dogen Zenji was very happy to see this scene,

[27:31]

and he was very impressed. He felt that he was very appreciative that he could have a practice in China. And about myself, if I didn't see Eshun Yoshida rose, I don't know what I am doing. Still, I hate to repair the roses of Kesa. This one is very old, so it's better to change with brand new. So, I'm very lucky. I could see Eshun Yoshida rose, and my practice and Kesa sewing

[28:37]

became one, and if my practice and Kesa sewing, but sewing and practice didn't become one, it is not Kesa, just sewing, but I could see it in one. So, I could have many, many practices. Dogen Zenji teaches us about the merit of the Kesa in the Shogogenzo Kesa Kudoku, or the merit of the Kesa in the Dene, or the transmission of the robe.

[29:40]

He says we should understand that the Kesa is the Buddha's body and Buddha's robe. Since the Kesa stores the Buddha's pure teaching and the truth of life, it affects us in different ways according to the circumstances of time and place. It is different from the usual clothes that we wear in our daily life. It is universal. When we assimilate it, the Kesa works upon us as Buddha Dharma, and we can accept a Kesa as the Buddha's body and mind, and as a living teacher, instead of understanding it through theory or study. Dogen Zenji suggested to us that if we want to practice Zazen, first, we as a disciple of Buddha should receive the Kesa through the ceremony of receiving the Kesa, Kesa Juji Shiki, and through the ceremony of receiving the precepts, Jukai. Then we can practice Buddha's Zazen wearing the Kesa.

[30:44]

For a disciple of Buddha, this is desired for an undeviating practice. It is said that to receive a Kesa is to transmit Buddha's teaching. Transmission is just like transferring a gallon of water from one container to another many times without spilling a single drop. To practice wearing the Kesa means the whole body is embraced in Buddha's arms, that Buddha's teaching is received through the whole body. This is the correct way to understand and to receive Buddha's teaching. When we firmly believe that a Kesa is Buddha nature and not just a piece of fabric, then when we put the Kesa on our body, our eyes become Buddha's eyes, our ears become Buddha's ears, and our nose becomes Buddha's nose. We cannot understand this unless we throw away materialistic views of the Kesa. Dainen Katagiri Roshi uses the example of a $10 bill

[31:50]

to illustrate the same idea. A $10 bill is just a sheet of paper, but if we believe in its value and know how to deal with it, it works as money and helps our lives. Thank you. So I'd like to emphasize to practice wearing the Kesa means the whole body is embraced in Buddha's arms, that Buddha's teaching is received through the whole body. This is the correct way to understand and to receive Buddha's teaching. And as you know, first we saw the Okesa, our Raku-su, then we have the precept, and then we have Raku-su receiving ceremony.

[32:51]

And we wear the Raku-su and we practice Buddha's teaching. And about this receiving ceremony, lay people wear the Raku-su and receive the receiving ceremony. And then when we wear the seven-row Okesa, now priests are wearing the seven-row Okesa, so we receive the seven-row Okesa receiving ceremony. And the next Okesa is nine-row Okesa. And also, even you receive five-row Okesa and seven-row Okesa receiving ceremony,

[33:54]

you have to receive nine-row Okesa receiving ceremony. That's all. And if you wear more, eleven-row or thirteen-row or fifteen-row Okesa, you don't have to have the receiving ceremony. Only for five-row Okesa receiving ceremony, it includes Raku-su, and seven-row Okesa receiving ceremony, and nine-row Okesa receiving ceremony. And when doing Zazen for even a minute, we are Buddha. Dogen Zenji mentioned the same teaching concerning the Kesa in Kesakudoku. The Kesa is Buddha's robe.

[34:58]

The robe is Buddha's body. Buddha's body is Buddha Dharma, and the Buddha Dharma is the Kesa itself. The same idea is applied to the meaning of the Kesa and Oryoki, and the Sodo, the place where we practice Zazen. In terms of external representation, the Sodo is regarded as housing, the Kesa as clothing, and the Oryoki as food. Each of them has a different form, but they are exactly the same teaching. There are three indispensable things in our life, clothing, food, and housing,

[36:02]

for one's life to conform to Buddhist practice. One wears the Kesa as clothing, uses Oryoki for eating, and uses the Sodo for housing. This follows the discipline conforming to the Buddha's direct teaching. Nyoho. For this reason, it is said Dogen Zenji wore only the Nyoho throughout his whole life. Dogen Zenji said in the Kesakudoku that for one thousand years following Shakyamuni Buddha's entering Nirvana, Buddha's disciples, monks, and laypeople wore the Nyoho in India and China. In Japan, a country far from India,

[37:05]

the Buddha's disciples who became monks shaved their heads but hadn't received Nyoho. Even though they had the appearance of a monk, they did not know that Buddha's disciples received the Kesa Nyoho, and as a result, they didn't know how to correctly transmit, receive, and wear it, nor that the Kesa is made following three direct teachings of Buddha. The three direct teachings are material, color, and the size. So before Dogen Zenji in Japan, people didn't know about the Nyoho.

[38:07]

So next, Would you read about the three Nyohos? Three Nyohos. How to take care of our life as a disciple of Buddha is a great problem for us, a great practice for us. If we always put ourselves into a modest life as a disciple of Buddha, naturally this modest attitude will appear in our clothing, food, and housing. However, we are prone to the excessive pursuit of fine material, beautiful colors, and unique style. This sense of seeking after beauty is not wrong. However, it often invites jealousy, contempt, stealing, and the desire for luxury. In order not to cause even a little trace of these mistakes to arise, disciples of Buddha needed to take the most faithful care regarding the design, material, color, and size of their clothing

[39:09]

so as to embody the formless Buddha's teaching in the form of the Kesa. The Kesa is made following three important fundamental rules of Buddha's teaching concerning the material, color, and size. When we make a Kesa following these three Nyohos, the Kesa becomes Nyoho A. For a disciple of Buddha, these three Nyohos are contained not only in the Kesa, but also in every aspect of practice. These three Nyohos are the basic attitude toward life. So if you think about your practice with these Nyohos, you will find the meaning of Nyoho. Tie of Nyoho, the rule of material.

[40:10]

The tie of the Kesa is the fabric which is needed to make it. In the Kesa-Kudoku, Dogen Zenji says that the best material is called Funzo. There are between four and ten different types of Funzo. The material that has been chewed by cattle, material that has been chewed by mice, material burned by fire, and material from the clothing or shroud of the dead. These are perfect Kesa material. Because no one likes that kind of material. And it is hard to use.

[41:13]

So it is no attachment from other people. And if you use that kind of material for the Kesa, you can live longer life and take care very well about the material's life. So, monks pick up such cloth and wear it after having washed it and sewn the various pieces together. Also some of this cloth is cotton and some silk. No discrimination should be made between the two. We should deeply reflect on the meaning of Pamusura and Funzo.

[42:24]

A monk once asked a famous Zen master, was the Kesaya that was transmitted to the Patriarch, who he named Eno, at midnight on the mound hand-made of cotton or silk? The master answered, Neither cotton nor silk. We should realize that this statement that the Kesaya is made of either silk or cotton is an excellent teaching of the way. So about the Kesa is no discrimination, silk or cotton. Both are same if they are not completely free from the attachment.

[43:34]

Donor and receiver must be perfectly clean spiritually and physically. We should not make distinctions about the material such as linen is better than cotton, cambric is good, silk and wool are not good, this material is worthless, or this material is acceptable. Shunryu Kamatani-Rose is also the disciple of Eiko Hashimoto-Rose. Shunryu Kamatani-Rose said the following in his book, Teishon Kesa Kudo, The true meaning of Funzo-e is sweeping. Funzo-e is the Kesa which is made from cast-off rugs

[44:39]

that were collected from garbage and from the street. The unusable part was sorted away and the usable part kept washed and dyed into a darkish color, then sewn together into the rice field pattern. You might feel it is dirty because the Funzo-e was completely made from material which was picked up from the garbage. But it is not. It is completely free from attachments such as love and hate. Nobody can create passion toward it because there is no value or quality to measure.

[45:39]

If people had any attachment to it, they would not have discarded it as garbage. It is difficult to determine what is good and what is evil. Laymen say it is good to wear luxurious silks, embroidered garments and brocades, and bad to wear tattered and discarded rags. But in Buddhism it is the opposite. Tattered robes are good, richly embroidered garments are evil and soil. The same applies to all other things as well. The Madhyamagama Sutra states, If a wise man sees this and becomes angry,

[46:43]

it is necessary for him to eliminate his anger. Suppose again that someone acts impurely but speaks and thinks purely. If a wise man sees this and becomes angry, it is necessary for him to eliminate his anger. How can he do this? Virtuous man, he can do so by following in the footsteps of a solitary monk who picks up discarded cloth to make himself a panchala. Like the monk, if he finds the cloth soiled with ascretia, urine, nasal mucus, or anything else impure, he should pick it up with his left hand and, stretching it out with his right hand, tear off the unsoiled and holeless parts. Virtuous man, if someone acts impurely but speaks purely, do not think about his impure actions. Rather, simply think about his pure speech and thought. If a wise man sees such a person and becomes angry,

[47:47]

he should eliminate his anger in the way I have described. Thank you. So, it's a punjoi thesis. If you find anything, use the usable part and give the longer line. So, this one is not about the material. Everything has good points and weak points. When you see something, if you see a bad part, just accept and understand and find the person's good side

[48:50]

and learn the good side through others. So, the okesa's punjoi material is the same. If you see the good part and the weak part, we can still use the good part. There are three types of okesa. The first type has been explained. It is made from discarded clothes. And the second one is made from feather of the bird or the tongue of animal. And the third one is... The third type of okesa is made of worn-out clothes that has been re-sewn.

[50:00]

Then, when you see here, the first type of okesa is discarded clothes. And the second one is made from feather. It's strange. And this one means any kind of material is fine if you can find around you and if you can give the more line to the material. And the first type is discarded. So, if you couldn't find any of this kind, completely free from the attachment, if you couldn't find that kind, you can make from the bird or animal.

[51:01]

But if you make more effort, you can find this kind of fabric. In this modern age in Japan, nobody throws away the funjotsu in the field or on the street as the people in India did. Even if you went to the dam, you would be unable to find any funjotsu. But in our day, they could be found on a roadside sale or at a goodwill store or people had many scraps. When we have to buy the material, the same consideration of mind is needed as the spirit

[52:03]

with which the funjou material is collected. According to the conditions and circumstances, we should try to find less expensive material, but it's suitable for the occasion. And so as to refrain from luxury, we should buy ordinary fabric without being selective. When we offer or are offered material, we have to deal with it with a pure mind, free from pain, wealth, love and hate as regards the material donor and receiver. If the offering is not enough to make a kesa or a rakusu,

[53:07]

we should devise a way to use it. Such as adding other material, we should try to do our best to receive the offering of the donor's face. Whatever it is, this attitude means to be devoted to the Buddha's way. Next is the rule of the color. Shiki of the Nyoho, the rule of the color. Color which doesn't create sensual desire is in accord with Nyoho. We create aesthetic impulses from the five primary colors, blue, yellow, red, white and black. Therefore we refrain from using these colors in the kesa. The color which conforms to the kesa is modest

[54:10]

and does not create a feeling of luxury, greed or jealousy in the human mind. At the same time, this modest color shows the difference between disciples of the Buddha and lay people. The point is to refrain from using people's favorite colors, such as bright colors, because then our life is free from greed, anger and self-delusion. For this purpose, the kesa material is dyed to an impure or blended color. A primary color and two or more different colors are blended to create a dull color which is hard to define. This blending of colors is the rule of dyeing. Roughly speaking, blended colors are grouped into three, a bluish group, a reddish group and a yellowish group. The bluish group consists of a pine leaf-like color, dark green, greenish rust and bluish black.

[55:12]

In the Kesa Kudoku, Dogen Zenji says that the kesa the patriarchs transmitted from Bodhidharma was bluish black and it was made from rough wooden material. Senryu Kamatani Roshi says in his Teisho Kesa Kudoku that the kesa Dogen Zenji received from Nyojo Zenji was also the same color, bluish black. Dogen Zenji says in the Kesa Kudoku that Shakyamuni Buddha always wore a reddish black colored kesa. Generally speaking, the reddish black color is called kashaya in Sanskrit, kesa in Japanese. This word kesa is derived from this reddish black color because this was a typical color used for the kesa in India. Kamatani Roshi says in his Teisho Kesa Kudoku that in India monks dyed their kesa material into reddish black

[56:16]

using the juice from the bark and nuts of the Ganga tree. Ganga trees have been growing here and there in India since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. The dye obtained from the Ganga trees was easy to get and handle and didn't harm the fabric. Each of the monks had to dye their own material and even though there was a certain method of dyeing, it resulted in many tones. According to Buddha's teaching, the color of the Buddhist robe must be a suitable color for practice. Nyoho color has to be that which is free from the expression of fame and reputation. Also, dyeing the cloth into the kesa color means throwing one's body, mind, and thought into the Buddhadharma. Thank you. So, the kesa color is a blended color.

[57:16]

Three or more different colors. And from many different colors, we make one color. And it's hard to tell the color's name. It's between. And so, our priest wears a very dark color. It is almost black. But if you see carefully, that is not pure black. A little bit blue or a little bit green or brown. That one is before to receive the Dharma transmission. The priest and laypeople wear a very dark color.

[58:18]

So, your okesa is very dark, almost black. But you will notice that some priests wear different colors. Brown or dark green or more yellow color. And raksu is the same. So, when priests have Dharma transmission, they wear this dark color. Brown or dark green. Not like our raksu or okesa's color. And this one is first we dye the material. That one is dyeing itself.

[59:22]

So, when I found the okesa, that was very difficult to find a very dark color. So, I dyed. So, I found brown because I felt brown is easier to dye, the darker. So, I dyed brown using the black. Then I saw, when I dyed, many times I dyed, then the color became very dark, almost black. But while the priest was wearing that okesa, the black part faded away.

[60:22]

Then somebody asked, Are you having Dharma transmission? Because you are okesa. So, I felt, yes, it is almost impossible to find a very dark color. So, I dyed it. But now it became more brown. I paid a big effort to make it darker. But later that color made the trouble. Criticism. It is not monk's color. It is teacher's or shiho priest's color. So, it made a little trouble.

[61:25]

So, we should try big effort to find darker color. Because it is better more than to make some trouble. Like if all of the monks wear a very dark color, and one monk, even if he died, later the dark part appeared. And that brown color really bothers other monks' practice. When you sit on the floor, even a very little nail is higher than the floor. That only one nail is about one millimeter higher than the floor.

[62:27]

But it bothers many people's feet. So, like that, our attitude is we shouldn't become something special, different. That difference really bothers other's practice. And our practice always has to be very smooth, like milk and water. Our practice has to be together without any trouble. So, we should try not to cause the trouble. So, that was my experience about the color. And another experience is the very beginning.

[63:32]

I couldn't find any very dark color. Then I thought, ah, white is good. It's easy to dye. Then I bought the white, and many, how many people, several priests made the okesan from white. And my plan was after sewn together, I can dye. That was my plan. But always the plan doesn't go exactly as I planned. So, finally, one of the person finished the sewing, and she dyed it. So, fabric is okay, but the thread was trouble. Thread was made from nylon.

[64:34]

So, all the stitches are melted. That is my experience. And one more advice is, if you have to dye your okesan material or rakusu material, get 100% cotton. Synthetic cannot dye very well. I made from funzo. I went to Tazahara's wood weave, and I picked many gray scraps. At that time, practice robe was gray. So, I picked many grays. Then I dyed.

[65:36]

And the synthetic fabric, you can dye weaker color. So, if you want to dye very dark color, I suggest to find 100% cotton. 100% cotton is weaker. The fabric is weaker. But you can dye very well. And no accident when you put iron, hot temperature. Somebody put very high iron on the okesan. And the okesan, some part melted. And we said, when we iron okesan, always we should not put it directly on the floor. Put something on the floor. And the reality is, that was the accident.

[66:40]

She didn't put anything on the floor. She put the okesan on the rug, and ironed it. Then, the rug was nice. So, I wish you don't do. And the next is the rule of the size. The rule of the size concerns the length and the width of the kesa. Each one has individual size of the body. Why it is established the size of the okesan is, who wants to receive.

[67:48]

Aragunda, that is the Shakyamuni Buddha's disciple's name. Aragunda went to somebody's home to receive the offering of the meal. At that time, his okesan was a little smaller than Shakyamuni Buddha's okesan's size. And he was a short person. Then the okesan's bottom touched the ground. Then the people said, Oh, the monks, they left the home, so they cannot receive the okesan from their parents. Then, when they found any clothes, they made it as okesan.

[68:57]

That's why his looks is funny. The people laughed at Aragunda's okesan's style. Then, Aragunda's dharma friend told about that people's talk to the Shakyamuni Buddha. Then Shakyamuni Buddha said, From now on, we make the kesa following individual size. And the basic size of the okesan is, all of the okesan's size are calculated through our part of the body. And from okesan's top and bottom sides, length is five times of your elbow's size.

[70:03]

Elbow is from here to tip of the middle finger. We use this one for your okesan's size. So the longer side is five times of your elbow's size. And the shorter side, left side and right side is three times of your elbow's size. And this one is the basic size of the okesan. But we have three different okesan. One is wear for the work. And one is wear for your practice. And the other one is wear for the teaching. And for the work, work okesan is five-row okesan or underwear in India.

[71:10]

That one makes small size. And for daily activities, size is medium size. And ceremonies or teachings okesan is big size. And big size is five times by three times of your elbow. And medium size is five times minus ten percent. And three times minus the ten percent. And small size is minus twenty percent. And that came, this one is big size. And when we make the regular size, we use this one. And when we make smaller size, we make fist.

[72:17]

And measure from elbow to here. That one is used for the small size okesan. And medium size is the big one. And for other place, we call end. But I think maybe you call frame. Border, yes. The edge, basic measurement is your finger. So three fingers or two fingers. And for your rakusu size is, basic size is one elbow. One elbow, so this size is one elbow. And this size, so five by three, I say.

[73:20]

If you use this one is five, then this size is three. And the frame is used for two fingers. And this narrow part, it's called yo. And yo is a symbol of the rice field food basket. One finger size. So we have oryoki. And using the oryoki, we receive the food following our stomach. Like that, we make the okesan following our sides of the body. And so now I said five times or minus or something.

[74:21]

Like that one, you can adjust through your body shape. If you are very thin or strong, thin, take 10%. And if you are big, it's not necessary to take the 10%. That one is one of the okesan's measure. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. It's very interesting. Dying ceremony. Will you read page 37, the last paragraph? There is another ceremony of dying before the Buddhist practicer receives the kesa, which has already been dyed into the kesa color. This is called tenjo in Japanese.

[75:25]

The tenjo ceremony is necessary when the kesa is made from new material, but is not necessary when the kesa is made from used material. Ten means dot or stain. And jo means pure, purify, or chastity. Tenjo means to reform an ordinary sense of value about clothing, food, and housing, and to be free from attachment to it. Tenjo is the ceremony of purification in which small dotted stains are put on the kesa or zagu. It is said in study of the kesa by Kodo Sawaki Roshi, that in the beginning, small dots were put on Buddhist belongings as a mark to distinguish them from other practicers' belongings or lay people's belongings. Later, the point of the dotted stains as a mark to distinguish practicers' belongings

[76:27]

changed into the meaning of purifying a new kesa or zagu. And today, the idea of them as distinguishing marks has disappeared. As we know, Buddhist life makes a point of poverty. However, the offering of the material for the kesa was not always used material. Sometimes it was new material. At that time, as a Buddhist, to take the new material for granted, because it is not discarded fabric, is not a desirable thing. Also, we should reflect on how to use the new material with a modest attitude so as not to become self-indulgent. From this sense, the Tenjo ceremony symbolizes the material is no longer new. In the beginning, we read Okesa's design from the rice field.

[77:37]

So, Nyoho-e is often interrupted as the kesa that Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples wore. But Nyoho-e is also the kesa which is made correctly following the rules of concerning material, color, size, and sewing according to the teachings of the Dharma. And yuwarakusu, or okesa, each row is made from a long piece and a short piece. The overlap parts on each piece of each row are called the yo, and the top yo always covers the next row. The yo is a narrower part, and this construction symbolizes the water flowing smoothly

[78:52]

in the rice field from the center of the right and left side and to the top and bottom. And dankyaku, there are three dankyaku measurements. And Iyan Kishizabaro said in the Kesakudoku Kowa that the long square symbolizes wisdom or realization of truth, and the short square symbolizes delusion. There are more wisdom squares than delusion squares, and the wisdom squares separate the delusion squares. And the okesa has the hook and ties.

[79:53]

And originally, the kesa didn't have ties and hooks. It is said in Dharma Buddha's version of how the kesa was created that one of the Buddha's disciples told Shakyamuni Buddha that when Shariputra was on his way to visit the rainbow's hall, his kesa was blown off his body onto the ground by the wind. Then Shakyamuni Buddha decided to put ties and a hook on kesas because this would prevent them from slipping down from the shoulders. I wanted to finish this book, but I'm very slow.

[80:57]

So if you have any questions about okesa, I'd like to talk. Today, somebody said, How many rakus I can make? I can make many. But on which part I don't remember. In the rule, Vinaya, it says if one made one okesa for six years, you have to wear it. And the six years, I don't count exactly the six years. If you wear it very often, before the six years, your okesa will wear out. And if you don't wear it often, ten years or fifteen years.

[82:02]

So now, we should have the okesa or rakus, not more than necessary. If you have one okesa, it's no problem. It's enough. And take care of it very well. The six years means if it worn out, repair it. And to wear the broken okesa, your practice is not following Buddha's teaching. And it is said in the Vinaya, to wear the broken rakus means the same, you are not wearing the okesa.

[83:11]

So you are not following the Buddha's teaching. So I like to ask you, if you notice your rakus or okesa need to repair, please repair. When you do zazen, if you notice your back become like this, immediately you will correct. And if your mind become busy, you try to put back your mind in the center of the zazen. So our rakusu is the same. So I said, if we find some mistake on your sewing or the care of the rakusu,

[84:18]

we should correct it immediately, like your zazen. Oh, that was one. And often people ask me how to take care, how to wash my rakusu. And to wash the rakusu or okesa is not to wash your dirty clothes. Of course you have to wash dirty. And also it is to clean your mind and body. If you clean your body and mind, you can practice straight. So to wear a dirty rakusu means your practice or mind is dirty.

[85:20]

That one is one of the important reason to wash your rakusu. And second is practical reason. It is said in Vinaya and advice, in India they put the okesa on skin. So soon the okesa get the oil from your body. And if your clothes get the oil, it loses your body's heat. So you feel cold. Then you might catch cold. If you catch the cold, it bothers, the cold bothers your practice. So we wash the okesa.

[86:22]

And all the time, before we didn't have the good substance, In the Shogo Genzo, Kesakudo explains how to wash the okesa. And the way of washing okesa is quoted from Vinaya. First, make the ashes and put the lots of water. Then make ashy water, rich water. Then boil that water. And then put the okesa, open the okesa, and soak in the water, rich water, and wait until the water gets cool.

[87:20]

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