Entering

I have done a number of leaving ceremonies since becoming ino, but this morning was the first entering ceremony - though of course on my first morning as ino we had the shuso entering ceremony, but that's a little different. The entering ceremony was for the eleven people who sat tangaryo on Friday or Saturday, and who now become full residents, some of them for the first time, some after returning from Tassajara or living elsewhere.
The tradition of tangaryo begins with monks waiting outside the temple gate to be admitted. There is the famous story of Bodhidharma keeping Huike outside in the snow until Huike eventually cut off his own arm to prove his determination to be allowed to enter and study with Bodhidharma. I tend to look on that story more on a metaphorical level these days, but if anyone wants to tell me that it really happened like that, I am happy to stand corrected. In the Japanese system, the monks were allowed through the gate, but kept in a separate room for a number of days, where they had to sit, while they could be observed, unknown to them, to see if they were sitting steadfastly enough (I also imagine this as a sensible kind of quarantine, to see if the new monks had any fever or sickness that might cause problems for the temple). Here at Zen Center, our supplicants sit in the zendo; at City Center for one day, and at Tassajara for five days, from the beginning of the day until the evening, with just short breaks after each meal.
I have sat tangaryo on a number of occasions now - first in the city almost ten years ago. I remember being very sleepy after lunch, and on one occasion being woken up by a noise, which turned out to be my elbow hitting the mealboard as I toppled sideways. Luckily, Lucio, who was in the next seat, was quick enough to catch me before I completely fell off my seat. There was also a garage band, who did seem to be playing all afternoon in a garage a few doors away, and who unfortunately had more enthusiasm than skill...At Tassajara there are always many stories about tangaryo that people enjoy telling the new students; I will never forget that it was over 100 degrees for the first three days, which did make it so hot that there were fewer flies than usual. I had strategised that I would wear my jubons for a couple of days each, but it turned out that I took them off after each meal, rinsed out the sweat in the sink and let them dry in the baking hot cabins ready for the next day. I was also very nervous about hurting my knees, and I squirmed around a lot; at the end of the third day I noticed that my left foot was asleep, and it was still asleep when I woke up the next morning; the ino offered that I could lie down, but I did not want to desert the people who were sitting around me, so I stood at my seat for the last two days, which was scarcely easier than sitting in the end.
After that, in comparison, the two other times I sat for one day when I returned to Tassajara, and the day I sat here a couple of years ago passed easily.
I checked in on these sitters a couple of times during the day, ate meals with them, served them tea, and sat during the last hours of the evening with them, and I was impressed with the steadiness of everybody's sitting. Nobody had to cut off their arm to prove their dedication.