Saturday, May 12, 2012

Out Of Office

One seasonal feature I forgot to mention in the last post is that the zendo has been positively festooned with members of Young Urban Zen recently; several each morning, and a good handful in the afternoons. I counted at least a dozen in attendance during Steve Weintraub's excellent dharma talk this morning, and managed to rope most of them into doing nenju.
Now it's not often we get to re-do a ceremony. I guess doing the Full Moon Ceremony on the roof is somewhat equivalent - and I am toying with the idea of having the next one, on the 5th of June, up there as well. But it came up this week that perhaps we should try doing nenju in the Buddha Hall instead of the dining room. So I sat down and rewrote parts of the script for the ceremony, incorporating some things that happen at Tassajara as well, and Rosalie and Wendy, as the practice period leaders, with a few tweaks and suggestions, gave it the thumbs up.
Of course as they say, the proof of the ceremony is in the doing, so there was slightly heightened anticipation as the time drew near.  I had roped in Konin, my new head doan, as the new combined umpan player/doan, and took the kokyo spot myself as I usually do for the first nenju of the practice period. I definitely noticed how different it was to do the dedication right in front of the lovely Buddha statue in the Buddha Hall, and the acoustics seemed more favourable, though I still didn't get the pitch right. During the jundo people seemed more reverential, maybe due to the space, and after the hosan and the 'joyful' big bells, we had a nice semi-formal exit. The consensus was a general thumbs up; the ceremony felt more at home there than in the dining room.
And with that, and the newcomers' table, I started my vacation. More or less. I still have a few loose ends to wrap up, though not as many as I thought I would have yesterday afternoon, when both printers, one thumb-drive and one network connection all seemed to conspire against me by failing to co-operate. I will also do the morning schedule on Monday when we will have leaving ceremonies for Shindo and Yuto, both of whom we will be sad to see going, but then I am off, leaving for England on Tuesday afternoon.
So I am feeling a little excited, but mostly nice and relaxed. This is being helped by the fact that Lucy left me in charge of feeding Paul's cat over the weekend, while she is also away, so Azure and I are currently keeping each other company, and I am discovering that a lap cat and a lap-top are not so compatible. Yesterday I had study hall en plein air with her, in the back yard, which was a first.

Hopefully not jumping the shark with cute kitten photographs; I was studying as well, honest
Finally, just to note that it is my twelve-year arrival anniversary today, a date which seems to have become more significant since I first really thought of it two years ago. Twelve years is the amount of time I spent living in London before I came here, so half my adult life has now been spent here, a quarter of my whole life. At the risk of signing off with a cliche, it does go to show that you never can tell.

11 comments:

Sandy's witterings said...

It looks to me that the cat thinks that only the laptop is incompatible, not it.

I find myself quite frequently toting up the years on my fingers how long it has been since this and that (I've long since run out of fingers for some things but not others). There's some comfort in anniveraries, gives us an idea we're getting somewhere.

Eli said...

See? Even the cat feels bliss in your study hall Shundo.

Shundo said...

Shannon, I think the cat could care less about the Tenzo Kyokun, but was very happy to have some company.
Sandy, she brooked no competition for occupying my lap. I too find myself running out of fingers rather too often these days...

Shonen said...

Safe travels Shundo - hope you have a great time in England and all goes smoothly with your weekend retreat. I don't recommend trying to squeeze a han into your carry on luggage.... ;)

Shundo said...

Are you speaking from experience there Shonen? Nothing more substantial than my rakusu is coming with me.

windhorse said...

cats on laps are most conducive to study, methinks. Tres bon voyage, Shundo!

Shonen said...

No, not at all! The closest I've come is packing an inflatable zafu (also not a good idea BTW, no substitute for the real thing)

Myomon said...

Enjoy England, Shundo - well deserved vacation.

Full Moon said...

What is jumping the shark and where can I do it?

Shundo said...

I assume that is a rhetorical question coming from one as versed in popular culture as you are, Nancy.

Full Moon said...

Fonzie from "Happy Days" jumped a shark once. He was water skiing in a leather jacket;)