Issho Fujita, Resident Priest, Valley Zendo, Officiating

Jeffrey Tesshin Brooks, Director, Mountain Dojo, Recipient

Northampton, Massachusetts, October 13, 2001

1. Incense Offering

(We offer incense as a gesture of generosity, toward all the beings of the universe. The incense is a reminder of impermanence, soon it will be gone, leaving a pleasant scent, then a memory, then it is completely gone.)

2. Three Prostrations

(We perform three prostrations willingly placing our own body and mind in a position of humility and reverence, accepting reality as it is.)

(The Heart Sutra is a capsule expression of the core doctrines of Buddhism.  The words are at first difficult to understand and they sound contradictory. By studying them and experiencing their meaning our insight deepens and our lives change.)

3. MAKA HANNYA HARAMITA SHIN GYO

The Great Prajna-Paramita Heart Sutra

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep Prajna Paramita,
clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, transforming anguish and distress.
Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form;
form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form;
sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness are also like this.
Shariputra, all things are essentially empty-- not born, not destroyed;
not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain.
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness;
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind,
no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;
no seeing and so on to no thinking;
no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance,
and so on to no old age and death,
and also no ending of old age and death;
no anguish, cause of anguish, cessation, path;
no wisdom and no attainment. Since there is nothing to attain,
the Bodhisattva lives by Prajna Paramita,
with no hindrance in the mind; no hindrance and therefore no fear;
far beyond delusive thinking, right here is Nirvana.
All Buddhas of past, present, and future live by Prajna Paramita
attaining Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Therefore know that Prajna Paramita
is the great sacred mantra, the great vivid mantra,
the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra,
which completely removes all anguish.
This is truth not mere formality.
Therefore set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,
set forth this mantra and proclaim:
Gate gate paragate parasamgate Bodhi sva-ha-!

Prajna paramita Heart Sutra

4. Dedication

We dedicate the merit of this ceremony to
The three treasures
The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
Our teachers, parents, community
and all sentient beings in the six realms
May we dedicate our efforts to stopping all evil,
And accomplish good,
for the sake of all beings
That we may all accomplish the Buddha Way
together

5. Issho Fujita comments

6. Jeffrey Tesshin Brooks Comments

7. Members and Attendees Questions & Challenges

8.  Zazen

9. Bodhisattva Vow

Sentient beings are numberless,
I vow to save them.
Desires are inexhaustible,
I vow to put an end to them.
Dharmas are boundless,
I vow to master them.
The Buddha Way is unsurpassable,
I vow to attain it.

9. Invocation

All Buddhas throughout space and time
All Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas,
Maha Prajna Paramita.

10. Thank you.

Now please wash your ears with clear water, forget this and resume practice.

You are participants. You are practitioners.  Please consider why you come to zazenkai or to the karate dojo.  Something of great importance is happening, here, now. A great opportunity presents itself to you.

We all have our own lives. Our own difficulties and our own happiness.  But we all come together to practice as a group, once a week, once a day, whatever it is. Having a strong practice without a group is nearly impossible.  Sometimes we collide, sometimes we harmonize. By this experience we can refine our lives. We should be grateful for the people around us whose commitment, energy and kindness provide us with the conditions by which we can realize our two aims, for ourselves and for the benefit of everyone.

Train hard.

11. Blessing

May all who are oppressed
by unhappiness and suffering
find freedom and lasting joy.