Glenn,
Well, there are no formal dietary regulations in Zen Buddhism for lay people.
Maybe some monastics must follow other rules.
Even as lay people, though, we have the Ten Grave Precepts. The first of these
is "No Killing". It's up to each practitioner to interpret the precept, and
either to accept it ("take" it), or not take it, if we "take" the precepts at
all, usually in a ceremony called "Jukai", in Japanese. You might sew a Rakusu
for this ceremony, and wear it ever afterwards when you sit zazen at home or
communally.
Some do, some don't. I did, and I do, but I came later to the Japanese
lineage; in my first teacher's tradition, a Chinese Ch'an teaching lineage,
there is no rakusu. But the rakusu first developed in CHINA, as an abbreviated
robe that monastics could wear when they climbed the four sacred mountains of
China on pilgrimage: full-length robes would cause them to trip on the trail,
otherwise.
These shortie-robes are like "bibs" for eating lobster, and you cannot trip on
their hems, because they reach only to your belly-button, and not to your toes.
When I learned that the rakusu developed first in CHINA, I then gladly sewed
one from scratch over a period of a couple of months as a part of my practice,
and took Jukai in the Diamond Sangha tradition of Aitken Roshi, with Pat Hawk
Roshi as Precepts Master in Tucson, AZ, in April, 1999.
But I first took the Precepts with Sheng Yen in Feb., 1979. No rakusu, there.
Later, we took the Precepts again in a Two-Day long ceremony following an
intensive 7-day Ch'an meditation retreat, and were given ceremonial scarves and
robes to wear and to keep. I treasure and wear these still, and mix them up
with the Rakusu, also, from time to time, for completeness, and for love of
both lineages.
A great thing about traditions is that there is so much to choose from, from
within them. It's like "standards" in the personal- computer realm: so many to
choose from! ;-)
With Cheers!, and wishes for strong practice,
--Joe
> "Glenn Rogers" <rgthiessen@...> wrote:
>
> Is it okay for Zen practitioners to eat/drink bone broth? :) [snip]
------------------------------------
Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are
reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
