Stories from Rev. Taihaku's Life
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| Taihaku in front of Hokyoji Monastery (2017) |
Taihaku would tell stories of her time at Hokyoji Monastery
(between 1998 and 2004). As the only
foreigner and the only woman, her time there was often difficult. In addition
to being sustained by the practice, she was also sustained by a very strong
sense of connection with Jakuen
Zenji. Jakuen Zenji was the founder of Hokyoji, 700 years ago, after having
come over to Japan with Dogen from China (i.e. he was also a foreigner). That
is where the number came from for the Shao Shan Temple’s “700 Year Plan.” Not
that much is known about Jakuen Zenji. He is said to have sat meditation for 18
years on a rock in the mountains up above Hokyoji. Taihaku liked to say that
the view from the White Jewel Mountain Retreat here at Shao Shan Temple is like
a small version of the view from Jakuen Zenji’s zazen stone, “a gift from the
ancestors.” A painting of Jakuen Zenji
is one of the pictures on Taihaku’s altar in the small room off the Zendo.
Taihaku would go over to Japan for an Ango (three-month
practice period) at Hokyoji Monastery and then come back to the US for three
months and then go back over to Japan. She said that it was important to come
back to the US to integrate. I first started coming during this time. She would
shut the Temple down when she went to Japan. The grass would grow waist high.
Hokyoji was a place of high energy. Taihaku told how she got
to know the owner of the fire alarm company because the fire alarms kept going
off from the psychic energy. It is the owner of the fire alarm company (a
dedicated lay practitioner) who donated Shao Shan Temple’s big bell with the
wonderful resonance.
At Hokyoji the temperatures could be extreme. In the summer
it would be very hot with high humidity and in the winter it would be freezing
cold. The walls and floors were thin and uninsulated, and the cold wind blew
right in. It was so cold that with the long hours of meditating in the freezing
temperatures with shaved heads, Taihaku began to have piercing headaches. She
finally went to Dochosan near tears from the pain and asked whether it would be
possible to wear a hat. Dochosan replied that she could, as long as she also
made one for him and for the Buddha. So
she knit a hat for the buddha statue and for Dochosan and for herself.
She told how in her relationship with Dochosan, due to
language and cultural differences, there would be painful misunderstandings and
confusion, but then there would also be times where they would exactly meet –
crystal clear - in the Dharma (“two arrows meeting in mid-air”).
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| Taihaku(front center) Shuso Ceremony at Hokyoji 2002 |
Dochosan could sometimes be severe and formidable, but one
of Taihaku’s favorite stories highlighted his other side. One time there was a
cat that had made its home in the ceiling of the monastery. The ceilings were also thin and one day the
cat fell through the ceiling – with its kittens – into Dochosan’s room. Dochosan called to Taihaku who was nearby and
together laughing they scrambled about trying to round up runaway kittens.
Entertainment in the monastery would come from natural sources, like kittens and birds. In warmer weather, the big sliding doors would be left open during the day and birds and butterflies would freely fly in and out. One time a pair of swallows made their nest in the rafters of the main hall (Hondo). The monks would see/hear as the baby birds got bigger and bigger. Taihaku told how she was able to watch when one day the parents coaxed the biggest baby bird into its first flight. One parent bird perched on a distant rafter calling for it to come. As soon as the little one flew its first flight over to the one parent, the other parent bird perched on a rafter on the other side of the hall calling to it to come, to do it again. Back and forth, this one fledgling bird went, practicing flying back and forth, all day long, as the remaining babies watched from the nest. The next day, all of the birds flew off including all the little ones that had not flown at all before. Taihaku would sometimes bring up this story as an example. We can learn from the experiences of others. Even though no one else can fly for us, we can learn from their flights.
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| Taihaku, Dochosan and Stella sitting on Jakuen's Meditation Rock (2017) |
