“To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point, we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.” Shunryu Suzuki
Although the Way is infinitely long and, ultimately, without direction, we have mile-markers, landmarks, turning points, significance and meaning. It is this dual aspect of practice that can be confusing, enriching, intimate, true. In Zen we immerse ourselves in the Relative as well as the Absolute, each flows into the other and are really not distinct.
The essential part of our practice is Being Present, or simply Being, and the most fundamental way in which we express that is in zazen, or just sitting. From this kernel the whole tree of practice grows. We have, so to speak, the roots ever deepening into the Eternal Present and the branches ever reaching into Space and Time. Or we could invert the metaphor, the branches growing deeper and deeper into the Sky of Emptiness and the roots growing further and further into the relative, discriminating between the various nutriments.
So, hopefully, our practice leads us deeper into the present, frees us from entanglement in the relative, so that our relative life is an expression of the absolute. When we bring Big Mind to ritual and ceremony then that is the case. If we bring small mind to ritual and ceremony, well, we might get a glimpse of Big Mind.
At San Francisco Zen Center there are various mile-markers along the Way. The first one is, perhaps, just crossing the threshold into the Zen Center or into the Zendo, finding your seat, finding your Zen. After a while it may seem appropriate to receive Jukai, sometimes called Lay Ordination or Lay Initiation. At Jukai you receive a rakusu, that is Buddha's Robe, a new name, your Dharma Name, or as it is called, your Serene Name, and you receive the lineage paper of your preceptor. The 'life-blood' of that lineage is the precepts, so you receive the Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts. It is a beautiful ceremony, and for the initiate it can be transformative and confirming of what is already the case, that you are a practicing Zen Buddhist. In some ways it means that you have found your path, that it is this kind of practice you want to engage with, that speaks most clearly or most truly to your heart. So it is a significant event. You have entered a Sangha of Zen Practice. To some extent, you have found your place.
Other initiation ceremonies may follow Jukai, but not necessarily. It depends upon the individual and upon circumstances. I like to think in terms of things happening at the right time, and since we're engaged in Zen practice, if the time is never right then it's no big deal, we just continue with our practice. Still, the tree of practice tends to grow, it will grow wherever the conditions are right. If you received Jukai the chances are that others have or will too. So, the Jukai ceremonies are not only a mile-marker in the individual's practice, but also in the Sangha's.
Over time, a Sangha's practice will grow and broaden and deepen. This may take various forms, but one of the landmarks in it is being able to have sesshin, and later being able to have periods of more intense practice lasting say a month or more. These practice periods act as a way of strengthening the container we call 'practice', allowing us to go deeper into the Present, allowing us to sustain an effort over a longer-than-usual span of time. Eventually these practice periods maybe developed enough to support a Shuso, or 'Head Monk'. Such a person would take that role for the entire practice period and at the end of the practice period there would be a Shuso Ceremony, after which the Shuso is allowed to teach – teach in the form of giving classes, giving Dharma talks, giving practice discussion. Being Shuso is a recognition that your practice has reached a point of maturity where it seems appropriate to do these things, but also that there is a context in which do to them, so it represents a certain maturity in the Sangha too.
At San Francisco Zen Center the term 'Shuso' is usually reserved for someone who has received Shukke Tokudo, or priest ordination, and the term 'Head Monk' is used for someone who has not received Shukke Tokudo but has received Jukai. Either way, to be Shuso / Head Monk for a practice period you need to have received Jukai or Shukke Tokudo. Also, at SFZC, in the case of a priest who has been Shuso, they are then allowed to be doshi at morning and noon service and not just at evening service, which is the case before being Shuso.
Last year at Hebden Bridge we had a three month non-residential practice period. As the days, weeks, and months went by I could really feel the strengthening of the container, a kind of momentum towards the present built up and it really did feel like a practice period. I feel that if we keep this up it will only be a matter of time before we have a practice period that can support a Shuso / Head Monk, even if the practice periods remain non-residential.
There is precedence for non-residential practice periods. First of all, in San Francisco, although many of the people may be participating in a residential way, that is by being in residence in the Zen Center for the duration of the practice period, a good number participate in a non-residential way. Usually the Shuso / Head Monk would need to participate residentially. In Norman Fischer's Everyday Zen, practice periods are normally non-residential, and in these cases the Shuso / Head Monk would not be in residence either. So, in my mind, this makes it very possible that we could soon have practice periods in the U.K. that support the role of Shuso / Head Monk. (By the way, the term 'monk' is often used at SFZC to describe someone of either gender, and Head Monk in no way implies the person must be male!)
After being Shuso what else can follow? Well, all of this should be understood in the context of practice, in the context of the opening quote by Suzuki Roshi. It is not so much that these are hoops to jump through in order to get somewhere, more like 'oh, it would be good if someone were Shuso for this practice period, do we have someone who could do that?' In much the same way as we might ask 'Do we have someone who could be Tenzo for this sesshin (or practice period)?'. Like fitting pieces of a jigsaw together, somehow we realise our potential. And yes, there are more things to follow the role of Shuso / Head Monk. In the case of a priest there would be Dharma Transmission, after which the person is allowed to ordain others and pass on the lineage, enabled to 'transmit the dharma'. In the case of someone who has received Jukai but not Shukke Tokudo, there would or could be Dharma Entrustment. This is recognition that the person is mature enough in their practice to be considered 'entrusted' with the dharma. As far as I know it does not give any additional abilities to those received upon being Head Monk. In a sense what it means is that the person has become independent of their teacher in their understanding and practice of the Dharma, which is not implied upon being Shuso / Head Monk. (The same is true with Dharma Transmission.)
And then? Yes, it seems like 'when thou has done thou hast not done for I have more', to quote John Donne. But we'll leave that for another day. Incidentally, there is no other day.
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