Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

38 LearnS.

Davis

Ekai~osho

reports

that

hewasalittle

hesitanttoreturnto

Japan

after

beginning

to

estahlrsh

a

pmclicecommunity

inthe

UnitedStatesbecausewithAmerican

pro

tronershehadseen

other

possibilities

of‘openingup

the

path.‘

He

reports

that:

Likeabirch

treewhose

branches

go

this

way

andthat

way,my

ideaswere

fluidand

developing

sothe

thought

ofgoing

backtothat

rigidtrainingsystem

wasdiflicultl

Iknewthati

hadtobe

prepared

tobecomea

Bonsai.

[laughing]

atBonsai

treewithall

my

branchescutdownand

my

roots

confinedtothe

shapemy

masterwanted.

(Korematsu2000:

2)

The

rigidity

ofthe

Zen

training

structuresin

Japan

andthe

necessity

ofcatering

to

the

many

ritual

and social

obligations

that

parishioners(dun/m)

bring

have

prompted

similar

responses

fromother

Sotomonksinthewest.Themost

famous.

and

arguably

themost

successfulSoto

monktoestablishaZencentreinthe

west‘

Shunryu

Suzuki

Roshi.founderoftheSan

FranciscoZen

Centre,

expressed

similar

views

whenhe

began

meditationsessions

for

non-Japanese

andwas

impressedby

their

‘beginner's

mind‘

7

wherethe

possibility

ot'a

purer

Zen

practicelay(Suzuki

1984:

2]).7

inher

study

of

Zenin

Brazil,Rocha

reports

thatSotomonk

Daigyo

MoriyamaRoshi,

former

abbotof

Busshinji

in

Sao

Paulo,

wasalso

inspiredby

the

possibilities

ofa

group

of

practitioners

with

‘beginner's

mind‘.Inaninterview

Monyama

Roshistates:‘That

is

why

i

putmyenergy

intoa

foreigncountry;

here

[inBrazil]

ZenBuddhismcan

becreated

again

ina

purer

way'

(Rocha

2000:

40).

This isnot

to

say

thatw

tern

practitioners

cometo2m

practice

unencum-

bered

by

preconceived

notion.

[nthecaseofan

Asianteacher

leading

aconvert

community

suchas

.likishoan,

therewere

earlyperceptions

among

the

sangha

that

theteacher‘s

ethnicity

made

Jikishoanmore

‘authentic‘withsome

practitioners

saying

that

they

‘couldn't

practice

with a

western teacher‘

(personal

commu-

nication

2000).

Conversely,

some

practitioners

who

had

experience

withother

teachersinthe

UnitedStatesor

Japan

were

initially

disappointed:

‘Yes.hewas

Japanese.

but

wherewas the

discipline?

Where

[was]

the

severity?

Hedidthe

chantsall

wrong‘(Bolton

2002:

S).

insome

cases,

this

disappointment

led

people

to

leaveJikishoan

but.

as

wasoflen

noted.Jikishoanwasthe

only

Zencentrein

Melbournewitharesident

teacher.thus.

forthemost

part‘

thestudents

interested

ina

Iong—tenn

commitment

stayed

on.

in 1998 Ekai

Korematsu

moved

permanently

to

Meiboumefrom

Japan

with

hisAustralian

wife. in

April

1998 hecreatedthefirst

ofthe

‘garage

zendos'a

Zen

practiceplace

inthc

garagc

or

hissuburbanhome.

Ten

years

on.in2009.

Jikishoanhas 139

membersand 50

friendswitha

mailing

list

ofover 500 names.

Asidefromthe

regular

teachingprograms,

Jikishoanholdsthree

seven—day

retreats

(sesshr'rr)

peryear.

and

regularone-day

meditation

workshops.

Four

lay-ordained

students

(three

women,

one

man)

arenow

authorizedtoteachand

they

conduct

the

orientation,

deepening

and

workshopprograms.

Alsoin 2009 achaner

branch

(bun-in)

was

incorporated

inCanberra.Jikishoan‘s

activitiesarenowcarried

out

in

Melbourne.

Canberra

andruralBallarat.“

Despite

having

no

permanent

centre

—

*

Solo

ZeninAtmlra/ia 39

(indeed

Jikishoanconductsitsactivitiesatsixdifferent

ventresintwo

states).

the

group's

activitieshavecontintredto attract interest

andhave

developed

intoa

comprehensive

Zen

teachingprogram.

Following

Ekai-osho‘s intention to

develop

an

organization

founded on

communitypractice.

thefirst.likishoancommittee

wasformedin 1999

consisting

oieight

memberswithadministrative

and

practice

responsibilities:presidentldochu

(teacher); vice-presidentfmo (practice

coordinator):

treasurer

(firm); secretary

[/iknlrtl);

lenzo

(head

cook];

shissrri

(building

manager):

kanru

(Ballarat

coordi-

nator);

and [who

(publications).

The

committee

positions

were based on the

traditionalSotomonastic

organi/tttirrnal

stnrcturcs

and.

asmorestudentsbecame

members

these

positionsdeveloped

intothe

ryogroup.

."

'lhe

ryn

structureis

closely

connected

with

Dogen’s

‘modelfor

engaging

the

ttay‘

(Mada/m).

This

approach

is

outlined

byDogen

inhis

Eiher'vthgi

(Pure

Standardsfor

EiheijiMonastery),

acollectionofsix

essays

that

gives

detailed

instnrctions forthe

daily

conduct

and attitudeofmonks

living

a

disciplined

monastic

spiritual

litewIn 2009 likishoan

has 1]

ryogroups

7

referredtoas‘the

body

ofZen

practice‘

7

thatare

responsible

for

running

and

maintainingevery

aspect

ofthe

groups'spiritual

and

administrativefunctions." Each

Ij'u

leader

rs

responsible

for

keeping

detailed

recordsofthe

groups‘

activitiesand assets

and

givesregularreports

tothecommittee.

Inthe

spirit

of

communitypractice.

membersare

encouraged

to

joinI’yflgroups

as

’becoming

involvedinthe

day

to

daypracticalities

of

ryopracticegives

risetoa

special

kindof

intimacy,

withthe

community.

withthe

teachings

and

ultimately

with

your

self‘

(Jikishoan2009).

inJiltishoan‘s

development.

asthe

1thorganizational

structureshavebecome

more smhle.the

teaching

has

increasingly emphasi'led

a monasticorientation

uithacore

group

of

lay-ordained

practitioners

atthecentre01.the

sangha.

The

wearing

ofrobes

7

givenby

theteacher

7

hasalsobecomestandardformore

seniormembers. A

hierarchical

leadership

structurehasbeen

developed

where

for

example.

accessto

theteacherisno

longer

directbuttakes

placethrough

a

Ijvn

group

leader.

Emphasis

on

1erpractice

ina

lay

contextisa

defining

featureofJikishoan‘s

0rgani7ational

structures.

Its

singularityhinging

onmainterrelated

organimtional

issues:the

problem

of

no

permanent

baseandtheneedtobeaffiliated

withthe

SotoSchoolin

Japan.

Having

no

permanentpractice/residential

location

requires

Clear

and

prceiscorganizational

stmt rsandstructuresand

ryopracticeprovides

this.whiletheneedfor

official

recogni

onnecessitatesanadherenceto

orthodoxy

and

the

implementationot'ryo

monasticstructuresdemonstratesthis.

The

weight

ol‘therobe:

challenges

ofamonastic

practice

structureto

laypractitioners

Ekai

Korematsu

emphasizes

thatthebasicformofSoto

practice

shottldbe

well

establishedbefore

anyadaptations

aremade

—

the

practice

foundationneeds

to

be

solid:

‘Cultural

differencesareso

great

andifthe

practice

formsare

adapted

to

otherculturestoo

quickly.

Without

beingproperlydigested

thenthose

adaptations