Talks and 108 Bells, from our 5th and final fullmoon gathering of the Dawn Dojo for 2020. Click here for other talks in this series.
Teachers: Roshi Susan Murphy (Part 1) & Kynan Sutherland (Part 2)
6am | 4th August 2020
Click on the recordings below to listen to the talks from this gathering. We will upload a transcription when it becomes available. ()
A report from Ross Coward
A small band of concerned citizens, meeting under the auspices of the community group, Residents Opposed to the Cable Car, ROCC, formulated an action plan in early 2019 to protest against the Cable Car project by holding vigils in the area on the mountain summit where the proponents want to build a pinnacle centre . A number of vigils were held during 2019, some at dawn, some at sunset, one on a Sunday afternoon and one evening on the lawns outside Parliament House. These vigils have been symbolic but powerful statements made by us-two as a protest against the Cable Car project and as a mark of respect for this place that we love.
We meet on the summit 30 minutes before the scheduled start then clamber down a rocky path to take up our positions. Eight sentinels, mainly women, dressed in red or pink or orange cloaks, stand upright on proposed drill sites (located by GPS). The bell ringers, two mountains & rivers zen practitioners, take up their positions, about 100m apart. A photographer moves around to document each vigil. On one dawn occasion a renowned wilderness photographer used a drone to take aerial shots. Sometimes vigils had to be cancelled when the mountain road was closed due to weather conditions, ice or snow. A few observers watch from a viewing platform above where the vigil takes place.
At the appointed time, the first appearance of the sun disc, three bells are rung. The morning light is spectacular. The proclamation is read aloud, for the mountain to hear us, for us to hear the mountain, to see the mountain, for those whose ears are deaf, we make this statement. Then 108 bells with a call and response dance between the two bell ringers. The bells resonate from bell to bell, from dolerite boulder to dolerite boulder, from me-to-you, and back again. As the final bell fades away we remain in silent repose for two minutes. The sentinels are magnificent, facing towards the east, their powerful silent statement flows down to the city below.
It is exhilarating being here on this high place, alone and with others, feeling the breeze, the cool air, seeing the formations of cloud above, below. Then we pack up, have a short de-brief in the summit shelter, and leave. This was a satisfying thing to have done.
The pic of the dawn vigil on Monday 7 January 2020 was the last vigil we have done and coincided when the proponents were submitting their latest documentation to the Hobart City Council. Covid-19 has been a stopper.
waiting for the bell
the green mountain walks east
a currawong calls
()
Ross
108 days,
as the moon waxed and waned,
we sat
together.
Before dawn.. at dawn.. in the mid afternoon and with the setting sun.
We sat
together.
The birds. The skies. The changing light.
Nudged by chaos, fur and birds at home in that chimney.
Black soot. Darkness.
Time dissolving.
Resolving.
There is always a dawning.
Long may we continue,
together
109,
110,
111
()
Karen
Talks from our 4th fullmoon gathering of the Dawn Dojo. Click here for other talks in this series.
Teachers: Roshi Susan Murphy (Part 1) & Kynan Sutherland (Part 2)
6am | 4th August 2020
In this talk our teachers both mention Hakuin’s ‘Song of Zazen’. You can read the full text of the Song of Zazen here.
Click on the recordings below to listen to the talks from this gathering. We will upload a transcription when it becomes available. ()
by ~ Dogen Zenji (1233 A.D)
Click here to download this text as a PDF
1
As all things are buddha-dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, and birth and death, and there are buddhas and sentient beings.
As the myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death.
The buddha way is, basically, leaping clear of the many and the one; thus there are birth and death, delusion and realization, sentient beings and Buddhas.
Yet in attachment blossoms fall, and in aversion weeds spread.
Talks from our 3rd fullmoon gathering of the Dawn Dojo.
Teachers: Roshi Susan Murphy (Part 1 & 2) & Kynan Sutherland (Part 2)
6am | 5th July 2020
Click here for other talks in this series.
In this talk our teachers take up Dogen’s text: The Genjokoan. You can download a copy of the full text here to read.
Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.
Dogen Zenji – Genjokoan
Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky.
The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.
Click on the recordings below to listen to the talks from this gathering. We will upload a transcription when it becomes available. ()