By Kyotai Amanda Hill
Endless is my vow
Under the azure
Boundless autumn
-Soen Nakagawa Roshi
We recently celebrated the founding of Dai Bosatsu Zendo on July 4th during Anniversary Sesshin. Chanting Tei Dai Denpo always connects us to our ancestors, but Anniversary Sesshin has a unique ability to unite us with the past generations and founders of this beautiful mountain temple. In Endless Vow: The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa, Eido Roshi notes in the introduction, “Monk Soen began chanting Namu Dai Bosa on Mount Dai Bosatsu in Japan, and the forcefield of his energy soon reached America.”
Decades ago, Soen Roshi offered seeds from Japan to be planted and nourished in the Catskill Mountains of New York. And today we are still connected with his Namu Dai Bosa and aspirations to bring Zen to the United States. Eido Roshi goes on to describe, “The echo of his solitary chanting resounded; its energy emanated throughout the world, resonating and intermingling with that of many others in the endless dimensional Dai Bosatsu mandala, whether seen or not seen, whether heard or not heard, whether realized or not.”
In this way, we see Soen Roshi’s vow and intention continue to unfold around us, fueling our own vows and intentions to offer the same to future generations. In Endless Vow, a mandala has been described as “a visual representation of the interconnectedness of the whole cosmos. It includes form and nonform, being and nonbeing. Through the mysterious and subtle interweaving of action and reaction, an entity is created, yet without fixed identity.” This vivid description reminds us of the deep interpenetration of the past and future in this present moment and the responsibility we all share in weaving this mandala together.
In the same vein as a mandala, the Avatamsaka Sutra points towards a complex web of interconnectedness between all things. As we begin to see ourselves in all things, we realize the capacity we have to experience these connections in our own bodies. As the boundaries of self and other fall away, this naturally leads us to a place of taking great care of each other in all activities. At the culmination of this sutra, Samantabhadra reveals his ten vows as guidelines for living as a bodhisattva. The ninth vow particularly caught my attention calling us to benefit all beings or act in accordance with all beings.
Samantabhadra, Universal Worthy, the bodhisattva of great activity, reminds us today to continually act in accordance with ALL beings. What are the seeds we want to plant and nourish to come to fruition far beyond the span of our human life? In The Way of the Bodhisattva, Shantideva provides similar advice for operating in this way to “Regard your body as a vessel, a simple boat for going here and there. Make of it a thing that answers every wish to bring about the benefit of beings.”
As we enjoy the last vestiges of summer and prepare for fall, let’s remember the vows of our ancestors and reaffirm our own vows. In all activities of our lives, are we considering the vast wide mandala interconnected with the entire cosmos, throughout all space and time, and our small, yet mighty role in this very moment to nourish these dharma seeds planted by all those who came before us with great vows? Namu Dai Bosa!
When the mandala governs, the people are hardly aware it exists.
The mandala doesn’t talk, it acts.
When its work is done,
The people say, “Amazing:
We did it, all by ourselves!
-Tao Te Ching, chapter 17