Spiritual Leadership within Boundless Way Zen Temple
Zen is about awakening. At Boundless Way Zen Temple (BoWZT), we believe that anyone can have a place within the Zen path. Our Zen ancestors and teachers developed various disciplines (upaya) to help us in our awakening. With a deep appreciation for this ancient path, BoWZ is dedicated to bringing Zen into a modern context.
Traditionally, authority within Zen has been binary, on or off, all or nothing. A person has a great realization, is confirmed by their teacher, and then teaches. Everyone else is a student. At BoWZ, we recognize that teaching and ordination are particular “callings” within the Zen way, manifestations of individual personality and inclination as well as insight, training, and disposition. As such, we transmit the traditional form of authority yet we also believe that one can become a teacher without Dharma transmission. Boundless Way Zen Temple supports students who train over the years, following a variety of paths encompassed within Zen’s disciplines, and share their individual expression of awakening. A student does not have to become a formal teacher to fully manifest the Zen path or share their wisdom.
Formal Teaching Authority Within Boundless Way Zen Temple
The following teaching authorizations are given in trust to individuals through the Guiding Teachers Council: Practice Leader, Assistant Teacher, and Senior Assistant Teacher. The latter two titles are borrowed from the Kwan Um School of Zen. These teaching authorizations do not represent Dharma transmission in the sense used normatively in the Zen world. These appointed positions may be rescinded by the Guiding Teachers Council. The authority granted is strictly derivative, held only as long as the Guiding Teachers Council or the individuals themselves feel it helpful for the individual leader and the community.
Practice Leader: A Practice Leader holds responsibility for a Boundless Way group or a part of a larger Boundless Way center or temple. They are familiar with the forms of practice in Boundless Way Zen Temple, and may give basic practice instruction. They are people with a stable meditation practice and some basic understanding of the Dharma and the Boundless Way sangha.
Assistant Teacher: An Assistant Teacher is a mature practitioner who has been given permission to give talks within the community. In general, five years of practice and substantial sesshin experience are expected of anyone advanced to this position.
Senior Assistant Teacher: A Senior Assistant Teacher may give talks, and may meet individually with students in private interviews (dokusan/sanzen). Within parameters set by their shoken teachers, Senior Assistant Teachers may also work with students on koans. In general eight to ten years of practice and extensive sesshin training are expected of anyone advanced to this position.
Dharma Transmission
Dharma transmission teaching authorizations are given by one of the Guiding Teachers through the authority of her/his own transmission, in consultation with the Guiding Teachers Council.
Boundless Way transmits three traditional Zen lineages. We transmit the Korean derived Linji lineage received by George Bowman from Seung Sahn. We transmit the reformed Japanese derived Soto lineage, emphasizing koans, received by John Tarrant from Robert Aitken. And we transmit the Japanese-derived Soto priestly transmission received by Jiyu Kennett from Chisan Koho. All our priests are ordained within the Kennett transmission.
Dharma Entrustment/Denkai
This is the beginning of formal Dharma transmission, the acknowledgment of deep insight into great matter of Zen in alignment with one’s teacher. The formal title is Dharma Holder and for priests, also Osho.
A Dharma holder may give the precepts and receive formal students through the rite of shoken. For priests this is full ordination, and an Osho may ordain others up to and through this rank. A Dharma holder may not transmit their own successors.
Among other expectations a Dharma holder is usually expected to have sat for a minimum of two hundred days of sesshin or zazenkai. If a koan practitioner, a Dharma holder is expected to have advanced significantly through the Harada Yasutani curriculum.
As acknowledgment of Precepts transmission, the first of the sanmatsu documents passed on in Japanese Soto Zen, the kechimiyaku is given. Priests will also receive the kiragami. There is a private ceremony followed by a public acknowledgement where the new teacher is given a kotsu. A lay teacher will also receive a colored rakusu and a priest a colored kesa.
Lay and ordained Dharma holders may join the American Zen Teachers Association.
Dharma Transmission/Denbo
This is full transmission, acknowledgement of mastery on the Zen way. The title for a Dharma successor is Sensei. A sensei is free to function as a Zen teacher in any way they find appropriate.
Among other expectations a sensei is usually expected to have sat for a minimum of three hundred days of sesshin or zazenkai. If a koan practitioner, a sensei is usually expected to have completed the Harada Yasutani curriculum.
As recognition of Dharma transmission, a Dharma successor is given the other two sanmatsu documents in a private ceremony, followed by a public ceremony where another lineage document is presented.
A sensei is eligible to be elected to the Boundless Way Zen Temple Guiding Teachers Council, upon nomination by a BoWZ Guiding Teacher and election by the Leadership council.
Inka Shomei
At least five years after Dharma transmission, a sensei is eligible to receive Inka Shomei from their transmitting teacher. This is a formal recognition of senior teaching status and deep understanding of the Zen Way. Inka Shomei is given in a public ceremony, after which the teacher may be referred to by the title Roshi (old teacher).
ORDINATION (Unsui Tokudo)
An historical distinction in the Buddhist tradition has been between renunciate practitioners and their nonpracticing lay supporters. The renunciates, monastics who adhered to the hundreds of strictures in the Vinaya code, constituted the ordained sangha and maintained and transmitted the Buddhist tradition. In Japan, an additional mode of ordination emerged – the Bodhisattva ordination – which involved a much smaller number of precepts and notably did not require a vow of celibacy. Many Japanese-derived Zen lineages, including BoWZ, follow this form of ordination. For BoWZ, this shift from Vinaya ordination to Bodhisattva ordination reflects our vision for an inclusive Zen way.
Ordination, becoming a Zen priest, is a path of vow. Ordination is not itself a path to teaching authorization. Ordination is a vow to service, to holding the forms, and reflects a commitment and stability of heart and practice. Ordination publicly affirms the significance and prominence of the role of the Dharma in one’s life, in the same way that a marriage ceremony might be said to publicly affirm a commitment and relationship to one’s long-time partner; nothing changes, and everything changes.
Ordination is conferred by one of the Guiding Teachers through the authority of her or his own ordination and precepts transmission, in consultation with the Guiding Teachers Council.
Upon being ordained one becomes an unsui priest. The term unsui means “clouds and water”—evoking the image of a person flowing freely and unattached even in the middle of worldly life. The ceremony in which one becomes an unsui is called Unsui Tokudo, or simply ordination. In Boundless Way Zen Temple, priests can maintain their layperson lives, keeping a job, maintaining an intimate relationship, and raising children, even after ordination. Ordination vows are seen as life vows, and should be approached with respect and some hesitation. We do not have a set formula leading to ordination, although there are some prerequisites to candidacy and an expectation that one will acquire certain competencies prior to ordination.
Ordination is a commitment not only to Zen and Buddhism, but also to our particular manifestation of the Path within the BoWZ sangha. This means taking on tasks of support and leadership that can range from temple care to being a member of the Leadership Council, from leading a sitting group to being a chaplain in the larger community. An unsui priest may perform all the rites of the Boundless Way, including performing marriages and conducting funerals. An unsui priest may also serve in the larger community in a variety of ministerial capacities.
And in some ways Unsui Tokudo is a novice ordination. An Unsui priest may not give the precepts and may not ordain others. These authorizations come with Denkai transmission, which is described above. And, because these things need to be explicit, full Dharma transmission and authorization to teach only comes with Denbo, also described above.
Candidacy for Ordination
Those who wish to be ordained must first discuss their intentions with their shoken teacher. If they do not have a shoken teacher, they need to establish that relationship, as the shoken teacher must approve advancing to candidacy for ordination. This is the person who will serve as their preceptor. Should one’s shoken teacher be a layperson, an ordained preceptor must be found who will work together with the shoken teacher.
There are many ways to manifest the priesthood and the gate to walk through ordination is wide. Nonetheless there are broad parameters that can indicate the likelihood of success on this path. Most importantly, we do not believe that ordination is an excuse to avoid living life. Indeed, we feel that ordination is a way to live the fullness of one’s life in service of the Dharma. What follows are guidelines for doing that. If someone considering ordination feels that they don’t fully meet these guidelines, and still feels a strong calling to this path, they should not be dissuaded from discussing the matter with their shoken teacher.
A candidate for ordination should be committed to the ideal of service. They should have substantial experience within the Zen Way. They should be approachable with a strong sense of self-awareness.. They should be stable in their life or well on the way to becoming so. There is a general expectation that a candidate will have some life experience and a sense of the larger world—such as extensive work, volunteer or activism experience; service in the military; raising a family.
Ordination Candidacy Committee –
Once accepted into candidacy by their preceptor, an Ordination Candidacy Committee (OCC) will be formed. It will consist of three people plus the candidate. One will be the shoken teacher. Another will be a well-established lay member of the sangha selected by the shoken teacher. If the shoken teacher is a lay person the preceptor and the shoken teacher will both serve on this committee. The third member of the committee will be selected by the shoken teacher and the Candidate in consultation.
As a Candidate one is expected to demonstrate proficiency in a number of skill sets and experiences. Specifics will be agreed to by the Candidate and the Ordination Candidacy Committee and a written covenant and time-line will be composed that lays out a path of study and practice leading to Ordination. This document will be submitted by the OCC to the Guiding Teachers Council for review and suggestions.
The competencies leading to Ordination will normally include the following:
- Pastoral Skills. These can be acquired in a number of ways: coursework, so long as there is also a practicum; guided reading; volunteer or related experience; and/or a Clinical Pastoral Education unit.
- An ability to perform all the standard Zen ceremonies as observed within the Boundless Way. The expectation is that the Candidate will come to understand the forms and the underlying assumptions and to manifest them with some grace, and will be able to modify or create rites as necessary.
- The Candidate must come to have a basic understanding of Buddhism, Soto and Linji Zen, and historic and contemporary modes of Zen practice, as well as the evolving ethos of the Boundless Way. This competency is primarily established through a reading list and demonstrated either through dialogue with the Ordination Candidacy Committee or possibly through a written report/reflection.
- The Candidate must continue to be a regular participant in the life of the sangha and to attend most sesshin.
- The Candidate must demonstrate a capacity to meet people as they are and must demonstrate self-awareness.
- The Candidate must acquire general leadership skills and demonstrate a capacity to use the energies of time and space. Specific skills to cultivate may include public speaking, leading groups in discussion and organizing and leading a committee.
- The Candidate must have fallen on their butt in public at least once. This may be accomplished literally or figuratively.
- The Candidate must come to show a “priestly presence”—difficult to describe, but recognizable by others. This critical pre-requisite will be determined by the Ordination Candidacy Committee .
- Anyone ordained within the Boundless Way will have a way to support themselves. This might be a professional degree, a skilled trade, or some other manifestation of right livelihood consonant with being a Zen Buddhist priest.
- The candidate is expected to sit retreat within other Buddhist traditions as determined by the Ordination Candidacy Committee.
- Prior to ordination, a Candidate will be expected to have sat a minimum of one hundred days of sesshin or zazenkai. When possible one ninety-day Ango is recommended.
The candidate is encouraged to sew their own kesa and zagu over the course of their candidacy in alignment with BoWZ standard patterns, although obtaining the kesa and zagu through other means (such as by purchasing them) is also an acceptable option.
