Glossary

Realised by Master Laure Hosetsu Scemama (link to her page)

Bodhisattva: lit. the being who awakens. Through his practice, through his Awakening, the bodhisattva naturally helps all existences. Jukai, the bodhisattva ordination generally given to laypeople, marks the entry into the path of the Buddha.

Dharani: Mantra, a 'magic formula' with a profound meaning or a state of mind designed to protect us. It is not a translated text but syllables charged with energy which, when recited, have a power of their own. The power of the dharani is all the greater when it is chanted with a sincere heart and pure faith, with a concentrated mind and an open heart.

Dharma: the Law, the guiding principle of the universe, reality as it is in its totality. The universe is one, all existences have the same nature; when all existences follow the Law of the universe, everything is in balance, everything is in harmony, everything is Buddha. Shakyamuni Buddha and the Zen masters taught just that. That's why Dharma also means the Teaching.

Do: the Way. This is the Buddha's dharma. It is without beginning or end, without goal; to advance on the Way is in itself realisation.

Dojo: The dojo is not an ordinary place; it is the room where zazen is practised. When you enter the dojo, you naturally abandon all personal preoccupations and concentrate at every moment on the way you walk, sit, etc. The mind is open, present to the reality of the moment.

Awakening: Sitting in zazen, the Buddha awakened to the profound reality of all things (Buddha means Awakened One). All his teaching stems from the clarity of his awakened gaze. We don't practise zazen to obtain enlightenment, because zazen itself is enlightenment. Zazen reveals our true nature, Buddha nature. Awakening is the normal, natural condition of the mind.

Fuse : This is selfless giving, expecting nothing in return, with no selfish motivation. Fuse is one of the Six Paramitas, the six perfections of wisdom. The entire universe lives in the fuse mode: giving and receiving. We can give material goods, but we can also give our time, our energy, our concentration, and so on. Spreading the teachings is also a gift.

Gasshô: A gesture of respect, gratitude or veneration. Hands joined at face level, palm to palm, forearms horizontal. This gesture in itself creates unity and harmony.

Godo: In the Soto Zen temple tradition, the godo is a teacher and educator. In the dojo, he sits opposite the master, at the back of the dojo. After the death of Master Deshimaru, teachers who had not yet received the transmission were called godo. Today, most of them are kyoshi: master teachers.

Hishiryo: This is awareness during zazen, which does not come from the mind. During practice, thoughts appear and disappear naturally. If we allow this process to unfold freely, without giving substance to the thoughts or trying to escape them, the mind calms itself and hishiryo consciousness appears, beyond thought and non-thought, absolute consciousness. It is the thought of the body-mind, in unity with the entire universe. Hishiryo is the unspeakable, which cannot be explained but can be experienced naturally and unconsciously during zazen.

Kesa: The kesa is the Buddha's robe, the garment of enlightenment transmitted from master to disciple and worn by monks. Originally, it was made from pieces of used cloth, washed, dyed and carefully sewn in the traditional way.

Kin-hin: This is the concentration of zazen in the action of walking. We practise kin-hin in the dojo, between two periods of zazen. The mind is concentrated on this slow walking coordinated with breathing.

Koan: An unsettling phrase, word, act or gesture that leads to an understanding of the truth without using logic. Widely used in Rinzai Zen as a technique for abandoning mental functioning, this method was also appreciated by Master Deshimaru.

Kusen: Oral teaching during zazen.

Kyoshi: Teacher of the Sôtô school.

Mondo: Teaching in the dojo in the form of questions from the disciples and answers from the master.

Mushotoku: State of mind characterising action carried out without seeking personal gain, whether material or spiritual. Zazen is performed when the mind is mushotoku, without purpose, without intention, without calculation. There is nothing to seek, nothing to obtain. The whole universe functions in mushotoku mode.

Roshi: Honorary title for 'honourable master'.

Samu: Work for the community, mushotoku. Samu is one of the aspects of the practice; it is the spirit of zazen in all the actions of daily life: serving others, preparing food, cleaning, cultivating the vegetable garden, etc.

Sangha: Community of monks, nuns and, by extension in the West, ordained laypeople and all those who practise together. The same term designates the group of practitioners gathered in a temple around a master or, on a larger scale, all the practitioners of Sôtô Zen (or Buddhism). When you receive bodhisattva ordination, you take refuge in the Three Treasures: Buddha, Dharma, Sangha.

Sesshin: Retreat during a practice session lasting from 2 to 9 days. Forgetting all our usual preoccupations, we plunge deeply into the practice. The emphasis is on zazen and all the actions of daily life: zazen, ceremony, samu, study. In this way, we can touch our true original mind, the Buddha nature shared by all existence in the universe.

Shihô: Term used to describe the ceremony during which a monk receives the Dharma Transmission from a master, officially entering the master's lineage. The term also indicates the link between two masters. In the West, receiving the Shihô is a step towards taking responsibility for spreading the teaching.

Shikantaza: Only sitting. Devoting oneself entirely to zazen, body-mind in unity, everything abandoned, the idea of the self abandoned, simply sitting, nothing else. An existence in the universe, "a flame on a zafu".

Skandha: the five skandha, the aggregates that make up life, the functioning of the body and mind of human beings: Shiki: matter, forms; jû: the perceptions we receive through the sense organs; sô: sensations; gyô: actions and shiki: personal consciousness.

Sutra: The sutras are the teachings of the Buddha, or attributed to the Buddha, which have been written down. Some of the texts recited during ceremonies are extracts from sutras.

Teisho: Oral teaching in the form of a lecture given by the master.

Tenzo: Responsible for cooking in the temple or sesshin. The tenzo is more than just a cook; he is an ancient monk and an educator. Traditionally, he has an important place in the temple.

Zafu: A round cushion filled with vegetable matter (kapok), used during zazen to tilt the pelvis forward and push the ground with the knees, while stretching the spine upwards.

Zazen: Za, to sit; Zen, meditation. Zazen itself is Awakening. It is the direct experience of ultimate reality. Through the practice of concentration (samadhi), the mind calms down, the idea of self vanishes, body and mind are abandoned, and we unconsciously return to our true Buddha nature, in unity with all existences and with the entire cosmos. Buddha awakened sitting in zazen. His entire teaching, Buddhism, grew out of this living experience.

Sôtô Zen: Originally one of the Chinese ch'an (Zen) schools, named after the masters Sozan Honjaku and Tozan Ryokai (9th century). In the 13th century, Master Dôgen, returning from China, transmitted the Sôtô lineage to Japan and founded the principles of what would become the Sôtô Zen tradition. This lineage favoured shikantaza, simply sitting facing the wall, and silent awakening without the support of koans or words during meditation.