2009 Zen 7 Retreat Initiation

Has it really been two months since I last posted? Time does fly.

The Zen 7 Retreat has started yesterday, on Christmas day.

60 diligent participants are ready to make an real effort to see their original nature. Since many people had to be turned away because the retreat was full, we decided to hold another Zen 7 from 3/28 ~ 4/4. Those interested should sign up soon, because it is already more than half full.

Here are the Initiation Verse for the Zen 7:

   寒冬風寒意不寒    殿內佛光暖入懷
   抖落千般人不是    放卻萬種世間乖
   念念明湛照常理    心心寂然息幻塵
   忽得晴空爆碎矣    覷得娘生前面門

諸位知識，即今起七一事，最後一句又怎麼說法？

   莫執莫放莫掛礙    無心無住無形骸

起—


In English:

Initiation Verse
December 25, 2009

Chilly winter, cold winds, but your hearts are not
   In the Hall the Buddha’s light warms your minds.
Let’s drop the hundred gripes with others
   And the thousand misgivings of the world outside.
Thought by thought, with clarity, you’re mindful of the Ever Present;
   Moment by moment, in stillness, each delusion ceases.
Suddenly, when the sky is blown away,
   You get to see the face before you’re born.

Good cultivators, for this Zen-Seven Initiation, how does the last verse go?

Neither grasp, nor let go, nor worry;
  There is no mind, no abiding, and no body.

Begin—