What is Lay Zen Training?

Today lay practice takes many forms, and lay sanghas each have their own forms and requirements. But as is true of the monastic path, lay practice is also supported by personal vows, a commitment to the sangha and the teacher, and ongoing learning. A lay practitioners (Skt. upāsaka, "one who sits near” [the teacher]), is a life-long student whose commitment to practice and liberation varies in form from that of a monastic, but not in spirit.

Homedwellers through the Ages

Lay practitioners and teachers have a long and prominent history in Mahayana Buddhism. There’s Vimalakirti of the Vimalakirti Sutra, the well-known Indian lay practitioner who was said to be as enlightened as the Buddha. There are Layman Pang, his wife, and their daughter Pang Ling Zao, who were all considered to be enlightened homedwellers in 8th century China. And there are the countless upāsaka through the ages-some of them anonymous—who have served and continue to serve the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

Zen Training: The Teacher

Student-Teacher Relationship

Formalizing the student-teacher relationship is the first step in entering Zen training (as opposed to engaging in practice, which is entirely personal), and the relationship itself is central to the Buddhist path. In Zen, it’s based on an intimate and mutual commitment between teacher and student, and nurtured through frequent interaction in both group and individual settings (see daisan below).

To learn more about the uniqueness of this relationship and the trust and love that it’s based on, listen to the this talk by our Guiding Teacher Zuisei.

Daisan: Private Teaching

Zen students meet regularly with the teacher in brief private sessions called daisan in which the student works to develop their practice with the guidance of the teacher. Mindfulness of the breath, koan study, shikantaza (“just sitting”) practice, and loving-kindness meditation are just a few of the formal practices that a student engages with the teacher, always with an eye to their relevance for everyday life.

Rites of Passage

Tangaryo

Tangaryo means the “room where you stay until the morning” (tanga: “staying until the morning,” and ryo: room). It’s a term that refers to a Chan tradition where prospective monastics showed their aspiration and sincerity by sitting in zazen—sometimes for days—outside a monastery’s gate. In its current form, sitting tangaryo gives the student the opportunity to reflect upon their commitment to practice, the teacher, and the sangha, and to formally ask the teacher for the teachings, which in turn gives the teacher permission to teach them. Afterward, the sangha welcomes formal students in a Student Entering Ceremony.

To learn more about the spirit of Tangaryo and the determination, resilience, and aspiration needed on the path, watch Zuisei’s dharma talk, Possibility.

Celebrating Jukai

When a formal student has spent some time in practice and Zen training, they may petition to receive the Buddhist precepts in a ceremony called Jukai. Jukai marks the student’s commitment to the Buddhist path and to living a moral and ethical life whose focus is to care for all beings and our planet. The ceremony includes the taking of refuge in the Three Treasures, the Three Pure Precepts, and the Ten Grave Precepts.

Listen to Ocean Mind Sangha’s first Jukai ceremony, where Brian Ryusan Pontolilo received the Buddhist precepts.

Shuso Training

Originating in the Song dynasty Chinese monasteries, the role of the shuso (首座) literally referred to the “head seat,” goes to a junior monk far along in their training that they can take on the responsibility for leading the sangha for a training period. In OMS, lay students who have progressed in their practice may be chosen to serve as a shuso or chief disciple for two one-month angos, at the end of which they’ll make their transition to senior student. For more information on ango, visit here.

Ango often closes with a Dharma Encounter (an impromptu question and answer session on a Buddhist topic between the teacher and the sangha), and a Shuso Hossen Ceremony in which the shuso is installed as a senior student.

If you are considering training at Ocean Mind Sangha with Guiding Teacher Zuisei Goddard, visit here for details. Ocean Mind Sangha meets regularly online, with the opportunity to practice together twice a year in person.