Ango 2011 - Day 6

• Morning Zazen: 
• ~45 Min with Roky
• Good solid sit.  I kept spine in check with AT and had no problems at all with sit.  Even my knees co-operated this morning!
• Shakuhachi Practice
• Had my weekly lesson with my sensei and it was good and bad, and neither. 
• Finished Choshi, however the middle section moves up an octave to the kan register and just destroys me.  
• Jon recommended practice and to tighten my embouchure. Also more breathe...something I am already in short supply of.
• Choshi will continue to be our warm-up before each lesson, so I'll get heaps of practice with him.
• Next week we start on Daiwagaku.
• Funny story:
• After my lesson I went and had lunch at a little bistro type place called Square One. After I had read some Shobo & finished eating, enjoying the beautiful weather, decided that I would spend some time in the park at the gazebo and play my shakuhachi. Sitting on a bench under the gazebo I bowed to the shakuhachi and proceeded to play Kyorei.  Approximately 10 minutes later when I finished, I bowed once again, only to be surprised by a round of applause by a pair of nurses who were eating their lunch on a bench nearby.  I simply said thank you and very quickly packed up my shaku and left.  The only saving graces were that there was a decent amount of road noise, and I'm pretty sure they had no idea what I was playing. :D
• Shobogenzo Study
• Continuing with the Power of the Robe
• Read more on this today while enjoying lunch outside.  Was wonderful and very relaxing.
• Today Dogen talked about the merits of the robe, the different types of cloth to be used and how to properly wash and dry it.  I enjoyed the practical aspects of the cleaning of the robe.  I've used them before when washing the okesa and very thankful for the instruction.
• Evening Zazen:
• ~25 Min with my wife & Engyo
• Was great to see Engyo pop in and as always wonderful to sit with my wife.
• Had a small crick in my lower back (installed a ceiling fan today and so may be associated with it)
• Did a semi-supine spine technique before and after which I believe helped immensely.
• Samu:
• Spent a bit of time this morning listening to and converting Jundo's talk; SIT-A-LONG with JUNDO: Xin Xin Ming - (II) which I really enjoyed.  So happy for him and Mina.
• I put this as Samu because each week when Jundo or Taigu post up a Sit-A-Long, I listen to it, convert & redistribute it to podcast and then listen to the podcast to verify.  
• Throughout this process I think about all the people that will hear this talk and hope it helps their practice.
• I think about how fortunate it is to be able to hear the dharma so far from where it began and so freely.
• I think about how fortunate we all are to have a sangha that meets us where we are at. Especially as it is for many of us who do not have one near home.
• How grateful I am to be able to know people willing to give of themselves to help others along the Way.