Expanding menju beyond formal occasions to continuous experience
Another way to approach the subject of menju is to say that it is happening all the time, during your entire life. It is a little shaky when you say, "Maybe this is it." But there is the feeling that it's happening all the time, no matter whether you are happy or unhappy, whether it's daytime or nighttime, whether you recognize it or not.
Menju extended to all embodied learning
Face to face means actual action. You learn painting, calligraphy, carpentry, cooking, sewing, even sweeping or taking a bath, when you do it. So in the broader sense of menju we are within it.
The origin story of Mahakashyapa's recognition of Buddha
Mahakashyapa announced, "This is my teacher. From now on I am a student of this man." Menju is like this.
Characterizing Ananda's role in preserving the teachings
Ananda was like the exposed brain of Buddha. He was always present when Buddha was meeting with people, a fantastic tape recorder who, years later, could remember everything that was said.
Kobun reflecting on his own transmission as predestined
In my case, there wasn't much choice, no choice. Maybe it was decided way back some time when I wasn't born yet. My feeling is that it was decided about a century ago, or something.
Personal story of being summoned for transmission ceremony
A telegram came from my master in Niigata and I thought, "Oh, no, my master is sick now!" It said, "Come back! Right away!"
Drawing parallels between Christ's experience and universal human experience
When Jesus Christ cries, "Forgive them, they don't know what they are doing!" it is not someone else's story, it's our own story.
Comparing baptism to direct experiential transmission
If you are the one being baptized, you don't need to understand, just be there and cleanse yourself. It's completely different from standing and watching. Imagination, even fantastic imagination, cannot reach to the actual experience.
Describing the physical labor of the transmission ceremony
I was drawing the many, many names of the Buddha ancestors, prostrating each time. You write those names on silk cloth. Then, the Great Subject of Seven Buddhas of the past, which means Shakyamuni Buddha and six before him, a galaxy of Buddhas.
Unusual parable about returning to origin after exploration
Someone told me about an interesting experiment with an ant and a piece of paper. They drop the ant on the paper and he goes all around, from corner to corner, cutting across the paper and crawling around over almost the whole paper. Finally he comes back to the same point where he was dropped, and begins to meditate.