Taking the Precepts (Jukai at Boundless Way Zen Temple, January 2024)

Teachers and Initiates 

 

Madhu and me

Last weekend, six Boundless Way Zen Temple students received the 16 Bodhisattva precepts from the four transmitted teachers.  David Rōshi and I spent some quality time finding appropriate names that both describe the current quality of the student's practice and hopes for the future -- aspiration names, which we wrote on the backs of the rakusus that were sewed by the students themselves.  Dharma Holders Alan and Michael also helped with coming up with ideas for names and signing and stamping.   

Above are some happy pictures of us all.  The ceremony was hybrid -- people attended in person at the Temple and also on zoom, including one of our initiates from the UK.  Here is the list of the people who received jukai, along with their dharma names in Romanized Japanese, Kanji, English:

Brad Roth (Kyо̄gyо̄):  協行 Flowing Action

Deb Haas (Shо̄kyo):  正居 Authentic Presence

David Linshaw (Myо̄chi):  明知 Bright Knowledge

Bix Spanierman (Shindо̄):  深道 Profound Path

Madhusmita Dhakal (Yūen):  勇炎 Courageous Flame

Susann Herrmann (Tokushin):  篤心 Devoted Heart

Taking the precepts is a step on the path of Zen that is determined by an individual student in consultation with their teacher.  Having a moral and ethical sense of what it means to be a human being is an important balance for the practice, which usually involves "taking the backward step" as Dōgen calls it.  Jukai is taking the forward step, into the world which needs our attention and healing energy.

Congratulations to everyone who took jukai!