Jikido
Encyclopedia
In Zen
Buddhism
, it is the s job to run the zendo
according to the rules prescribed by the teacher, and maintain the zendo's schedule. The jikido makes a commitment to run every regularly scheduled sitting and each monthly sesshin. The jikido is the one person, other than the Teacher, who faces outward in the zendo instead of facing the wall. This is because the jikido's practice cannot be simply private or inward, but must always face outward, aware and responsive to what's going on in the zendo. The jikido's job is not just to facilitate the functioning of the zendo, the jikido embodies and exemplifies practice as functioning. And that is the functioning of no-self - of the forgotten self - that responds to each thing in turn, performs each function in turn without a thought of right or wrong or how am I doing or how do I look when I'm doing it. Any separate sense of self is lost or forgotten in the midst of each bow, each ring of the gong.
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, it is the s job to run the zendo
Zendo
or is a Japanese term translating roughly as "meditation hall". In Zen Buddhism, the zen-dō is a spiritual dōjō where zazen is practiced...
according to the rules prescribed by the teacher, and maintain the zendo's schedule. The jikido makes a commitment to run every regularly scheduled sitting and each monthly sesshin. The jikido is the one person, other than the Teacher, who faces outward in the zendo instead of facing the wall. This is because the jikido's practice cannot be simply private or inward, but must always face outward, aware and responsive to what's going on in the zendo. The jikido's job is not just to facilitate the functioning of the zendo, the jikido embodies and exemplifies practice as functioning. And that is the functioning of no-self - of the forgotten self - that responds to each thing in turn, performs each function in turn without a thought of right or wrong or how am I doing or how do I look when I'm doing it. Any separate sense of self is lost or forgotten in the midst of each bow, each ring of the gong.