This morning I'm going to talk about the bells and the mokugyo and things like that. I want to talk about our attitude and why do we have bells. Why do we have a mokugyo? We can bow without bells. But there's some reason for having this equipment. So, there may be three reasons, there may be more, why we have a bell. First reason, the big bell, this big bell here is called Qi.

[01:09]

Qi also means breath. It means the center of your existence. I don't know if it's the same character, maybe not, but Qi is the key. Sometimes, you know, we say this is the sea of ki. Ki is where the breath and the vital energy comes from. So, in Zen practice, we're always expressing our vitality. We're always expressing the vital energy that comes from here. That's Zen practice. If you go to Japan and look at the monks, that's what they're doing. As a matter of fact, that's all they're doing. Mostly they're sweeping the grounds, but they do it from here. And when they serve or when they do any activity, they're concentrated on this ki.

[02:19]

So everything that they do is an expression of this ki. Chanting the sutra is an expression of zazen. It's the verbal expression of zazen. It's concentrated power from here. So we don't sing in a melodious, we don't chant in a melodious way. We chant in a very concentrated, single-minded way. Monotone. One tone. And the expression is mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Avalokiteshvara.

[03:23]

No. When we sound the bell, the bell is an expression of our inmost being. So purpose, main purpose of the bell is to express that feeling. But the bell, you know, has a voice. So to find the voice of the bell is what we're trying to do. When we sound the bell, you never say, hit the bell. We never hit the bell. This is your head. You never, you don't go around hitting your head. You sound the bell. We coax the sound out of the bell. At Eheji, they have a huge outside bell.

[04:29]

Most of the temples and monasteries in Japan have a bell inside of a bell house, outside. Bansho. And then there's a big striker, which is a log held by ropes and boom. But each time the monk strikes the bell, sounds the bell, he makes a prostration to the bell. makes a prostration and then boom, makes a prostration and boom. So there's this feeling of connection with the bell, great respect for the bell and connection with the bell. So if you see the bell as an object, then you can't make a proper sound. So there's the bell, and the striker, and the person.

[05:36]

All three are one in that activity. So every time you sound the bell, you should sound the bell with that understanding. Each time you make a sound on the bell, how can I make the best, the deepest, most profound expression of myself with this bell? So that's the main purpose of the bell, is to communicate this key. and to communicate enlightenment and awakenedness and attention.

[06:44]

So the bell has two sounds. One sound is the sound of the striker meeting the bell. But that's not the sound of the bell. That's simply the sound of two objects meeting. Then the other sound is the sound, which is the voice of the bell, which is being produced as bell sound. So there's always some sound of the striker meeting the bell. But the object when sounding the bell is to maximize the voice of the bell and minimize the sound of the striker meeting the bell. So when the bell is hit hard, then it's bang, little sound of the bell, little voice of the bell.

[07:58]

when the striker is meeting the bell in such a way that it minimizes that sound, then it's an open, vibrant sound or voice of the bell. Big, deep voice of the bell, which seems to rise out of the bell and gives everyone a feeling of settledness and it communicates a very deep feeling. So the way that that happens is to just allow the striker to fall on the bell in such a way that you guide the striker and allow it to fall on the bell and the weight of the bell, weight of the striker meeting the bell is all that is necessary.

[09:02]

You don't hit the bell. There's no hitting. There's simply allowing these two to meet and the weight, allowing the weight to produce the sound. When you hear this, then the vibrations are released from the bell. If you hit the bell, it's pongy. It's a, you know, mm sound. But when you just allow the sound to come out of the bell, that's wah, [...] very loose. And then it loosens your body, loosens your mind. So, this is, the kind of attitude that we should have when we sound the bell.

[10:08]

The little bell, same thing, but, you know, if you, when you sound the little bell, especially, this is the big bell too, see, if you hold the beater tight, tightly, then you're actually stopping the sound. So in order for the sound, a loose sound to be produced, you have to hold it loosely so that the weight of the beater is freed. But if you hold the beater tightly and use it with a little bell, ding ding, then the sound is suppressed. So you have to allow the beater to swing freely, then the weight of the beater, you guide the weight of the beater, so the weight of the beater meets the bell, and then there's wow, [...] wow.

[11:18]

Wow, wow, wow, wow. And you release the vibrations. If you hold it tight, you suppress the vibrations. When you want to stop the sound of the bell, you hold the beater tight and go bunk, right? That's suppressing. So this is releasing. Loose, loose wrists, loose body, just like Zazen. No tension in your body. It's exactly the same thing. Releasing the sound of the bell is the same as allowing your body this freedom in zazen. To sit zazen comfortably, you have to let go of all that tenseness.

[12:24]

No tenseness. Although you're allowing yourself to making a structure, a sound structure, there's no tenseness in it. So when you're sitting, let go of all the tenseness in your body, consciously. Let go of the tenseness in your neck, in your shoulders, in your arms. Let go of the tenseness in your back. find just the right place to hold yourself up, which is right here in the small of your back. The rest is loose, but well structured. Then your body sings freely. Otherwise, when you hold yourself tensely, you shut yourself down.

[13:31]

It's the same principle. So, you know, there are ways to... a technique, right? But you can talk about technique all day long and it still doesn't help that much. The main thing is attitude. To have the right attitude. Releasing the energy. Releasing the energy of your body when you're sitting Zazen. And releasing the sound, the voice of the bell. Finding the voice of the bell. What is the best voice of this bell? Each time you strike it. Secondarily, we keep time with the bell, which is when we bow we have nine bells and so forth, and then during the sutra we ring the bells, that's timing.

[14:39]

That looks like the main thing, but it's the secondary thing. The primary thing is to bring out the voice of the bell. secondarily is to keep time. But both are, one is as important as the other. The only reason I'm saying primary and secondary is so I can talk about each of them. But they go together. You can't neglect one or the other. But primarily you bring out the voice of the bell as your main task. we get, you know, easily distracted and just kind of hit the bell when it's the right time. But that's not good enough. Not enough. That's not being attentive. The Mukugyo is like, has a hollow sound.

[16:01]

And to find the place on the Mukugyo where you have the most light, hollow sound. It is over here, here, here, here. You find it, and then that's where you let the beater fall. You don't hit the mokugyo, even though it looks like it. Some people hammer nails, like bam, bam, bam. It's not hammering nails. It's simply letting the beater, the weight of the beater fall on the mokugyo. Sometimes people go like this. People learn this, and they learn it in Zen Center. But actually, all you have to do is let the beater fall. To hold the beater loosely, not like this, but just let it fall. Bom, bom, bom. And then it'll bounce back. It's got a nice bouncy end there. Bom, bom, bom, bom. And you don't have to hold it very high. Bom, bom, [...] bom.

[17:07]

Just like that. It's the heartbeat. So think of it as a heartbeat. It doesn't have to be loud. It shouldn't be loud. It should be underneath, so that if you find the resonance, if you find the right resonance, then you feel it. You don't have to hear it so much, but you just feel the pulse. So whoever's doing the Mukugyo has to really listen so that they're not overshadowing and and working, blending together with everybody.

[18:11]

Also, there's certain chants which tend to go quickly, like, or tend to have a start slowly and go quickly, progress in tempo, like the Enmei Juku Kanagyo. Sometimes people think that it should start out very slowly and gradually get faster until you're just going at a breakneck speed. But we don't do it that way. We start out at a moderate tempo. Each time, because we do it nine times, you have to pick up the tempo. If you let the tempo be the same for three consecutive times, it's too late, because everybody's already settled into that.

[19:17]

So you have to pick up, the second one has to have an obvious pickup, and the third one an obvious pickup, so that people are expecting that and they're not, you know, if you wait too long, people say, what are you doing, you know? What are you doing? when you start picking it up. So to go slowly and then suddenly make this spurt doesn't do us any good. So start out at a moderate tempo and then pick it up until it's going pretty fast and then just leave it. It's not like you should just keep going as fast as you can at the end. So there's a kind of range from moderate to quick and that's it. When it's picked up a tempo, when everybody's feeling good about it, just leave it. And although you're leading, you're also following. So to just feel that you can just pull everybody into a quicker tempo doesn't work.

[20:24]

You have to go with the feeling. You have to feel what everybody's feeling, what everybody's doing. And then they'll follow you. But if you just kind of take off on your own, basically, goodbye. I don't want to follow that. I'm being manipulated. So we don't want to have the feeling of being manipulated to go faster. But when there's a gradual, starting out at a moderate tempo and gradually increasing to a quicker tempo, it feels nice. Everybody goes along with it. Also, the Heart Sutra, in Japanese, When we start the Heart Sutra in Japanese, it's kan, ze, yan, slowly. The first, kan, ze, yan, na, mu, pu, tsu, yo, and then gradually pick up the tempo. Kan, ze, yan, na, mu, I mean, how does it go?

[21:28]

But gradually, very, very gradually, pick up the tempo to the end, so that people feel that there's movement and energy. If you go too fast, But feeling what people are doing, staying with it, and yet picking it up a little bit so that the energy increases. And then the whole thing feels energized. And then you feel good. And you feel, gee, let's do that again tomorrow. Also, when the Doan does the ancestors, buddhas and ancestors, the first, the seven buddhas, they go, bi-ba-shi-bu-tsu-da-yo-sho, shi-ki-bu-tsu-da-yo-sho, bi-sha-fu-bu-tsu-da-yo-sho, right?

[22:54]

So where this comes in is very important, because it sets the tempo. If you do it too soon, the tempo gets confusing. So you do it right at the end. And then you're ready for the next one. But if you do it too soon, You don't get the rhythm. So it's got to come right at the end of Osho. Vibhashi bhutsu taiyosho, bhutsu taiyosho, vishapha bhutsu taiyosho. And the same with the clappers during the meal chant. It's homage. It's homage to the Dharmakaya, Vairochana Buddha, homage to the Sambhogakaya, Lochana Buddha,

[23:59]

It comes right at the end of Buddha. Buddha, so that you're ready for the next, it sets up the rhythm for the next homage. So, what else? There's a whole bunch of little things. details that I think about all the time. Maybe you have some questions about certain things. Yeah, Peter. Fong. Fong. Don't go like that. Fong.

[25:00]

Fong. Just keep it loose in your hand. You can do that. It'll make a nice sound when you do that. Also, when you bow, actually, you bow and then take the striker down and then you sound the bell and then you put it this way. like this and bow and then you put the striker back and you bow so with this kind of attention It's more than just mindfulness.

[26:03]

It's being connected. It's how we connect, and how we don't treat things as objects. As soon as we treat something as an object, we're no longer connected with it. We're no longer... We're separated from it. When we went to China, in the monasteries, when they do service, the sound of their service is just wonderful. They have much more musical kind of service than I've seen in Japan. And everybody's so coordinated.

[27:04]

And they have lots of bells and drums. You know, at Tassajara we have a drum. And at Page Street we have a drum. And the drum is mostly used at mealtime. the Soko, the head server, brings in the Buddha tray. There's the drum. And this drum, you know, in Japan, like at Eheiji, they pick certain people to do the drum. Not everybody does the drum. And you have to be very coordinated. But when you start the drum, it's like, you start at the bottom of the drum and work your way up to the middle. Gradually make it louder.

[28:12]

And when you do that, there's a sound, a third sound that comes, another sound that comes out of the drum, which is a hum. because it's setting up this vibration, this mmm, that's emanating out of the drum. And the only way that happens is if you hold the sticks lightly and let that looseness create vibrations. And then the whole thing starts vibrating and creating this wonderful sound. So I just cannot emphasize enough looseness, being loose and flexible. It's like the ground. cultivate the ground and keep putting amendments into the ground, the ground becomes very loose and loamy and then the plants come up very strong and healthy and easily.

[29:35]

So actually what we're doing is cultivating the ground. loosening up our soil. And that's the way we can stay healthy, and the way our minds can stay healthy. And it's the way that we can actually relate with everything. Because the ground, when it's loose, will hold everything. Do you have any special tips about using clappers? Oh, yeah. When you do the clappers, you go... You don't go... Oops, I moved away. Could you do that again?

[30:40]

You don't do this. You go... Dead sound. And then with the soku, you go... You go... Everybody has a little different kind of style, right? That's my style. You don't have to hit them hard either. What's the sound? What's produced here? What's the sound? Well, that's about it. That's a sound that's not hurting the clappers. I remember people were beating on the mokugyo and he said, poor thing, you know, he said, be careful that we don't, we should be careful that we don't give it a heart attack.

[31:44]

So that's about it. What is the best, what is the sound? But when I made these, I didn't really know how to make clappers. This is a long time ago. I went to make these 30 years ago. So it's better if they're just square. And ebony makes the best ones. These are ironwood, a little too much oil. So they don't have, the oil kind of suppresses the, ebony has a lot of oil too, but it's more metallic sounding. Anyway, I'm going to replace those with another pair that I'm going to make.

[32:52]

I haven't made yet. Yeah, well the temples have big mikugyo like that. We had one in Tassajara, but it burned down. When the zendo burned down, the mikugyo burned down too. But it was big with two hands. Boom, boom. Also, when we start to, after the, in certain chants, I think it's the end of the chant, like the Heart Sutra, and the bell, the dog goes bonk on the bell, and then, when do we do that?

[34:05]

Clonk on the bell and bonk on the mokugyo. That should be clonk, bonk, not click bonk. It's clunk, space, bonk. You want to leave that space. Clunk, bonk. And not a bounce, but a dead sound. Bonk. When we do memorial services, could you show how fast that tempo should be? Oh, it should be Like for Tahitian Durrani? I think Mecca. Yeah, it's the Tahitian Durrani. Well, we're going to do it at lunch. Tahitian Durrani. Okay. How does that go?

[35:08]

Namuk. Namuk. da, da, da, but not da, da, but it should, you know, it's slow, it's good, it's fine, as long as it has a strong beat. nama-kara-tanna-dhara-yaya nama, get the rhythm of the, the feeling of the, of the rhythm, natural rhythm of the words, because the Daya Yajurani has wonderful rhythms within it, and if those rhythms are brought out, there's kind of a shape, you know, is that shape is brought out. And then you get into it, you feel it in your body. So you accent. Accent. Slight, it's like, you know, just like a feeling accent.

[36:09]

And if you feel it, then, yeah, accent. Within a monotone, the thing that breaks up the monotony is the accent. Yeah, that's important. But we have a Zen culture that supports that, hopefully.

[37:28]

We do. I mean, we hope, you know. The Katagiri Roshi used to say, growing Zen in America is like trying to plant a flower on a rock and make it grow. Bill of Rights Bill. We have the Bill of Rights. I concur. When you say intonation, it is an accentuation. That's also important to listen. The most important thing is listening. And if you can't hear, then you get as quiet as you can till you can't hear.

[38:37]

So to really listen, that's the key. And it's really hard because we have this thing that we want to do, and then we listen to ourself, and then we stop listening to others, to what's going on. So the more we listen, then it's easy to naturally blend. You don't have to try to do anything. Simply, the more you hear, the more you can blend. And even when there's a pitch that's a little different, you know, there were people that kind of, not quite finding the pitch. If you really listen to everybody, you find a pitch that is a kind of combination of all those pitches. and then that will help everybody to come together.

[39:55]

Is it not necessarily true that you should be in harmony as we understand it? We should be in harmony. Either all chanting the same tone or all chanting in a tone that blends, that harmonizes with. Now isn't that different from Japan? Because they have different that they chant in a way that's not nearly, it's not a Western harmony. Well, it's not Western harmony, no. But we should try to use Western harmony? I don't mean barbershop quartet. I mean that there's, you know, first, third, fifth. You can tell, it doesn't matter, you know, whether it's Western or Eastern. It doesn't matter. It's what feels right. If it feels right, then it's right. But if it doesn't feel right, then, you know, quarter tones and half tones, quarter tones can work.

[41:09]

But that doesn't necessarily mean, you know, quarter tones can harmonize if you're aware. It's okay. As a matter of fact, it gives it some tension. But then there are tones that are just, you know, outrageously off. Those are not the same. It sounds like taste. There isn't an absolute point of view on that. No. One man's harmony might be another one's jangled. Yes, that's very true. Yeah, that's very true. So best to try and be on the same tone. Next to maybe thirds or fourths. So we should stick with so-called Western harmony.

[42:14]

I think so. for the memorial service, you emphasized that it shouldn't be too light. Don't be too mushy about it. You want a definite beat. Definite beat, yeah. But that doesn't mean... Right. You can always, of course, overdo it. But I just want to make sure. But when you were talking about the inmate, Jukka Kanonko, and other ones, you were emphasizing not beating too hard. You should just basically be able to feel the beat, not necessarily hear it. Well, you can hear it, but... I would be careful about hard emphatic And The whole thing is to feel, you know, to feel that nothing is dominating.

[43:45]

There's no dominating. There's no one aspect that's dominating. But to just keep that in mind.

[43:57]

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