JUKAI

Jukai is a ceremony of initiation in which we vow to uphold the Ten Grave Precepts. What does this mean in a lay practice context like the Ordinary Mind Zendo?

First of all, in our zendo, the Jukai ceremony is used to mark the successful completion of a practice period by our jikido. The jikido is responsible to maintaining the zendo schedule. They make 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.

It's a big commitment of time and effort. It also means that a large part of their relationship with the Teacher will be taken up with details of zendo procedure. They have to be able to stand that I'll be continually pointing out what they done wrong in some ritual or another, continually asked to take care of some minor chore, offer beginner's instruction, be told to change and adapt procedures at the last minute. There's very little opportunity in the job to enjoy the view from atop any 100 foot pole!

The next requirement of Jukai is the completion of tangaryo, an individual sesshin. Here one completely assumes the responsibility for one's own practice. No Teacher, no group, no schedule to fall back on. One must decide for oneself what schedule to keep, what work to do or rituals to perform. See for yourself what purpose they serve, what is valuable and what isn't in maintaining this practice.

Finally, I ask the student to study Robert Aitken's book on the precepts, The Mind of Clover, and choose one to present in a talk during the last sesshin of their practice period. Not a book report, but a personal account of how the precept functions in their life. Personal revelation and public speaking can sometimes be more frightening or anxiety-producing than sitting with painful knees. If so, it is one more thing we have an opportunity to practice with.

These then are the requirements for Jukai. But what does Jukai itself mean?
That's a question I don't intend to answer, but leave for each individual to decide for themselves. The question is central to the whole idea of lay practice. We have no defined role as priests or monks. What does it mean to be a lay practitioner? What is our relationship to the formalities and traditions of Buddhism, derived as they were in monastic settings? Some years ago, a number of students asked Joko to ordain them as monks. Her reply was, if you want to be a monk so badly, simply act like one. Which put an end to the requests pretty quickly! During the Jukai ceremony itself, we adapt certain of the old monastic rituals to our lay practice. Instead of shaving the head, I clip a lock of hair. Instead of donning a robe or rakasu, we simply recite the verse of the Kesa. To symbolize the identity of practice and daily life, I give each person their own first name as their Dharma name. One doesn't come out of the ceremony with anything to show for it Ð no shaved head, no robe, no new name. Just an acknowledgement of a commitment to practice and to take seriously the ongoing question of the nature of lay practice.

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