Transformation Through Shugyo
Joe Pittelli Sensei (left) training in karate.
My journey to Zen began over fifty years ago, when I first donned a karate gi. Back then, the training was in person and extremely physical. There were no water breaks, and in hot weather the windows were shut as my teacher felt it was too cold. Contact was also the order of the day. One learned that “falling asleep” by not being aware of your opponent’s movements had adverse effects on the body.
After more than six years of this type of training, there was a shift. At that time, I was training in the NYC dojo under Sensei Zenko Heshiki. Zazen was introduced to the class and the term shugyo was spoken about for the first time. Not only was it spoken about, it was practiced over and over during each class. After physically training to near exhaustion, we then sat zazen. Sitting zazen brought together the mind and body as one.
Once a month, we participated in a zazenkai; we’d participate in a three hour class, and then sit zazen from 9pm until 6 am. Shugyo was the new form of practice that Heshiki Sensei brought to us from his training with Tanouye Rotashi. Slowly, the students' practice changed from beastly behavior to a more refined practice. A practice that could not come about without zazen and the Zen training that our Chosei Zen teachers provide us.
With the onset of COVID-19, the ability to train in person became impossible. Online zazen was born under the direction and guidance of Ryan Roshi. Sitting zazen with fellow practitioners is invaluable, and practicing the principles of breath and posture with everyone online makes me feel more alive. Whether I am sitting zazen or practicing shakuhachi, the principles of shugyo are the same.
Now instead of performing kata to the point of exhaustion, we blow one note each with one breath to the same extreme. Practicing in this manner, being sensitive to our surroundings, feeling the rhythm of the day, trying to find out who is really playing shakuhachi, is the Zen practice. Tanouye Rotashi said “to practice so that one note puts someone into samadhi”. It is to this end that shakuhachi is practiced.
Chosei Zen has so many paths to discovery of who we are, all of which, if practiced honestly, will help take away fear.
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