The Dharma Name 'Shinzen'

OK, so that's how you write my name in Japanese, which is Chinese. Chinese red in the Japanese pronunciation.

The sino Japanese readings are shinzen, but in.

Standard Mandarin Chinese.

The characters are pronounced junshan.

In sino Korean it would beach in Sun and in sino Vietnamese it would be done T at.

Written the same means the same but pronounced differently depending on the region of E Asia.

What happens is when you become a Buddhist monk they give you a Dharma name just like if you become a Christian monk or nun, you get like a religious name.

So my teacher.

Before he made me a Buddhist monk in 1970, just before the ceremony. He came up to me. With this slip of paper and he said, This Is This is the.

The Dharma name I'm going to give you and I want you to use it. Keep it make it your name that you use for the rest of your life, but I want to know are you OK with this name?

So I like look at the piece of paper and I pretty much freak out.

See Chinese written Chinese jumps off the page if you can read it because it's iconic graphic OK so.

It's like up.

Shin means authentic or true.

And then means good or goodness. It's like authenticity, you know truth and goodness.

As I'm looking at it says goodness he's gonna give you like you know, I could never live up to that name so I said, You know, I said.

I'm afraid I'll now Myanmar Kitten Amaia market in Japanese means I won't be able to live up to the name and he said. Never mind that is, it OK? Are you willing to take this name as I said, well well. I I guess so you know, so hence the name.

What he meant to convey to me?

Was many levels of meaning simultaneously?

As is possible with the Chinese characters on one hand, he was saying.

Uh.

I'm

Sort of giving you the whole image to take back to the United States. Because Zen by the way this is not the Zen of send Buddhism there's a good example see.

It's a completely different character, I'll show you the Zen Zen Buddhism in a minute.

Zen is part of his name his name was N kill meaning good teaching.

The Shin.

Was the name of the Prince Imperial Prince? Who founded the temple where I lived or where we lived on Mount Koya.

It was 1000 years old, and Prince Shinnyo written with this.

Was was a son of an emperor?

Who started this particular site on Mount Koya about 1000 years ago so he's giving me the name of the guy that started the temple. A thousand years ago, the first character of that and he's giving me the first character of his own name.

Sort of saying OK. Here's 1000 years of Linneage to carry back to the United States.

Now In addition to the intrinsic, meaning there's this all this other level of like responsibility and etc. Prince Shinnyo LSHINNYO, you can look it up in the Wikipedia.

Very interesting person, he was the first Japanese were talking 9th century AD, OK, so over 1000 years ago. He was the first Japanese to attempt to leave Japan and visit the Western world.

Many many Japanese for centuries had gone to Korea and China itself to study but because the linea juv practice is xinggan and that is an Indic Linneage.

The linear job was originally ordained in its Vad Rihanna actually.

Prince Giniel.

In essence wanted to go back to the source itself. He wanted to go to India to study directly with Indec Masters, rather than secondhand with Chinese or Koreans.

India is the W from the E Asian POV, he never made it, though you have to realize.

In the 9th century, even to travel to China.

From Japan was to take your life in your hands.

Because the seeds are very rough and it's just dangerous so it was actually a pretty outrageous notion.

To be able to travel given the primitive and dangerous conditions and the unknown conditions to be able to travel from Japan to India and indeed it was not feasable he?

Was killed in the Singapore area Malaysia area never never got any further?

Anyway, just a little bit of history, but then there's another whole level of meaning.

Which is?

This this represents the twin pillars.

Of.

The Universal.

Spiritual path around the world.

Because.

The truth or the authenticity peace.

That stands in the Buddhist tradition for the wisdom.

In the Dallas tradition somebody who had realized the Dow.

Who had transcended the something Ness of self and the material iti of the world?

Such a person was referred to as a John run.

That's the dollar's term for an an unenlightened.

Master.

Very simple authentic person.

This implies sort of.

Get over yourself in the world. The Sean is ordinary goodness OK in the sense of a mentia good person OK. It's improvement, both in terms of improving your Sheila your personal character and in terms of improving the world through Bodie. Sodfa service is implied by this character, so an ordinary good person what we might colloquially call and.

North American English of Mensch from the Yiddish is called Ashan run OK, So what he was basically saying is like.

I'll give you a name that exemplifies the essence of the path.