Resources for the inoThe origin of this term is a bit complicated. In Indian Vinaya texts, there’s a karma-dāna or “assigner of duties.” In Buddha’s sangha, the monks realized there was no one in charge of announcing the time or other things, keeping the facilities clean and doing set-up, taking care of provisions, or warning people when they were noisy or unruly. The Buddha said that one or more people should be assigned to manage these things. The term karma-dana was translated into Chinese as “disciplinarian” (kōi 綱維). Both kō and i refer to a rope used for securely tying a load onto something. The sense here is of someone who pays attention to the rules to keep the sangha orderly and harmonious. Koi was transliterated into Japanese as katsuma dana 羯磨陀那. Eventually, the i from koi and the na from katsuma-dana were combined into ina, or ino. This position is also called esshu 悦衆, meaning "giving joy to the sangha."
By Dogen’s time, the ino was in charge of registering monks for retreats, enforcing rules, advising the shuso, maintaining discipline in the sangha hall, leading the sutra chanting and reciting the ekō. Thus there were two areas of responsibility: managing and disciplining practitioners, and leading chanting. In the Eihei Chiji Shingi (Pure Standards for the Temple Administrators), Dōgen quotes an earlier text that describes the ino role: The inō is responsible for all matters regarding the monastic community staying in the monks’ hall. When there are newly arrived monks, the inō checks their ordination certificate issued by the government to make sure of their dharma-age, to make a determination of the order of seniority of monks, and to arrange the appropriate seat in the monks’ hall. If there is something questionable regarding someone’s certificate, the inō should contact the government through the temple office to clarify it. When a monk dies, the inō should report the death of the monk and return his certificate of ordination to the government. The inō should keep the temple facilities such as the monks’ hall, dormitories, etc. in good shape and make seasonal changes so that monks can practice comfortably. The inō also assigns the monks who are in charge of such minor work. The inō makes necessary arrangements for sick monks to be well taken care of. When there is a serious violation of the rules, the inō should report it to the abbot to get approval, then expel the person from the temple. When the violation is minor, the inō should change the person’s work position and/or resting place. When there is a conflict or dispute among monks, the inō should pacify the conflict by having both parties courteously reconciled. If both parties do not accept the mediation, the inō should judge them according to the rules. When there is something to announce to the monks, the inō should hit the tsui-chin (mallet) placed beside the Manjushri altar in the monks’ hall, and make the announcement. The inō is in charge of leading the formal chanting at daily services, and formal meals in the monks’ hall. The inō should make it clear that all monks including the abbot participate in communal work. We can see why this is a leadership position. If you're the ino, when someone arrives, you make sure they’re legit and assign a seat in the right order. When someone dies, you notify the government (today we notify Sotoshu). You manage the facilities and the people who work on the facilities. When someone breaks the rules or conflict breaks out, you deal with it and get it resolved. You make the announcements. You lead the chanting during services and formal meals. You make sure everyone including the abbot shows up for work period. The ino’s assistant is the doan, short for “hall manager’s” (dōsu 堂司) “assistant” (anja 行者). The doan’s job is to direct the movements of the great assembly, e.g. by playing percussion instruments that signal the start of activities, hanging placards, making verbal announcements, and so on. The doan is not the same as the jikido, though in North America because sanghas are small, these three jobs are often conflated and there’s some confusion. The jikido facilitates the functioning of the zendo: time, bells, set-up, etc. The doan does not manage zazen; the doan is a liturgical function. Today in North America, the ino might be concerned with teaching forms, overseeing day to day practice activities, making work assignments if there’s no work leader, and training people in service positions. To do that, he/she/they needs a clear understanding of the practice vision: what kind of practice we’re doing, who we are as a sangha, how we’re moving people toward deepening their practice. Practical areas of ino responsibility
Training and explaining
The way we learn in the temple is not the way we learn at school or at work. We learn by doing and by imitating, not by following handouts and checklists. That means we have to be present and paying attention, being self-sufficient and practicing non-reliance. An an ino, you have to help people understand this approach, as it's not necessarily what they expect. In North America, we still need explanations because we often don’t have context, but we can’t just talk about things. Practitioners have to actually do, and they will make mistakes. That means that efficiency is not always the goal. We can't prevent all mistakes, and failure IS an option, but it’s not a joke -- oh well, we’ll just get through it somehow! Ha, ha, ha! Activities need to be done properly. Keep expectations high, but help people meet them. I've never done this before is not a reason not to learn and do. Learning, trying and publicly failing are huge dharma gates and ego-busters. We have to learn how to fail without self-involvement. It’s good if we don’t choose our own assignments so that we can’t coast along on what we know. The challenge is not scaring people away; there's danger in becoming lax simply for fear of making anyone uncomfortable. Everyone has had a first day in the zendo; we’ve all been confused and uncomfortable at some point. The ino can set an atmosphere that encourages people to develop their own leadership. Mistakes will be made, and how do we respond to that? If the same old people are always doing everything, it’s not a sustainable situation, and it’s a loss of opportunity for everyone else. Ask newbies to help move something or put things away. Show them that they are included from the first day and are considered members of the community. They may not be able to ring bells yet or teach zazen, but they do have something to contribute. Liturgy and chanting
Chanting There are five qualities of chanting in the Soto Zen tradition:
Chanting is a body practice, which requires skillful breathing and enunciation. Elements of liturgy Sometimes it falls to the ino to construct or modify a service or write an eko, usually for review by a senior teacher, so you need to know what the elements are and how they go together. It's not random, or a matter of personal preference. There's an arc to the liturgical story. The point of liturgy is to generate merit by chanting texts and to dedicate that merit to various beings and to ask for certain favorable conditions. Secondarily, there are the sociological functions of liturgy and ritual:
In a full standard Soto Zen liturgy, the dedication moves from the most abstract to least abstract. In the case of choka (morning service):
In the abbreviated version (ryaku choka):
That’s the general structure of the service; now let’s look at the ekos themselves. Again, the purpose is to dedicate the merit we’ve just generated by chanting the text, and to set some intention for favorable circumstances. Ekos have their own pattern or structure:
See Sanshin's ekos as examples of these structures. It's important to understand how these things work because sometimes you have to create your own in order to respond to the needs of your sangha. However, you have to keep the arc of the story intact in the service and the eko; otherwise it feels like chapters of a book that are out of order. Chanting the repentance verse and the bodhisattva vows, for instance, don't generate merit because they're not sutras, so following them with an eko makes no sense. Help your sangha members understand the purpose and structure of the liturgy so they can make it a meaningful practice. |
Ritual as an element of Sanshin's practice vision
Sanshin's chants and ekos Soto School Scriptures for Daily Services and Practice |
