Nyohō-e
Sewing Buddhist Robes
The kanji for nyohō-e are 如法衣. 如 where (nyo) is thusness or suchness, 法 (ho) is dharma, and 衣(e) is clothing worn in the temple, for us these are rakusu and kesa.
Sewing nyohō-e is a meditation practice where “namu kie Butsu”, “I take refuge in the Buddha” is chanted with each stitch. Strips of cloth are sewn together to form one piece. Individuality and unity are expressed in each moment with every stitch, as strips of cloth merge to form one robe, following a tradition going all the way back to Shakyamuni Buddha.
Kōdō Sawaki Rōshi wrote:
‘'…what is the relationship between the kesa and our own school’s doctrinal principles? It is simply that the kesa and the Buddha Dharma are One Thusness.”
Quoting Menzan Zuihō Kōdō Sawaki said:
“’Stitch by stitch, completing the sewing of the kesa,...
What all these teachers transmitted appears in the needle’s stitches.
Dignity is manifested and expands into the unending future.
Great fields of virtue for all beings eternally.’”
“If you clearly understand this, the sewing of the kesa itself is already the completion of the One Great Matter. Each stitch truly manifests the essential teaching of our lineage. Each stitch is the entirety. Each stitch is the complete manifestation of the Dharma.”
From The Robe and the Dharma are One Thusness by Kōdō Sawaki
Translation by Issan Koyama
Edited by M. Seizan Sevik
Nyohō-e Sewing Practice
Rooted in the tradition Dōgen Zenji transmitted to Japan from China, every morning, at the conclusion of zazen we place our rakusu or kesa on our heads and chant the Verse of the Robe (Tekesa-ge in Sino-Japanese)
dai sai gedap-puku 大哉解脱服
musō fuku den'e 無相福田衣
hibu nyorai kyō 披奉如來教
kōdo shoshu jō 廣度諸衆生
Great Robe of Liberation
Virtuous field far beyond form and emptiness
Wearing the Tathāgara’s teaching
We vow to save all beings
In Living By Vow, Rev. Shokaku Okumura Rōshi explains that “the kesa is called the robe of liberation, the robe of the field of virtue, and the robe of formlessness.” He writes:
“ the construction of the okesa symbolizes the emptiness of the five skandhas. The pieces come from all over, are sewed together, and stay for a while in the shape of a robe. The okesa is an example of emptiness or egolessness (anatman), impermanence, and the interdependent origination. So the robe is much more than a uniform; it embodies the basic teachings of the Buddha.”.
As the robe of liberation, the kesa represents Buddha’s teaching of non-attachment that arises from seeing that there is nothing fixed to attach to. A sense of self and of our world arises within these five skandhas: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. This sense of self is constantly changing, influenced by changes throughout all of existence, so we say that the five skandhas are empty.
Okumura Rōshi points out that “formlessness” refers to emptiness, which means that everything arises from the constantly changing interconnectivity of phenomena. We see that even our rakusu and okesa are formless, or empty. Not only will the threads and fabric deteriorate over time, each morning, when we put our robes on our heads and chant, it is a new moment of practice and our relationship to the material and words is new and different as well, while still connected to a tradition that began with Gautama Buddha and was delivered to us by Dōgen Zenji, by way of Sawaki Rōshi.
In Living By Vow Okumura Rōshi continues:
“the third name of the okesa in this verse is the robe of the field of virtues (fukuden-e). Fuku means “happiness”, “blessing”, “fortune”, or “virtue, while den means “rice paddy”. In Asian countries people consider rice paddies the foundation of everything good…. When rice grows we are blessed by nature….When we wear the okesa, we are also farming. This is the meaning of ‘robe of virtuous field’ (fukuden-e). This body and mind is the field we work. It is not a field of fortune from which we can expect to receive blessings without practice. We have to cultivate our life.”
Keep in mind that “our life” is just a convenient way to see our way forward. The reality is that every cell in our body, every physical element and condition sustaining us, every psychological, intellectual, social, and cultural aspect of our lives is interconnected in a way that makes us inseparable from everything around us. In this way, we practice being one with all beings. As Uchiyama Rōshi taught, our practice is the practice of the "all out of all self" (issai bun no issai). The last line of the Robe Chant reflects this reality. “We vow to save all beings” is our vow to cultivate this all/all self.
Sewing nyoho-e, donning Buddha’s robe, is an expression of Buddhadharma.