Can you wrap yourself in the world around you?

From a Facebook Post:

Hey guys. So here's the lowdown on this: I need your help. I beginning a long and possibly frustrating journey of sewing this. The Kesa.

Sawaki Roshi's Kesa made of old Kimonos

Just some background info on this. It is the Buddha robe, well this Buddha's robe anyway. Way back when in india the Buddha collected scraps of cloth from anywhere he could find, rubbed them with saffron and other plants to sterilize the bacteria (and get rid of the smell possibly?), and sewed them together to make his clothing. The tradition lives on until today. So I am currently in the process of gathering fabric to make a kesa in the coming year(s). It is a loooooooooooooong process. I believe there are about 24,000 stitches in one, all done by hand. So that's why I need your help.

If anyone has any fabric, shirts, bedsheets, curtains, dresses, etc... I would be extremely grateful for the donation. It can have holes, stains, anything. The point isn't having the nicest fabric, the cleanest, the freshest. It is wholly about the journey, the process.

One more thing

My grandmother passed away just before summer started after a long and debilitating battle with a degenerative brain disease. I never got to say goodbye to her and I don't feel that my father or grandfather have come to terms with it. I will ask for an article of hers, anything really, from my grandfather and include it in this kesa. In the same sense, if any of you have a loved one you wish to be remembered and wish to donate an item of theirs, I would be beyond honored to include it in this robe.

The kesa is about life; not all shiny and new, not all happy and colorful. Sometimes it's dirty, depressing, saddening, even bloody. But that is life. We take the shiny and new right along with the dirty and old. Everything is viewed with an equal eye and respected with an equal heart.

Deshimaru Roshi wearing the Kesa in zazen (It's a HUGE piece of fabric)

So take a look through your closets, you college dorm sheets you were going to burn (we all know how gross that gets), anything. You have my biggest and most heartfelt promise to do whatever you provide justice.

THE VERSE OF THE KESA (recited before placing it on the body)
Vast is the robe of liberation
A formless field of benefaction
I wear the Tathagata teaching
Saving all sentient beings

Stitching yourself together

Like most people home from college after their freshman year, I found a hobby. No, not recreating all the debauchery of my first year, I don't have the time to party quest when they aren't within walking distance. I started sewing. Yeah, whatever, I know. Not exactly the wildest or craziest summer plans, but I like it.

I started sewing the Rakusu just less than ago, you can see a picture to the right. It's as finished as it can be for the moment, as I am required to receive a piece from my teacher to sew on the back. This is all in preparation for Jukai, which I will let you google on your own if interested. But sewing a metaphor for life and then some. Again, I won't repeat all the metaphors. Pick up a needle and thread to hand sew something for a month and I guarantee you'll learn a thing or to about your patience, humor, and commitment.

I would like to sew the kesa, the full Buddha's robe. The Rakusu is a miniature version of this, used when the kesa is cumbersome to wear. It is a reminder of the commitment to one's practice. And I am very proud of mine, even for it's flaws and even though I don't think I should be.

But anyways, the World Cup is coming on!