Zen Koan Meditation ~ March 2nd
Between the raindrops
Silence and space,
Darkness, silence, and space.
~ John Tarrant
Greetings,
The mind, without consulting us, imposes onto what is happening a template of what it thinks should, would, could happen. If we fall into the thrall of the minds fiction, believing it to be true, suffering appears. This is often most apparent in our close relationships- parents, children, partners, colleagues, friends. What if we didn’t know what someone else should be feeling? What if we were more interested in discovering what they actually felt? What would an encounter look like if we gave up the project of controlling what other people think and feel?
One of the hallmarks of the Pacific Zen Institute is our interest in the consequences of meditation, koans, and awakening in our daily lives. How do koans appear inside the ordinary? This Thursday we’ll be taking up a koan from The Blue Cliff Record which touches on these questions.
Join Coral Moon Zen this Thursday, March 2nd, 7-9pm for an evening of meditation, koans, poetry and conversation.
~ Koan ~
Daowu and Jianyuan went to a house to offer condolences. Jianyuan struck the coffin with his hand and asked, “Alive or dead?”
Daowu said, “I’m not saying alive, I’m not saying dead.”
Jianyuan asked, “Why won’t you say?”
Daowu said, “I’m not saying! I’m not saying!”
On the way home, Jianyuan stopped in the middle of the road and demanded, “Tell me right now, Teacher. If you don’t say, I’m going to hit you and leave.”
Daowu said, “You can hit me, but even if you do, I still won’t say.” Jianyuan hit him and left.
After Daowu passed away, Jianyuan went to Shishuang and told him this story. Shishuang said, “I’m not saying alive, I’m not saying dead.”
Jianyuan asked, “Why won’t you say?”
Shishuang said, “I’m not saying! I’m not saying!”
At these words, Jianyuan’s heart-mind opened.
One day Jianyuan took a spade, went into the teaching hall, and crossed from east to west and back again from west to east.
“What are you doing?” asked Shishuang.
Jianyuan said, “I’m searching for the sacred bones of our late teacher.”
Shishuang said, “Floods reach the horizon, whitecaps drown the sky. What sort of teacher’s sacred bones are you looking for?”
Jianyuan said, “This is just what I need to strenghtenth me.”
Later, Fu of Taiyuan said, “Our teacher’s sacred bones are still here.”