Tuesday, November 24, 2020

November 24, 2020

Case 35 in the Book of Serenity

When Luopu called on Jiashan, without bowing he stood right in front of him.  Jiashan said, “A chicken roosting in a phoenix nest—it’s not of the same species—go away.”  Luopu said, “I’ve come from afar to find out your way, Teacher; I beg you fo a reception.”   

Jiashan said, “Before my eyes there is no you, here there is no e.” Luopu then shouted.  Jiashan said, “Stop, stop, now don’t be crude and carefless.  The moon in the clouds is the same, valleys and mountains are different.  It’s not that you don’t cut off the tongues of everyone on earth, but how can you make a tongueless man speak?”  Luopu had nothing to say; Jiashan hit him.  From this Luopu acquiesced.


Koan commentary by dharma brother, Rene Netter: 

Too casual
what do you want?
please teach me.
nothing to teach, just this
Nice try but too crude
no distinctions necessary,
yet when it comes to living even the smallest speck of dust makes a difference.
if you don’t make any distinctions you might as well be dead.
please, tell me how was your day?
If you don’t have something to say you are like a ghost


Rene's commentary on the Koan process:

I try to work on one koan case per week. I usually sit down not in Zazen but on a sofa and read the whole case which usually consists of an introduction, the case, comment(s) and a verse. I usually focus on the case and try to just sit with it connecting to my breath. Usually something comes up about the dharma and how whatever is going on for me connects to it.

I used to meditate with a case in the back of my mind when in sesshin. But right now I am just studying Koans out of the traditional Koan collections like the "Blue Cliff record", the "Mumonkan" or like in this case the "Book of Serenity".  I try not to think about a koan too much. They often use the regular words but are saying something completely different. So for a person not familiar with the Dharma they don’t make sense, but for somebody within the Dharma they seem to always have several helpful pointers. 

I think it is important to find one’s own language otherwise we’d be just “parroting” what our teachers told us. That way the Dharma really comes to life which is part of my motivation to write about some of these koans.  Often the koans lean more toward one side--like they emphasize the emptiness side of things or they emphasize the “being right in the middle of life” point of view. And sometimes they playfully go back and forth between both of these viewpoints, pointing out that really there is no difference between the two of them and that all it takes is flexible presents to be somewhere in the middle or to allow for something completely different which is beyond and becomes alive in a totally new and wonderfully adapted way.  

(Photo by Shannon Bergman)

_______________________________________________________________________

Our ZHS on-line schedule

  • Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
  • Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
  • M-F: 7-7:30am - zazen
  • Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study
  • For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org) 
_____________________________________________________________________

Special bows for today: 
  • Please offer bows fin honor of Dan Pomeroy, a friend of dharma brother, Dainuri Rott, who died on 11/20/20
  • Please continue to offer bows in honor of:
    • Ofelia Mendez, Lilliana Mendez-Soto's aunt who died  on 11/12/20; her relatives Jorge and his sister were able to be with her at the end
    • Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who died on 10/18/20
    • Charles Kennicott Leech, Nancy's father who died on 10/9/20
  • Please offer bows of well-being for Jim Little's daughter, Meara, and her boyfriend, Cody Mauser, who have contracted COVID
  • Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
    • Flip Dibner, who has been diagnosed with lymphoma and is currently undergoing chemotherapy but living at home with wife, Diane Renshaw
    • David Shaw, who suffered a stroke on 9/30/20; he has been taken home by his wife for rehabilitation
    • Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy; he is in the final month of his treatment.
____________________________________________________________________________

Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:










 

 

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)