A Newborn Baby

“A newborn baby...is it born with all six consciousnesses.”

My first art teacher said, “A work of art is finished when none of the original idea remains.” I think it is the same when working with a koan. Initially I was thinking of a new born baby, not realizing that was me, being reborn over and over again. And then I was hit over the head with “no consciousnesses” in the Heart Sutra. Finally I remembered a line in “Hsin Hsin Ming”: “Don't get tangled in the world, don't lose yourself in emptiness...”

No Beard

“Why has the Western Barbarian no beard?”

How am I when the other is wrong? Yesterday someone was driving the wrong way on a one-way street. How might I have responded? Was I “pulled by karma or led by vow”?

Hanging from a Branch

Kyogen said, “It’s like a man up a tree, hanging from a branch with his mouth; his hands cannot grasp a bough, his feet won’t reach one. Under the tree there is a man who asks him the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West. If he does not answer he will lose his life. What should he do?”

How hard it is to accept one's condition—or the condition of the world. It is much easier to blame others or to come up with a clever solution. As I sit, I realize that “this is it!”

In a Dream 2

“How do you answer if you are asked, what is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the west, by someone in a dream? If you cannot answer it the teachings of the Buddha are worthless.”

Every week I'd complain to my dad about some injustice or irregularity in my life. He would always divert the conversation to something more interesting.

In a Dream 1

“How do you answer if you are asked, what is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the west, by someone in a dream? If you cannot answer it the teachings of the Buddha are worthless.”

Norman Fischer's Lojong slogan, “See everything as a dream,” might have helped me to lighten up a little. Every week I'd complain to my dad about some injustice in my life. He would always divert the conversation to something more interesting. When I drift off, it is always uncomfortable to be asked, “Where are you right now?” And then there is the boundless “now” that began before my parents were born and maybe never ends.

How simple am I willing to let it be?

I'm just dreaming!!!

Moving Mountains

“A man asked Ummon, ‘How do Buddhas appear?’ Ummon answered, ‘The eastern mountain moves along the stream.’”

Mountains are mountains—or are they—or aren't they?

It was only recently that I realized that motion, not stillness, is the default.

Aimlessness

“Absorbed in the flight of birds, he sees mindlessly.”

I see two brands of concentration: hard and soft. Seeing this way is definitely soft. And maybe so soft it becomes hard.

Murmuring Waters

“Through the flowing murmuring waters he walks leisurely.”

It amazes me that the water doesn't get tired—like my grandfather-in-law who could pull weeds all day long. Or like sitting when I'm not waiting for the bell.

The Leaf Falls

“Empty handed—the wind blows. Yet holding a rake—the leaf falls.”

We think we are ready. Ha! Every moment a surprise!

Incense Powder

“Bring me the incense powder made out of shunyata (boundlessness)."

I'm learning that simple acts can be done with such reverence. Even smiling at a person or shaking their hand. When done this way, the earth seems to stop moving for a moment and we can hear the bell permeating everywhere, even before and after.

Beginningless 4: The beginningless self-nature has been awakened.

“Seikenko of Cho composed a gatha as he was enlightened upon hearing thunder strike.
Sitting in the room in absolute silence.
Mind-source unmoved, filled like still water.
The striking of thunder has opened the gate of the head’s crown.
The beginningless self-nature has been awakened.
Present the implication or content of each line.”

Knock, knock, who's there? Maybe this awakening is just like unexposed film—lots of potential and ready for action.

Beginningless 3: The striking of thunder has opened the gate of the head's crown.

“Seikenko of Cho composed a gatha as he was enlightened upon hearing thunder strike.
Sitting in the room in absolute silence.
Mind-source unmoved, filled like still water.
The striking of thunder has opened the gate of the head’s crown.
The beginningless self-nature has been awakened.
Present the implication or content of each line.”

I like the expression “you hit it on the head.” And not only the crown, but the proturberance on the top of the head representing the status of being a Buddha. And yet, this is only an entrance, a door.