A newborn baby...is it born with all six consciousnesses?
Sunday, March 29, 2026
A Newborn Baby
Koan:
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 newborn, not realizing that was me, having been reborn over and over again. And then today 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...”
A newborn baby...is it born with all six consciousnesses?
Sunday, March 22, 2026
No Beard
Koan:
Why has the Western Barbarian no beard?
How am I when the other is wrong? Yesterday I was irked at someone driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Might I have responded differently? Was I “pulled by karma or led by vow”?
Why has the Western Barbarian no beard?
Monday, March 9, 2026
Hanging from a Branch
Koan:
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 life as it is!”
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?”
Sunday, March 1, 2026
In a Dream #2
Koan:
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 or the world. He would always divert the conversation to something more interesting.
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.
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