Friday, September 20, 2024

Boyfriend

Rhinoceros Fan (an infamous koan)

One day Yanguan called to his attendant, "Bring me the rhinoceros fan."
The attendant said, "The fan is broken."
Yanguan said, "Then bring me the rhinoceros!"
The attendant had no reply.
Zifu drew a circle and wrote the word "rhino" inside it.

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Are You Enlightened?

JOKO BECK had finished a talk and asked if there were any questions. A young man raised his hand and bluntly asked, “Are you enlightened?” Her response was immediate. Laughing, she said, “I hope I should never have such a thought!”

Moon, Susan. The Hidden Lamp: Stories from Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women (p. 41). Wisdom Publications. Kindle Edition.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Who's in the world?

Xiushan said, "What can you do about the world?"
Dizang said, "What do you call the world?"

Saturday, December 16, 2023

The Lotus in Muddy Water

May we exist like a lotus, at home in the muddy water. Thus we bow to life as it is.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Iterations

I told my grandson Charlie what my teacher told me 60 years ago... that a work of art is finished when none of the original idea remains. So I took Charlie's work through a number of iterations.

Reflections on Talks on Buddha's Lists

During a recent Appamada Intensive our students gave talks on Buddha's lists. Here are my reflections on their talks.