Learning is like a design in water, contemplation like a design in the side of the wall, meditation like a design in a stone.

– Adept Godrakpa, Hermit of Go Cliffs

Announcement

Retreat! On 2012 Sep 27-30, Zen Teacher Valerie Forstman will be leading a retreat at the Gainesville Retreat Center. More info at the Retreats page.

Practice Meetings

Tuesday Aug 28, 8:30am
Friday Aug 31, 7:00pm

This Week’s Reading

Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path While Cloud, Chapter 9, “The Path of Compassion”.

This Week’s Koan

Blue Cliff Record #98: “Tempyo’s Two ‘Wrongs'”

Master Tempyo was on an angya [1] and visited Sai’in. (He was always saying, “Don’t say you have understood Buddhism. I have sought after someone who could give correct explanations, but in vain.”)

One day, Sai’in saw him at a distance and summoned him,

“Jyui! [2]”

Tempyo raised his head.

Sai’in said, “Wrong!”

Tempyo went on a couple more steps.

Sai’in said again, “Wrong!”

Tempyo came closer. Sai’in said,

“I have just said, ‘Wrong!’ twice. Does it mean that it is I who am wrong, or it is you?”

Tempyo said,  “It is I.”

Sai’in said, “Wrong!”

Tempyo said nothing. Sai’in said,

“Please stay here for the summer [3]. I’ll examine the two ‘Wrong!’s with you.”

However, Tempyo immediately left him.

Later he was the abbot of his own temple and said to his assembly,

“As I was once on an angya, I was driven by the wind of fate and came to Elder Shimyo [4], who cried to me, ‘Wrong!’. Moreover, he demanded that I stay with him for the summer to examine this matter with him. I didn’t believe I had done anything wrong then. But when I was on my way down south, I realized quickly that I had done something entirely ‘wrong’.”

[1]: A traditional pilgrimage in order to deepen the practice.

[2]: Tempyo’s personal name.

[3]: I.e., a summer sesshin for three months.

[4]: I.e., Sai’in.