Practice Meetings
Tuesday Aug 27, 8:30am
Friday Aug 30, 7:00pm
This Week’s Koan
Gateless Gate #1
Joshu’s Dog
A monk asked Joshu, in all earnestness: “Does a dog have Buddha Nature?”
Joshu answered, “Mu. (No.)”
Special Note
The Sangha meeting for Aug. 30 will follow a different format. In lieu of tea, discussion and chanting, there will be three 25 minute sits interspersed with walking meditation.
Practice Meetings
Tuesday Aug 20, 8:30am
Friday Aug 23, 7:00pm
This Week’s Reading
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path White Clouds, Chapter 57, “The Raft is not the Shore”.
This Week’s Koan
Blue Cliff Record #42
Layman Pang’s “Beautiful Snowflakes”
Layman Pang bid adieu to Yaoshan. Shan ordered ten people who were Zen travelers to go together to the main gate to see him off.
The Layman pointed to the snow in the middle of the sky and said, “The excellent snow; flake by flake it does not fall at another spot.”
At that time there was Zen traveler Quan who asked, “At what spot does it fall?”
The gentleman hit once with a slap.
Quan said, “A Layman too cannot get careless.”
The gentleman said, “Like this you call yourself a Zen traveler. Lao-tzu has not liberated your dependence.”
Quan said, “Layman how do you make it alive?”
The gentleman again hit once with a slap and said, “The eye sees like a blind person; the mouth speaks like a mute.”
Xuedou separately said, “At the first questioning point, yet grab a snowball then hit.”
Practice Meetings
Tuesday Aug 13, 8:30am
Friday Aug 16, 7:00pm
This Week’s Reading
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path White Clouds, Chapter 56, “Full Awareness of Breathing”.
This Week’s Koan
Blue Cliff Record #91, Book of Serenity #25
Yanguan and the Rhinoceros Fan
One day, Enkan called to his attendant, “Bring me the rhinoceros fan.”
The attendant said, “It is broken.”
Enkan said, “If the fan is already broken, bring me the rhinoceros himself.”
The attendant gave no answer.
Shifuku drew a circle and wrote the ideograph “ox” in it.
Practice Meetings
Tuesday Aug 6, 8:30am
Friday Aug 9, 7:00pm
This Week’s Reading
Thich Nhat Hanh, Old Path White Clouds, Chapter 55, “Appearance of the Morning Star”.
This Week’s Koan
Blue Cliff Record #72
Yunyan’s “Do You Have Them or Not?”
Baizhang again asked Yunyan, “If side by side you withdraw throat and lips, how do you speak to make it alive?”
Yan said, “Does the Venerable have or not?”
Zhang said, “I have lost my children and grandchildren.”