No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep the loneliness warm –
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger. –Thich Nhat Hanh
Practice Meetings
Tuesday Sept 10, 8:30am
Friday Sept 13, 7:00pm
This Week’s Koan
Blue Cliff Record #74
Jinniu and the Rice Pail
Venerable Jinniu (Golden Ox), when every meal time arrived, by himself in the front of the monk’s hall with the bucket of cooked rice did a dance and, with guffaws of great laughter, said, “Mr. Bodhisattvas, come and eat the cooked rice.”
Xuedou said, “Although he acted in this way, Jinniu was not being good hearted.”
A monk asked Changqing, “The man of old said, ‘Mr. Bodhisattvas, come and eat the cooked rice.’ So what was his intended aim?”
Qing said, “A great show causing celebration and praise of the meal.”
Verse
Guffaws of laughter underneath the shadow of the white cloud, Holding on with both hands, he came handing it down and giving it to them. If they are children of the golden-haired lion, They would see the boastful swindle from three thousand li away.