Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mar. 20-26

Because of ignorance, we are unaware of the ultimate, fundamental interconnectedness of existence, and our universe is perceived not as the ever-changing lace of illusion it is, but as a solid, somewhat static confrontation between self/me and other/everything else.

-Pamela Gayle White

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #62: Unmon’s One Treasure

Unmon, instructing the assembly, said, “Within heaven and earth, in the midst of the universe, there is one treasure hidden in a body. You take up the lantern and go to the Buddha Hall; you take the temple gate and put it on the lantern.”

Mar. 13-19

“For most people, their spiritual teacher is their suffering. Because eventually, the suffering brings about awakening.”

-Eckhart Tolle

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #60: Unmon’s Staff
Unmon showed his staff to the assembly and said, “This staff has changed into a dragon and has swallowed up the heaven and the earth. Where do mountains, rivers, and the great earth come from?”

 

Feb. 28-Mar. 5

“The fact is, once we look beyond our surface emotional reaction, we will see that almost every negative emotion, every drama, comes down to one or more of the three most basic fears: the fear of losing safety and control, the fear of loneliness and disconnection, and the fear of unworthiness.”

-Ezra Bayda

Case #54: Unmon Stretches His Arms

Unmon asked a monk, “Where have you come from?”
The monk said, “From Saizen.”
Unmon said, “What words does Saizen say lately?”
The monk stretched out his arms.
Unmon slapped him.
The monk said, “I have something to say about it.”
Unmon then stretched out his own arms.
The monk remained silent.
Then Unmon hit him.

 

Feb. 21-27

“The greatest difficulty is the mental resistance to things that arise—and the underlying assumption that they should not.”

-Eckhart Tolle

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #50: Unmon and the Dust-Dust Samadhi
A monk asked Unmon, “What is the dust-dust samadhi?”
Unmon said, “Rice in the bowl, water in the pail.”

Feb. 14-20

“The Buddha-dharma doesn’t ask us to give up control. Instead, it acknowledges that we never had it in the first place. When we can see this, the desire to control naturally begins to wane.”

-Steve Hagen

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #47: Unmon’s Six
A monk asked Unmon, “What is the Dharma-body?”
Unmon said, “The six (senses) can’t grasp it.”

Feb. 7-13

“Conditioned mind operates entirely on the basis of preferences, likes and dislikes; it seeks to avoid pain and maximize pleasure. Conditioned mind tries to hold on to experiences we judge as “good” and reject experiences we judge as “bad,” believing that happiness is a product of aligning our experiences with our preferences… unconditioned awareness takes us outside of the cycle of reactive responses and emotions by connecting us with the nature of our mind as pure, contentless, unstructured awareness.”

-Peter Fenner

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #39: Unmon’s “Garden Fence”
A monk asked Unmon, “What is the Pure Dharma-body?”
Unmon said, “Flower fence.”
The monk said, “What if I understand the point that way?”
Unmon said, “A golden-haired lion.”

 

Jan. 31-Feb. 6

“Any insistence that people or circumstances meet our exact expectations is not faith but another effort at control, which is bound to end in disappointment.”

-Sharon Salzberg

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #27: Unmon’s Complete Exposure
A monk asked Unmon, “What is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall?”
Unmon answered, “Complete exposure of the golden wind.”

 

Chapter III: Yasutani-Roshi’s Private Encounters with Ten Westerners, pages 120-130, “The Encounters: Student B and first half of Student C.”

Jan. 24-30

“Zen practice isn’t about a special place or a special peace, or something other than being with our life just as it is. It’s one of the hardest things for people to get: that my very difficulties in this very moment are the perfection.”

-Charlotte Joko Beck

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #15: Unmon’s Preaching in the Reverse
A monk asked Unmon, “What is it that’s not the function of the mind in me nor a thing before me?”
Unmon said, “Preaching in the reverse.”

Jan. 17-23

“Zen Master Dogen has pointed out that anxiety, when accepted, is the driving force to enlightenment in that it lays bare the human dilemma at the same time that it ignites our desire to break out of it.”

-Philip Kapleau

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #14: Unmon’s Preaching Fittingly
A monk asked Unmon, “What is the teaching of the whole lifetime of Shakyamuni?”
Unmon said, “Preaching one thing.”

Jan. 10-16

“Our thinking and conceptualizing, far from giving us a handle on Truth, obstruct our natural ability to see Reality directly. Our thinking—no matter how or what we think—is out of step with how things actually are. Once you see this for yourself, you will stop trying to figure out what’s going on.”

-Steve Hagen

 

Blue Cliff Record Case #6: Unmon’s Good Day
Unmon, giving instruction, said: “I don’t ask you about before the fifteenth day; bring me a phrase about after the fifteenth day.”
Unmon himself answered in the monks’ stead, “Every day is a good day.”