 Tenney Nathanson is a Sensei with the Open Source Dharma Talk Monday March 29th 6:10 pm MDT During Evening Meditation Book of Serenity 37 YANGSHAN’S KARMIC CONSCIOUSNESS Guishan asked Yangshan, “Suppose someone asks you out of the blue, ‘Sentient beings only have endless karmic consciousness, with no foundation to rely on.’ How would you work with this?” “If a student like that came, I’d call, ‘Hey, so-and-so!’ When the student turns his head, I’d say, ‘What is it?’ Then I’d wait while he thinks about it. Then I’d say, ‘Not only is karmic consciousness endless, but there’s no foundation to rely on.’” Guishan said, “Good!” I’ve also been mulling over Megan’s wonderful comment, during the discussion after her retreat talk, to the effect that while we’re drawn to the tracelessness evoked in Muso Soseki’s poem—“no trace of either remains”—we’re still (as people with individual histories and psychologies and karma) also caught up in countless “traces” of various kinds . . . and that we don’t have to get rid of all these traces (impossible task!) to experience “no trace.” thanks, and looking forward to joining you all on Monday, Tenney |
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