Tomorrow,Wednesday,
Encounters with Great Master Ma
In the first sessions of our series we’ve been hanging out with intimate encounters at the beginnings of Zen: Bodhidharma with Emperor Wu and with Huige, who became his student; the illiterate “jungle dog” Huineng who became our sixth ancestor, and his encounter with Ming, the Head Monk. Each of these transformative moments can be experienced as a dive straight into questions that are so core to our lives that we haven’t even thought them askable—until these teachers pried open the space they live in. “Show me your mind, and I will put it to rest for you.” “Quickly, without thinking good or evil, what is the face of Ming the Head Monk?”
And so now we encounter Great Master Ma, who was the dharma heir of Huineng’s dharma heir. By now, monasteries had come down out of the mountains to where arable land made possible the formation of agricultural communes, where large numbers of people could live, study and practice together. People traveled great distances to come and encounter Mazu, whose skill at opening minds was well known. He himself had many successors, and we are fortunate to have records of some of his exchanges—some, in fact, with Layman Pang, who with is family practiced nearby.
With Ma, we continue to find and release images and experiences of Mind. “If one wants to know the Way directly: Ordinary Mind is the way!” and…”This very mind that does not understand is it. There is no other thing.”
Teaching in a time of war, famine, disease and terror in the land, Ma knew the sorts of difficulties we are facing now, and his words still are able to cut through the divisions and complications that bedevil us.
Let’s enjoy entering the conversation. After all, what have we got to lose?
Well, Ma’s place, someone said, is “just the place where you lose your body and your mind.”
Participation is free of charge, donations gratefully accepted.
To make a donation, please go to https://www.desertrainzen.org/residential-retreats.html . You’ll see a way to donate for this series. Donations will go to all four teachers.