October 20, 2014
Opening the Koan
All you bodies of awakening,
A couple of suggestions for this week’s koan practice:
On Sunday afternoon we’ll be taking up this:
The parts in parentheses are from me.
What is Zen?
(“The heart of the one who asks.” What is it, what is it?)
A silver bowl filled with snow.
(That snow is still falling!)
What is the Way?
(Hello, can you tell me what it’s like?)
A clear-sighted person falls into a well.
(It’s like that.)
What is the sword so sharp it cuts a hair blown against it?
(The ultimate, the very keenest blade…)
Each branch of coral holds up the moon.
(How fortunate! Let’s be this for Halloween, and all the ancestors will be it with us!)
I’d like to recommend that you listen to a recent talk by Tenney Nathanson, Sensei, An Open Source teacher who teaches with the Desert Rain Sangha in Tuscon, AZ. See the link below:
Off the Clock (Balanchine)
Tenney’s exploration is a beautiful companion to the pages of Acequias and Gates I’ve suggested for this week (pages 58 – 62).
Andrew Palmer and I are leading this series together, and we are looking forward to seeing you on Sunday. If you can’t come but are practicing with us where you are and would like to send a note about your discoveries, please don’t hesitate to send it: sembender@gmail.com and I’ll read it to the group.
Sarah