Lost and Found: Yunmen’s Coin

Someone asked Yunmen,
“What does ‘sitting correctly and contemplating true reality’ mean?”
The Master said, “A coin lost in the river is found in the river.”

Losing can be freeing.

When I was far away and found out that my house was believed lost, the first thing I felt was freedom.

Mainly what we want to lose is our idea of how things have to be, our idea of the next move and what is needed.

This is why losing is so interesting. It is full of space.

When I was about three or four, a little boy across the road said that robbers had come into his house in the night and stolen his toys. I said, “I’ll give you some of mine,” and actually I gave him most of them. My parents who had no money wondered where my toys were and went across the road and got them back. That was good, but not having toys was very interesting; the gold coin was also there.

All the new thinking is about loss.
In this it resembles all the old thinking.

(Robert Hass)

Join us for lost and found,

—John Tarrant

Meditation is not a task with a known goal. It’s something you can’t do wrong, a chance for the things of this world to come towards you and to meet you, for doors to open by themselves, and for us to see where the ancient paths lead.