REGISTER

What is the hair-blown (the sharpest) sword?
Each branch of coral holds up the moon. 

—Three Barriers of Baling

Ok, here we have a generous koan. One with two images. The first? The sharpest sword, a keen edge, one that will cut the finest hair as it is blown across the blade. This is a sword that will cut through everything—all your delusions, your beliefs, your opinions. It takes life, and it brings clarity to life, a clarity that sees through things. This clarity will bring you life as it is, without your commentary or explanation. The sharp sword cuts through and stops it all until there is “just this,” where everything is everything, where all is included.

What can we use to stop our embellishment of reality? As you become aware of the dissatisfaction and suffering in your life, what will help?

This is the question for spiritual practice. Many books, teachers, and snake oil salespeople know “just the thing,” different practices, remedies, the sharpest sword: mindfulness, crystals, diet, a particular pilgrimage, a new community. So there are many promises around this sharpest sword.

For my part, I rather like the image of wholeness that Baling brings to the question. Baling’s answer, the second image: Each branch of coral holds up the moon.

—David Parks