REGISTER

I once had a life, rather, life had me.

—Funkadelic, Can You Get to That

Every week, as we gather, someone might say, “The universe comes to us.” And I might remind you that the koan is something alive in your heart, not something to grab hold of and wrestle with in order to attain some sort of meaning.

So, this week, let’s experiment and let the koan choose us. 

Here is how I suggest we proceed:

1. After welcome and announcements, we will sit with the instruction to “let a koan come to you.” When the koan comes, sit with it a bit. The bell will ring after about five minutes.

2. After this initial period, those who wish can share which koan came to them. You need not remember the koan perfectly.

3. We let all the koans shared live with us a bit. Then with a bit of dharma chaos, somehow we will discern which koan to sit with for a longer period.

4. We sit for the longer period.

5. I present a teisho (presentation of the shout or dharma talk)

6. We all share how this koan has been alive for us as individuals and as a group.

Our inspiration for this is Huangbo’s “No Zen Teachers”:

Huangbo said, “You’re all gulping down the brewer’s dregs. If you keep running around like this,
where will you find today? Don’t you know yet that there isn’t a single Chan teacher in the whole country?”
A student stepped forward and asked, “But what about all those places where
people are guiding students and leading communities?”
Huangbo said, “I didn’t say no Chan; it’s only a matter of no teachers.”

—Blue Cliff Record, Case 11

Here’s another: Quick, don’t get ready.