PZI Teacher Archives

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A Straight Hook Seeks Fish That Turn Away From Life (MK54)

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KOAN:

In ancient times, Jiang Ziya used to fish by hanging a
straight hook without bait three feet above the water. He’d
call out, “Fish, if you’re desperate to live, come on your own
and swallow my hook!”

—PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 54

Audio July 7, 2023

Summer Sesshin: Fish Feelings

John Tarrant

Koans
A Straight Hook Seeks Fish That Turn Away From Life (MK54), Blue Dragon's Cave (BCR3)
Tags
Duke Zhi, fishing, Great fish Kun, June 14 2023, mysterious devices, suffering, Summer Sesshin 2023, Zhuangzi
Category
Audio

In sesshin, we are fish moving in and out of the depths. The treasure lies in the realm you do not wish to investigate. If you can face your fear and go there, a great watery tenderness arises as the heart opens.

42' 9"
Audio November 1, 2021

Fall Sesshin 2021: Dreams of the Ancestors with Jon Joseph

Jon Joseph

Koans
A Straight Hook Seeks Fish That Turn Away From Life (MK54), Alone and Poor (GG10), Dongshan's Voice of the Cuckoo (MK52), Hongzhi's Called Back from the Dream (MK34)
Tags
2021 Fall Sesshin, Book of Serenity, death, dreams, Hongzhi, Metamorphosis, Miscellaneous Koan, Poet - Issa
Category
Audio

Jon Joseph gives the morning dharma talk about his dreams of the ancestors. A relationship continues beyond death. How is this so? It does not need to be explained, it only asks to be lived. As recorded in Fall Sesshin on Thursday morning, October 21, 2021.

38' 12"