PZI Teacher Archives
-
Allison Atwill -
David Parks -
David Weinstein -
Eduardo Fuentes -
Jesse Cardin -
John Tarrant -
Jon Joseph -
Michelle Riddle -
Tess Beasley
Yunmen's East Mountain Walks on the Water (EV49)
KOAN:
A monk asked Yunmen, “Where do all the Buddhas come from?”
Yunmen said, “The East Mountain walks on the water.”
—Entangling Vines, Case 49
Note: Yuanwu gave Yunmen’s koan to his student Dahui, who was struggling to break through.
Fall Sesshin 2022: Dahui’s Journey, Bodhidharma’s Response, & the Marvelous Duke
Sesshin is an embrace which allows greater freedom to appear, and it is deeply mysterious. We don’t do it for a particular outcome or we would be constraining ourselves. We are free and easy wandering. In the koan, Emperor Wu wants a method and a first principle of the holy teaching. Bodhidharma answers, There isn’t a principle! You can’t confine it. Chan is trusting uncertainty, it is not something to be believed. Vows from Amanda Boughton, closing words from Tess Beasley. Complete session recorded on October 7, 2022.
The East Mountain Walks on the Water
Brilliant Zen student Dahui’s teacher, Yuanwu, sees his student can’t quite let go of his hold of the precipice and gives him this koan. There is something underneath everything: it is vastness. The old character was ‘sky.’ Haiku was hailed as a perfect snapshot with eternity in it. Haiku from John Tarrant, Masaoka Shiki, and others. Complete session recorded February 13, 2022.