Peach Blossoms (MK37) (EV8)

KOAN:

Lingyun was wandering in the mountains and became lost in his walking. He rounded a bend and saw peach blossoms on the other side of the valley. This sight awakened him and he wrote this poem:

For thirty years I searched for a master swordsman,
how many times did the leaves fall,
and the branches burst into bud?
But from the moment I saw the peach blossoms,
I’ve had no doubts.

—Transmission of Light, Case 12, Entangling Vines, Case 8

Later, Keizan, the Japanese teacher, wrote:

The village peach blossoms didn’t know
their own pink
but still they freed Lingyun
from all his doubts.

—PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 37