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Dasui's Fire at the End of the Kalpa (BCR 29)

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KOAN:

A student asked Dasui,
“It’s clear that the fire at the end of this kalpa will completely destroy the universe.

I’m still not clear whether there’s something that won’t be destroyed.”
Dasui said, “It will be destroyed.”

“It’ll leave along with everything else?”

“It will leave along with everything else,” said Dasui.

—Blue Cliff Record Case 29 (transl. by John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland)

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Dharma Theme June 9, 2023

Dharma Theme: Fire – The Extremes of Climate Change

PZI Teachers

Koans
Dasui's Fire at the End of the Kalpa (BCR 29), Dongshan's Five Ranks (4th), Fire at the End of the Universe (BCR29), The Fire Across the River (MK2), What Is This? (BCR51)
Tags
anger, climate change, Dasui, Dharma Theme, Dongshan, Engakuji, fire, Heraclitus, Kalpa Fire, meeting difficulty, navigating change, passion, temple fire, transformation, universe
Category
Dharma Theme, Text

Our era is undoubtedly difficult, and even crazy. We are in an underworld time. We know that we’re cutting down ancient trees, burning fossil fuels, melting the sustaining ice, finding leaders who pretend that we have no part in the changes that overwhelm us. We are suffering from forces greater than us and also from ourselves; we too are forces beyond our control.

131 Words