Don't Believe It

View All Koans

KOAN:

Whatever confronts you, don’t believe it.
When something appears shine your light on it.
Have confidence in the light that is always working inside you.

–Linji

Text October 22, 2020

The Nature of Practice

John Tarrant

Koans

Dogen's Turn Your Light Inward, Don't Believe It, Linji's There Is Nothing I Dislike (MK38a), Not Knowing Is Most Intimate (MK62), Shitou's Turn Your Light Inwards, Step by Step in the Dark (MK72), The Whole World is Medicine (BCR87)

Tags

2016 Summer retreat, 2016 Summer Sesshin, bodhisattva path, buddha nature, empathy, koan, light, Linji, moving in the dark, no rank, no-self, not knowing, practice, Take the backward step, unlooked-for help

Practice. The notion of practice, as something you embody, and you walk through, and you are—rather than something you add, like something added to gasoline. There’s also a sense of moving in the dark, in some way that’s positive. So that in a practice, “not knowing” is on your side.

9259 Words

Text October 8, 2020

14 When Something Confronts You Don’t Believe It – The Zenosaurus Course In Koans

John Tarrant

Koans

Don't Believe It, Whatever Confronts You