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Mazu's Purpose of Your Life

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KOAN:

The whole purpose of your life rests in the current matter.

—Mazu Daoyi (excerpt from a longer teaching)

Text October 30, 2023

You Can’t Cage a Koan – Make It a Raft!

John Tarrant, PZI Teachers

Koans
Blue Dragon's Cave (BCR3), Ma's Sun Face Moon Face Buddha (BCR3), Mazu's Make Yourself a Raft, Mazu's Purpose of Your Life, Mazu's Salt and Sauce (EV61), Mazu's Your Own Heart Mind, Non-Attained Buddha (GG9), This Very Heart-Mind Is Buddha
Tags
2020 Summer Sesshin, awakening, Blue Dragon’s Cave, dragon, June 26 2020, koan practice, Master Ma, Mazu, poet Gbenga Adesina, turning into the difficulty, Yuanwu
Category
Text, Transcript

In the Blue Dragon’s cave, everything is there. If you think you haven’t seen a dragon, you may be wrong. In fact, who says you’re not a dragon? And if you think you don’t know about koans, you may be wrong, too. Who says you’re not a koan? Transcript of a dharma talk in Summer Sesshin 2020.

9009 Words

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Dharma Theme June 9, 2023

Dharma Theme: Where Do We Go When We Die?

PZI Teachers

Koans
Doushuai’s Third Barrier (MK73c), Doushuai’s Three Barriers (MK73) (GG47), Huineng's Original Face (GG23), Luopu About To Die (BS41), Mazu's Purpose of Your Life, The Valley Spirit Never Dies (DDJ6), Where Do You Go When You Die?, Your Original Face before Your Parents Were Born (GG23)
Tags
ancestors, bardos, buddha nature, Daowu, death, Dharma Theme, Doushuai, dying, great matter, great questions, Huineng, last words, Linji, Luopu, Mazu, original face, poet Issa
Category
Dharma Theme, Text

Questions about death and the after-death are a part of the traditional Chan koan curriculum. Dignified by their antiquity, they are the primordial instance of that which cannot be negotiated with.

29 Words
Text November 26, 2022

Yuanwu & the Great Masters of the Blue Cliff

John Tarrant

Koans
Little Jade (MK47), Mazu's Purpose of Your Life, Talking about the Deepest Matters, The Great Way Is Not Difficult (BCR2), What Is Buddha?, What Is It Like To Be You?
Tags
2021 Fall Sesshin, Blue Cliff Record, Fayan, In the Palace at the Blue Cliff, Inquiry Koans, poet Basho, poet George Bilgere, poet Naomi Shihab Nye, poet Tomas Transtromer, Prajnatara, PZI Online Temple, Wuzu, Yuanwu
Category
Text, Transcript

The subject is the Dharma, the deepest matters, our own true face. One way to look at these matters is through the Blue Cliff Record, a compilation of occasions for revealing who you are.

6480 Words