PZI Teacher Archives

Your Original Face before Your Parents Were Born (GG23)

KOAN:

Quickly, without thinking good or evil, what is your original face before your parents were born?

—Gateless Gate, Case 23

Text September 11, 2020

The Journey, the Reaching, & Luopu’s Last Words

John Tarrant

There was a teacher called Luopu, a Chinese teacher, and he said this interesting thing. He said, “You have to directly realize the source outside of the teachings.” That’s the whole thing about it. That’s Bodhidharma’s thing, the direct realization outside of scriptures. The scriptures are nice and the teachings are nice, but really, the direct understanding—the direct meeting with life—the direct meeting with awakening is the thing.

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Text August 6, 2020
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Text July 12, 2020

Class 5 Curriculum Notes: The Bright Gate Koan Types

John Tarrant

Class 5 Bright Gates. John Tarrant: Winter Proper – These are often the first koans people work with and throw themselves into. 
While they are often used as initial koans, they are not inquiry koans. 

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