PZI Teacher Archives
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Buffalo through the Window (GG38)
KOAN:
Wuzu said, “It is like a buffalo jumping through a window.
Its head, horns, and four legs all pass through.
Why can’t its tail pass through?”
—Gateless Gate Case 38
Summer Sesshin: The Buffalo Talk
I’m a great buffalo. Why won’t my beautiful tail pass through the window with the rest of me? What is that wonderful tail? John Tarrant gives in a dharma talk in Summer Sesshin.
Summer Sesshin: Buffalo Talk, Part 1: Why Won’t My Tail Go Through the Window?
I’m a buffalo. Why won’t my beautiful tail pass through the window? Part One of John Tarrant’s dharma talk recorded in 2023 Summer Sesshin on June 16th.
The Buffalo and the Lattice Window
John opens the Harvest Moon Retreat at the Angela Center with an ancient koan about a buffalo passing through a lattice window. “It is like a buffalo passing through a window. Its head, horns, and four legs have all passed through. Why is it that its tail cannot?” Meditation on the tail and the question of the tail. What is the tail, why could a huge buffalo enter but the tail cannot? —As recorded October 13, 2013.
The Question of the Tail
David Weinstein Roshi continues the conversation during retreat regarding the ancient Koan about the buffalo passing through a lattice window. How can the buffalo get through the lattice window – all but the tail? What is it that is difficult for me to let in? Can we be compassionate with ourselves when we find the place on our life where there is a no trespassing sign?