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Buffalo through the Window (GG38)
KOAN:
Goso said, “When a buffalo goes out of its enclosure to the edge of the abyss, the horns and head and hoofs all pass through, but why can’t the tail also pass?”
—Gateless Gate, Case 38
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?