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Mahasattva Fu Explains Things to Emperor Wu (BCR67)

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KOAN:

Emperor Wu of Liang asked Mahasattva Fu to explain the Diamond Sutra.
Fu went up to the teaching seat. He shook the lectern and immediately came down.
The Emperor was startled.
Duke Zhi asked, “Your Majesty, do you understand?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Mahasattva Fu has finished explaining the sutra.”

—Blue Cliff Record Case 67

(transl. by John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland)

Note: Mahasattva Fu was a revered lay practitioner

Video November 14, 2023

Why Did Bodhidharma …?

Jesse Cardin

Koans
Bodhidharma and the Buddha-Heart Emperor and the Magical Duke (BCR1)(BS2), Bodhidharma Comes and Goes (MK43), Dongshan’s Jewel Mirror Samadhi, Dongshan’s Three Paths, Emperor Wu Questions Bodhidharma (BCR1)(BS2), Longya's Why Bodhidharma Came from the West (BCR20), Mahasattva Fu Explains Things to Emperor Wu (BCR67), Xianglin's Why Bodhidharma Came from the West (BCR17)
Tags
Big questions, Bodhidharma, October 29 2023, Sunday Talks, Sunday Zen, why?
Category
Video

What is the heart of any big question? We are swimming in a sea of uncertainty and the mind wants to fill in the blanks. Yet our questions are much smaller than what’s on offer, what’s possible as an answer—the whole universe might be doing something through me.

60' 4"