PZI Teacher Archives

  • Allison Atwill
  • David Parks
  • David Weinstein
  • Eduardo Fuentes
  • Jesse Cardin
  • John Tarrant
  • Jon Joseph
  • Michelle Riddle
  • Tess Beasley

Xianglin's Why Bodhidharma Came from the West (BCR17)

View All Koans

KOAN:

A student asked Xianglin, “Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?”
Xianglin said, “Sitting for a long time makes you tired.”

—Blue Cliff Record Case 17 (transl. by John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland)

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"