PZI Teacher Archives

Zhaozhou’s Greatest Way Isn't Difficult (BCR2)

KOAN:

Zhaozhou taught, “The greatest way isn’t difficult if you don’t pick and choose. As soon as I speak, you’ll think, ‘That’s picking and choosing,’ or ‘That’s clear.’ But I don’t identify with clarity. Can you live like that?”
A student asked, “If you don’t identify with clarity, what do you live by?”
“I don’t know.”
“If you don’t know, why do you say that you don’t identify with clarity?”
“You’re asking about a matter you already grasp. Make your bow and step back.”

—Blue Cliff Record Case 2 (translation by John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland)

Note: Zhaozhou is quoting from Third Ancestor Sengcan‘s “Trust in Mind,” a foundational Chan text

Video May 17, 2022

VIDEO: Hijacked by Confusion with Jesse Cardin

Jesse Cardin

Jesse Cardin gets a phone call about a warrant for his arrest and enters the realms of clarity and confusion. Who can wait quietly till the mud settles? It’s not our business if we’re clear or confused. Excerpt from a Sunday session recorded April 24, 2022. 11 minutes.

11' 22"
Video July 20, 2017

The Great Way

John Tarrant

John Tarrant Roshi presenting at the Winter Bare Bones Sesshin 2011 on “The Great Way,” and other interesting bits on transformation of consciousness.

81' 32"