great light

In the evening dharma talk John introduces us to an ancestor in the koan tradition, Dahui Zonggao 大慧宗杲 (Ta-hui Tsung-kao, Daie Soko), 1089-1163 and his disciple Wuzhuo Miaozong (無著妙宗; 1096–1170 CE), Miaozong lived during the Song dynasty and was one of the first nuns to be included in an imperially sanctioned Zen lineage history. The conversation between Dahui and Miaozong is instructive of his early method of using only the ‘head of the koan’ and becoming one with it. His method was formulated for his culture.

Hakuin’s “Woman at the Inn,” the woman is unknown but kept the inn where pilgrims coming to study with Hakuin stayed. Hakuin’s dharma talk spoke of the pure land of mind and the buddha of light in your own body. When that buddha of light appears, everything glows with a great light. The woman meditated day and night and one day while washing a pot she has a breakthrough.