Description
Anything might be in the Blue Dragon’s cave: awakening, memories, sorrows, dance moves—all the possibilities of your life might be there. You just fall into meditation in the Blue Dragon’s cave. Perhaps your whole life is blessed—every struggle and confusion itself.
Dragon Teachers & Magical Creatures
Links to Audio, Video, & Text on the topic
How many times have I gone down to the Blue Dragon’s cave for you?
Anything might be in the Blue Dragon’s cave: awakening, memories, sorrows, dance moves—all the possibilities of your life might be there. You just fall into meditation in the Blue Dragon’s cave. Perhaps your whole life is blessed—every struggle and confusion itself.
What’s it like in the Blue Dragon’s cave, if your whole life is there?
Journey Into the Blue Dragon’s Cave – A Guided Meditation with John Tarrant, Summer 2020
DRAGON SINGING
“Who can hear these dragon murmurings?”
And the teacher said, “There’s no one in the world who isn’t hearing it.”
Dragon Singing in a Withered Tree (long version)
Xiangyan was once asked by a monastic, “What is the Way?”
Xiangyan said, “A dragon singing in a withered tree.”—from Blue Cliff Record Case 2
AUDIO: When You Stop Chasing About – John Tarrant, Fall Sesshin 2020
TEXT: Knock on Any Door: Daoist Masters & Zen Koans – John Tarrant, Fall Sesshin 2019
People (and dragons, but that’s another story) live with a gap between the forms of the world and their own sense of possibility. It is this gap, this fracture between what is and what-could-be, that makes us capable of spiritual discovery, of wonder, and of suffering. The gap is the place in which we wake up. (John Tarrant)
BLUE DRAGON
For twenty years I have struggled fiercely—
How many times have I gone down to the Blue Dragon’s Cave for you?—Xuedou, from his commentary on Blue Cliff Record, Case 3
TEXT: Meet the Blue Dragon – article by John Tarrant, published in Lion’s Roar magazine, Summer 2019
TEXT: How Many Times Have I Gone There for You? – John Tarrant, Sunday Zen, Summer 2020
AUDIO: How Many Times Have I Gone There for You? – John Tarrant, Sunday Zen, Summer 2020
VIDEO: We’re Going to Talk About Dragons – Jon Joseph, Sesshin 2015
DRAGON CAVE of TREASURES
MINI-COLLECTION from Summer Sesshin 2020: Into the Blue Dragon’s Cave
AUDIO CLIP: Discoveries, Pearls, & Treasures in the Blue Dragon’s Cave – John Tarrant & Tess Beasley
AUDIO CLIP: Don’t Try to Cage the Blue Dragon! – John Tarrant
AUDIO CLIP: What Memory Holds in the Cave of the Blue Dragon – Allison Atwill
AUDIO CLIP: The Unexpected Call of the Blue Dragon – Allison Atwill
AUDIO CLIP: Banging on the Door of the House of Treasures? – David Weinstein
AUDIO: Into the Blue Dragon’s Cave: A Storehouse of Treasures – David Weinstein
LOCH NESS MONSTER
KOAN: Loch Ness Monster
AUDIO: In the Family of Things – John Tarrant, Sunday Zen, Summer 2021
UNICORN
So, life is life; it’s a great thing. Whatever your condition is, you can see the “I have joy.” Out of that emptiness, out of what seems unpromising—the dark material, the valley spirit, the enigma, out of the mystery, out of what I don’t understand—it just appears, the joy just appears. (John Tarrant)
TEXT: Unicorns of Happiness – John Tarrant, transcript of a talk from Fall 2006
Related Materials & Koans
KOAN STORY: Buddha’s Life – John Tarrant reads his version of the fabled Buddha’s life, which includes a golden bowl descending to the dragon’s cave [link coming soon]
DHARMA THEME: Descent! [link coming soon]
DHARMA THEME: Dealing with Demons [link coming soon]