Description
To meet a Tea Lady was always a somewhat risky proposition. Usually, in koan-ville, an unsuspecting traveler hurrying on their way somewhere else—consumed with their own knowledge and problems— would encounter a tiny wayside establishment with a deeply mysterious proprietor on hand.
Tea Ladies, Hermits, & Other Strange Teachers Along the Way
Links to Audio, Video, & Text on the topic
To meet a Tea Lady was always a somewhat risky proposition. Usually, in koan-ville, an unsuspecting traveler hurrying on their way somewhere else—consumed with their own knowledge and problems— would encounter a tiny wayside establishment with a deeply mysterious proprietor on hand.
Tea Ladies
If you answer my question, I’ll give you tea cakes
The pilgrim meets the tea lady and the tea lady says, “Well, which mind are you trying to refresh? You’re an expert on the Diamond Sutra. It says, ‘Past mind can’t be grasped. Present mind cannot be grasped. Future mind cannot be grasped.’ Which mind are you trying to refresh?”
—Gateless Gate Case, 28 (excerpt)
Our Tea Lady is in. Ask your question here
TEXT: A Donkey Sees a Well, A Well Sees a Donkey – with John Tarrant, Spring 2021
AUDIO: The Ink Dark Moon: Calling Myself Beloved – with Allison Atwill, Winter 2021
AUDIO: Deshan’s Journey Out of Suffering – with John Tarrant, Spring 2020
AUDIO: Deshan Re-Dreamed – with Jesse Cardin, Spring 2020
She tossed the pot aside
There was a woman who kept the pilgrim’s inn at Hara under Mount Fuji. Her name is unknown, and it is not known when she was born or died.
She went to hear a talk by Hakuin, who said, “…mountains, rivers, and earth, plants, trees, and forests, all glow with a great light. If you want to see this, look into your own heart.”
When she heard this, the woman said to herself,“This isn’t so hard.”—PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 32 (excerpt)
AUDIO: The Woman at the Inn – with John Tarrant on Mother’s Day, Spring 2020
VIDEO: You Know Nothing of Zen: The Woman at the Inn – with John Tarrant, Fall Sesshin 2018
TEXT: You Know Nothing of Zen – with John Tarrant, Fall Sesshin 2018
VIDEO: The World Is Here for You – with John Tarrant, Spring Sesshin 2011
She threw the doughnut pan to the ground
A woman called Yu worked in town making doughnuts. She used go up to visit the local Zen master and asked him lots of questions.
He gave her the koan, “The true person has no rank.”
One day a beggar outside her shop was singing “If you haven’t heard the song, how can you find your way to the lake?” When she heard this, her heart and mind opened. She laughed she woke up, she understood.—PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 75 (excerpt)
VIDEO: The True Person of No Rank – with John Tarrant, Fall Sesshin 2013
ARTWORK: Art Card #13: Yu the Doughnut Maker – Fall 2017
ARTICLE: Sudden Awakening – by John Tarrant, Lion’s Roar Magazine, 2007
Hermits & Other Strange Teachers
Into the peaks without a backward glance
The Hermit of Lotus Flower Peak
The hermit of Lotus Flower Peak held up her staff and said to the assembly,
“When the ancestors got here, why didn’t they stay here?”
There was no answer.
She said, “Because there was no power for the path.”
And again, she said, “In the end, how is it?”
And again, she herself responded,”With my staff across my shoulders,
without a backward glance, I go straight into the myriad peaks.”—Blue Cliff Record, Case 25
AUDIO: Beyond Clarity and Confusion – with Jesse Cardin, Spring 2022
Hermits raise their fists
Zhaozhou and the Hermits
Zhaozhou visited a hermit and asked, “Anybody in?” “Anybody in?”
And the hermit held up a fist.
And Zhaozhou said, “Freely you give and freely you take life. How wonderful!”
He made a deep bow and left.
Then he went to a hermit and said, “Anybody in? Anybody in?”
And the hermit held up a fist.
And Zhaozhou said, “Oh, the water here is too shallow for a big ship to anchor in,”
and he left.—Gateless Gate, Case 11
More Strange Teachers
KOAN: Maralung, an Australian Koan – PZI Miscellaneous Koans,
Case 41
KOAN: Say a Word of Zen – Gateless Gate, Case 3
KOAN: Jiashan Meets the Boat Monk – Record of Linji
VIDEO: Jiashan Meets the Boat Monk – with David Weinstein,
Summer Sesshin 2022
AUDIO: Secret Fidelity & One Finger Zen, Even in the Bardos – with John Tarrant, Fall 2020
TEXT: Secret Fidelity & One Finger Zen, Even in the Bardos – with John Tarrant, Fall 2020