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99 Curves (MK7)
KOAN:
Go straight on the narrow mountain road with 99 curves.
—PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 7
Going Straight on the Road with 99 Curves
John Tarrant on working with different koan types. Predicament koan—Stone Crypt. Situational—Taking the form of Guanyin. Mysterious—A well that has not been dug. John talks about his early work with koans; tactics and strategies that weren’t working until he found himself laughing at his own mind, “Going straight on the road with 99 curves.” There’s no difference between “Life” and “MY Life.” What we can do for each other is open our hearts and be there together. Recorded January 2014.
Straight Down the Road of 99 Curves
Everybody probably has a road that would come to mind. I remember getting a bus in Tasmania and driving through the west coast mountains to a mining town where I was going to work, get a job, and how the snow was coming down and the bus would just go around this really narrow road like that, and there are certain parts of the world that have truly alarming narrow mountain roads with truly alarming drivers and very ancient buses.
Go Straight Down a Road with 99 Curves
This sesshin, John introduced a series of miscellaneous koans, the first being “How do you go straight down a road with 99 curves?” February 12, 2014.