Dongshan's Each Stitch
KOAN:
Shenshan was mending clothes when Dongshan asked, “What are you doing?”
“Mending,” said Shenshan.
“How is it going?” asked Dongshan.
“One stitch follows another,” said Shenshan.
“We’ve been traveling together for twenty years and you’re still talking like that!” said Dongshan. “How can you be so clueless?”
“How do you mend, then?”
“With each stitch the whole earth is spewing flames,” said Dongshan.
—Record of Dongshan, Case 30
Text
July 7, 2020
Class 6 Curriculum Notes: Vast Emptiness – Call & Response Koans
John Tarrant
Koans
A Donkey Sees a Well (BS52), Dongshan Sick (BS94), Dongshan's Each Stitch, Emperor Wu Questions Bodhidharma (BCR1)(BS2), Guishan's No Foundation to Rely On, Huanglong Huinan's Three Turning Words (MK16)(GG49)(EV10), Linji's Take the Role of Host (MK38d), Say Something in Response, Someone with No Shadow or Form Is Drawing the Water
Class 6 Curriculum Notes: Vast Emptiness – Call & Response Koans. Please do not share, this is core curriculum. July 25 2020.
Video
June 30, 2017
Dongshan’s Each Stitch Spews Flames
Speaking about Dongshan’s Each Stitch koan, Allison tells a story of recognizing awakening can come from anywhere when we can truly inhabit life as our own.