Step by Step in the Dark (MK72)
KOAN:
Step by step in the dark
If my foot’s not wet,
I found the stone
– PZI Miscellaneous Koans, Case 72 (Soyen Shaku)
Maitreya’s Place
Dreams, Summer and koans have a lot in common. It is a time to feel your way – step by step in the dark. Things that come out of the depths are what will get us through, but we can also have a strange resistance to them! The imagination is the bridge to the new. Here is Yangshan’s dream koan.
The Nature of Practice
Practice. The notion of practice, as something you embody, and you walk through, and you are—rather than something you add, like something added to gasoline. There’s also a sense of moving in the dark, in some way that’s positive. So that in a practice, “not knowing” is on your side.
Linji’s Enlightenment & the Awakenings of Great Chan Teachers
John revisits the awakenings and koans of the great teachers, among them Yunmen and his teachings. In the layered quality of the teachings there is a common thread in our lineage: we are all in it together, all held by this great path, we put ourselves in the vessel and see what happens. Each of us holds a piece of the story—trust the piece you hold. As recorded Fall Sesshin 2019.
