PZI Teacher Archives

Stone Hitting Bamboo (GG5)

KOAN:

One day while sweeping up fallen leaves, Xiangyan’s bamboo broom caught a stone and it sailed through the air and hit a stalk of bamboo with a little sound. Tock! With that tock! he was awakened.

—from the commentary on Gateless Gate Case 5: Up a Tree

Text August 6, 2020

Knock on Any Door – Daoist Masters & Zen Koans

John Tarrant

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.

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