PZI Teacher Archives
The Green Mountain Walks About (BS41)
KOAN:
The green mountain moves its feet—you don’t need a lamp in broad daylight.
Also: The green mountain walks about, the sun stands still in the sky.
—Book of Serenity Case 41
Dharma Theme: In the Wild – Mountain Koans & Poems
PZI Teachers
Eventually you come to a place where you can’t go on and you can’t go back. You have arrived at the base of cliffs; you can’t scale them, you can’t get around them, and there’s no handy tunnel through them. It’s a daunting place—that’s the point of it. And when you arrive here your life and your journey can become your own.
The Journey, the Reaching, & Luopu’s Last Words
There was a teacher called Luopu, a Chinese teacher, and he said this interesting thing. He said, “You have to directly realize the source outside of the teachings.” That’s the whole thing about it. That’s Bodhidharma’s thing, the direct realization outside of scriptures. The scriptures are nice and the teachings are nice, but really, the direct understanding—the direct meeting with life—the direct meeting with awakening is the thing.
The Journey, the Reaching & Luopu’s Last Words
The great Chan teacher Luopu’s deathbed story, and his emphasis on the importance of a “direct meeting with the source” outside the teachings—you can’t just read about it. “Don’t grasp principles with words.” The story features the Book of Serenity’s compassion for the whole process toward enlightenment, for these wonderful teachers. Dharma talk in Fall Sesshin. Video as recorded 2019.