A great minister asked, "I've been reading the sutras—what is meant by, 'A fierce wind has blown the ship off course, setting it drifting toward the land of the Rakshasas'?"
The teacher responded, "Why ask something like that?"
The great minister's face went pale with that response.
And the teacher repeated, "A fierce wind has blown the ship off course, setting it drifting toward the land of the Rakshasas!"
The minister understood.
—Entangling Vines Case 42
Jesse reimagines Deshan’s classic enlightenment story. He looks at some of the essential features of the journey of awakening, how we make koans our own, and the role that imagination plays in Zen. PZI Zen Online. Audio as recorded April 22, 2020.
