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Text October 22, 2020

The Nature of Practice

John Tarrant

Koans
Dogen's Turn Your Light Inward, Don't Believe It, Linji's There Is Nothing I Dislike (MK38a), Not Knowing Is Most Intimate (MK62), Shitou's Turn Your Light Inwards, Step by Step in the Dark (MK72), The Whole World is Medicine (BCR87)
Tags
2016 Summer retreat, 2016 Summer Sesshin, bodhisattva path, buddha nature, empathy, koan, light, Linji, moving in the dark, no rank, no-self, not knowing, practice, Take the backward step, unlooked-for help

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.

9259 Words
Video October 24, 2018

Your Life is Right Here

John Tarrant

Tags
2018, 2018 fall retreat, Hakuin, joy, koan, light, meditation, october, original face, partner, retreat, sesshin

John’s evening talking is brief, yet poignant. There is a light and a joy and they are here now. It doesn’t wait until you improve yourself, your partner, enemy, or live in a different colored state.

6' 58"