"Pai-chang and the Fox. Courtesy of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts."
As referenced in Aitken edition of the #mumonkan
Somehow I understand Dogen and Hakuin's objections to the ritual. But I'm like... This poor vessel carried out a life that ended realizing enlightenment, shouldn't that account to something?
Writing is really hard. Especially on koan material. I'm not so sure this was a good idea after all. It's frustrating.
My commentary is like mono-dimensional slices of a multi-dimensional object. Each slice is a nice picture that my mind can grasp, but one can feel the tension with the other dimensions, and see the incompleteness. The text necessarily evades grasping.
Face palm.
Yeah, what did you expect? It's koan material.
I love/hate it.
I am putting Hyakujo's Fox on the back burner for a little while. I think I need to revisit some classics like Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamikakarika, the chapter on conditions.
This feels important for establishing a right view on the nature of causality at the turning word.
Or... it might prove just another rabbit hole 😅
#ZenBuddhism #KoanStudy #koans #GatelessGate #buddhism #mahayana
(I'd love to do this full time, when can we have universal basic income?)
Would it fundamentally change the #koan on Gutei's finger if instead of raising a finger, Gutei had said a mantra, or chanted the heart sutra, or even recitated the entire Canon?
Of course his one finger dharma sounds ridiculous, because of its form.
But maybe it should be equally ridiculous to think a dharma that has a form, any form, leads to enlightenment.
I thought I was converging on my writing of a commentary of the Fox #koan. Now I find myself opening spaces on lines I thought I had closed before.
In particular, the ritual.
The subject of the ritual doesn't make sense.
The function of the ritual doesn't make sense.
The benefit of the ritual doesn't make sense.
Let's do it anyway.
#ZenBuddhism #KoanStudy #Buddhism #FoxKoan #GatelessGate #SotoZen
@Pellitory @dogwelder you'll find different approaches to #KoanStudy in particular along sectarian lines.
As a gross generalization, Rinzai teachers tend to have an esoteric approach to it, while Soto teachers tend to comment on their analysis more openly.
But both would probably agree that "the meaning", if there is any, cannot be grasped with words or conventional understanding.
In my own practice, I have found koans useful to challenge my sense of "understanding".
If you are interested in #koans and #KoanStudy I put up a couple notes on what this practice is about, dos and donts, and potential leads to start.
I am a #SotoZen practitioner though, so the orientation is exoteric intentionally.
This "how to" is made of quotes from teachers and scholars alike, plus notes of my own. Happy to discuss!
But there are also comebacks. One I am fond of, for whenever the contemplation becomes too abstract and speculative, is given by an "added saying" of the case 8 of the #BookOfSerenity (equiv. to #GatelessGate case 2):
- Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?
- "Just do good, don't ask about the road ahead."
I found this #zen quip terribly funny, and humbling.
Another quote I found inspiring as some "answer" for #GatelessGate case 2 :
- Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?
- Sakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star and was enlightened, and he said, "I, and the great earth and beings, simultaneously achieve the Way."
This one sounded relevant to me, as it highlighted how #enlightenment is not a thing that happens to an individual in particular.
For #KoanStudy and contemplation, I sometimes think about quotes that would be relevant "answers" to a given #koan question. And not necessarily from scriptures of the same tradition.
For instance, #GatelessGate case 2.
- Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?
- Unshakable is the liberation of my mind. This is my last birth. Now there is no more renewed existence. [SN 56.11]
Apologetics Of Emptiness