Walk slowly up to Bodhidharma
but do not pull him away
from the wall before which he sits.
Keep your arms close about you
lest you cannot grasp
what he will ask.
Hold tight to your mnd
for it will grow still only
as it slips through your fingers
When you see it fade away
Samadhi bathes you.
A reflection on Case 41 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) koans.
When teacher and student
sit face to face,
mat to mat, looking deeply
one at the other,
which is the teacher
and which is the student?
You are wrong.
There is no teacher,
there is no student,
there is only the silence
of the moment
in which all dharma
is made obvious.
A reflection on Case 2 of the Book of Equanimity
You want holy teachings
boiled down, synthesized
digestible in bites
so dine on the holes
nothing, emptiness
is sustenance
enough
look at me, at a window
as you do a mirror
no knowing,
a familiar face
but whose
the face will depart
yours or his
you will awaken
to endless absence
learn no
thingness
overflowing void
A reflection on Case 1 of the Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record)
an old writer and his words 