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DAIJI’S INNER CULTURE
Eyes can look within and discover a boundless universe but the tongue alone can speak only sounds that go false as they dance away unseen. The silence of zazen speaks the dharma, the teisho is offered mutely. The space between eye and tongue is but three inches or an unbridgeable void. A reflection on Case…
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SOZAN’S FOUR DON’TS 鐵笛倒吹 九十二
You may seek to follow the path of the dove a fool know many roads. You may wrap yourself in fine linen, an infant wears only his skin and knows this moment is already gone. Think long before you speak of how to walk along the path, of where it leads. The baby says nothing,…
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MISTAKE IN SPEAKING 無門關 三十九
When you speak the words of the Buddha you are lost. Light is everywhere in silence but the tongue must hide in the dark of the mouth. Buddha’s words are flowers unfolding in the dawn by the side of the still pond, the eyes hear the song and respond in silent chorus. A reflection on…
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KYOSEI’S THIRTY BLOWS 正法眼蔵 四十二
Wherever you stand still you can see the rainbow but walk to find its end this one or that one and it will be gone on your arrival. Sit in the fine mist and look at the earth – how many colors do you see? A reflection on case 42 of the Shobogenzo (Dogen’s True…
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BASHO DOES NOT TEACH 鐵笛倒吹 八十
There is a woman who asks no questions, who fears neither birth nor death. What can you teach her? The wise man offers no lesson but observes closely and gains great wisdom. What can you teach one who already knows. What can you learn with a fully open mind. In a clockless world there is…
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FUNYO PUNISHES THE SKY 鐵笛倒吹 三十二
If there are no clouds, punish the sky with your stick. If there is no sun punish the clouds with your stick. As you walk the Way both road and sky know your stick with each step. If you doze will you strike yourself with your stick or grab it away? A reflection on Case…
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STEPPING IN IT
Over the next few weeks I shall step into more churches than is safe for a formerly Jewish Buddhist, but in Europe it seems no tour is complete without one or more churches, at least one of which will be the most beautiful cathedral in all of [choose any country you wish and inserted here.]…
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ENFOLDING
As a child I was quite adept folding sheets of newspaper into paper hats and paper boats. The boats immediately took on water, and sank like the sodden masses I made them to be, but I could wear the hats for hours, until my mother had to scrub my forehead to get off the printer’s…
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MAN OF GREAT STRENGTH 無門關 二十
From this place traverse a thousand paths visit the ten directions with unmoving feet and recount your tale with frozen tongue to we deaf quadriplegics. A reflection on case 20 of the Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate)
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TEN FOLD PATH (PT. 1)
1. He takes a first step eyes scanning the path, the field the forest for the ox. There is no ox. 男は最初の一歩を踏み出し 道に、野原に、その先の森に目をやる 男の目は牛を探し求める だがどこにも牛の姿はない 2. Much time passes another step and there in the soft mud of spring a print of hoof, deep isolated unpaired. 長い時間が過ぎ 男はさらに歩を進める そして春のぬかるみの中にひとつ 人知れず埋もれた 蹄（ひずめ）の跡を見つける 3. A step in…
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an old writer and his words 