In this post, I’m concluding the series of re-edits of Hakuun Yasutani Roshi’s (1885–1973 – pictured above) comments on the main case of Record of Going Easy (J., Shoyoroku), Case 11 Yunmen’s Two Illnesses, inserting my translation of the case into his commentary. The original version of Yasutani Roshi’s commentary that I’m working with appeared in The Hazy Moon of Enlightenment, by Taizan Maezumi and Bernard Tetsugen Glassman. But, as with the last two posts (available... Read more
Zen students sometimes seem to think that Zen is a passive process. One just sits and the magic happens. Nonsense! And Sōtō students sometimes dismiss wholehearted application of the method by attributing “hair on fire” training to Rinzai Zen. Double nonsense!! Here’s a bit from the Cáodòng/Sōtō master Wànsōng – his preface to Record of Going Easy (J. Shōyōroku), Case 85: “The Appearance of the National Teacher’s Monument.’ Much more about Wansong is available here: Going Through the Mystery’s One... Read more
I recently posted just the verse for this old case, along with my thank-you message for April for Patreon subscribers. Below you will find the full case in all it’s glory. But first a bit of background. The issue of sound and color is one that comes up a lot in the Zen tradition, because it is central to awakening. In the Diamond Sutra, Chapter 26, we find this verse: Seeking me by using form/color or seeking me by using... Read more
The Record of the Transmission of Illumination (J. Denkoroku) by Keizan Jokin Zenji (1264-1325) is one of the most important dharma texts available to us today – so important that the great master Harada Sogaku Roshi (1871-1961) chose it for his reformed koan curriculum. In a recent post, I shared Keizan’s sudden awakening (J., satori) – “A Black Lacquer Person Runs Through the Night.” As I said in that post, Tetsugan Sensei and I are working through the last eight... Read more
Sudden, great awakening is the life blood of the Zen school, both Soto and Rinzai. In this post, I’ll share one such great awakening – that of the important Soto ancestor, Keizan Jokin Zenji (1264-1325) – and make a few comments. May awakening stories like this one inspire your process to awaken fully and live congruently as such. Keizan is up for me these days because Tetsugan Sensei and I are working through the last eight chapters of his Denkoroku... Read more
Intimate friendship is such an important aspect of the Zen Way. In the dharma context, an intimate friend (知音, J. “chi-on”) is someone who really gets your music – and vice versa. Such a person can be a peer or a teacher. For more about intimate friends, see Going Through the Mystery’s One Hundred Questions, especially Questions 26, 43, and 60, but the whole book is really about the intimate friendship of Wànsōng and Yuántōng. I’ve been fortunate in my... Read more
April ’23 Thank You! Here’s my less-than-four-minute video about what’s been happening at Dosho Port@Patreon, what’s coming up, and a little about a $9,000 three-day mindfulness retreat that I have not been invited to teach at. Oh, and it’s in Cancun. This is NOT an April Fool’s Day gag. For readers of this Wild Fox Zen blog, above is my monthly appeal for your support. You can be a Patreon subscriber for $9 a month. I dual post most of... Read more
In sunshine, the solitary peak is green; under the gaze of the moon, the valley stream is cold. Read more
"Intimately know, intimately loosen thoughts, and for now cut them off, sit, and look!" Read more
Below you will find a dharma talk by an incredible (and largely unknown) Zen master, Miàodào Dǐngguāng (1095-1170), one of only three women Zen masters listed in Outline of the Linked Flames, a transmission of illumination collection published in 1183. Miàodào had been a student of the Cáodòng (J. Sōtō) master Zhenxie Qingliao (1088-1151; Tall Reeds Purity Field; J. Choro Seiryō), but after twenty years of training had not awakened. She switched teachers and began working with the Línjì master... Read more
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