I love this koan. It hits me on so many levels, and I haven’t even read Jundo’s take on it yet. First of all, don’t Ungan and Dogo remind you of some Abbot and Costello routine? I got a broom right here for you. Looks like a second moon to me. Hilarious! Oh wait, there’s substance here…
Sweeping the ground sounds like zazen, especially when you add in empty handed. But every day it’s like all this stuff that’s going on around you and in you – and you have to keep sweeping the ground of who you are. This is a self-view, but it is real and relevant; it is our Buddhist life that we monitor as a vow, as a keeper of precepts. How did I do? Metta for all my failures, and then a vow to do better.
“To see the one who’s not hard at it we have to see penetrate through the barriers set up by Zen teachers.” Hah, take jundo and taigu and then move on! Don't get caught by treeleaf. Find your own answers within the content in, but the answers are NOT the content here.
Absolute/relative = trap. We intellectualize the Zen crap to the point of ridiculousness. “Is it ok if I blink during zazen, jundo?” Drop it, drop the moon, too, while we’re at it; the actual moon that we are (and are not) a part of!
All of our complaints are relative to something, thus codependent arising. Basic Zen here. What broom/moon is that you are (not) holding? Who cares? Shut up! Be silent Velcro and maybe you will find some Zen there.
And just when I get all caught up in the hilarious Zen of Ungan and Dogo come Gensha and Ummon, who do their own version of Laurel and Hardy on me by letting me know that I am getting blinded by dust, says Gensha (Laurel). “What’s all this chattering about?” says Ummon (Hardy). And the point of all this disturbing chatter is to help us see through the dust of our lives as we, at the same time, sweep it all away.
Like all great comedians (Ungan and Dogo, Gensha and Ummon, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello), they are like children making noise to disturb us into directly seeing if how hard we are (not) at it.
“What you did as a youngster, now aren't you ashamed?” Hah, nowhere in Zen to begin on that one!
OK, now I’ll read Jundo’s take and respond to that accordingly.
Sweeping the ground sounds like zazen, especially when you add in empty handed. But every day it’s like all this stuff that’s going on around you and in you – and you have to keep sweeping the ground of who you are. This is a self-view, but it is real and relevant; it is our Buddhist life that we monitor as a vow, as a keeper of precepts. How did I do? Metta for all my failures, and then a vow to do better.
“To see the one who’s not hard at it we have to see penetrate through the barriers set up by Zen teachers.” Hah, take jundo and taigu and then move on! Don't get caught by treeleaf. Find your own answers within the content in, but the answers are NOT the content here.
Absolute/relative = trap. We intellectualize the Zen crap to the point of ridiculousness. “Is it ok if I blink during zazen, jundo?” Drop it, drop the moon, too, while we’re at it; the actual moon that we are (and are not) a part of!
All of our complaints are relative to something, thus codependent arising. Basic Zen here. What broom/moon is that you are (not) holding? Who cares? Shut up! Be silent Velcro and maybe you will find some Zen there.
And just when I get all caught up in the hilarious Zen of Ungan and Dogo come Gensha and Ummon, who do their own version of Laurel and Hardy on me by letting me know that I am getting blinded by dust, says Gensha (Laurel). “What’s all this chattering about?” says Ummon (Hardy). And the point of all this disturbing chatter is to help us see through the dust of our lives as we, at the same time, sweep it all away.
Like all great comedians (Ungan and Dogo, Gensha and Ummon, Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello), they are like children making noise to disturb us into directly seeing if how hard we are (not) at it.
“What you did as a youngster, now aren't you ashamed?” Hah, nowhere in Zen to begin on that one!
OK, now I’ll read Jundo’s take and respond to that accordingly.
The ego never likes chores. It wants to be free to satisfy its goals and desires. But you can't be a fair weather buddhist only. Some days I don't feel like practicing. I may be too tired, have a head ache or any other excuse. Going to the cushion may feel like a chore. These times I try to just do it. Don't think, just walk over to the cushion and sit down. Like diving into cold water. I like swimming, but I often hesitate to jump in, because I know it will feel cold at first. When my butt is already on the cushion, the rest is often easy. Same with making it a daily routine, just like brushing your teeth, sitting is something you do. It has nothing to do with whether you like it or not. But some days, at least for me, this doesn't work. This is when I try to take a good look at what's going on inside my head. I know that normally, sitting is natural, so why isn't it today? If I can identify the reason, I can be hard at changing the conditions and circumstances, so that Zazen mind may arrive again. Sometimes I say to myself, "OK, you don't want to practice, let's sit with that, let's watch that mind play, it might be interesting!" And the ego often agrees, because it does think watching itself is much less useless that just sitting there! 
Once on the cushion, Zazen usually takes over. This is where I think sticking to form is important. Once through the ritual of entering the position, the body-mind knows the drill and the ego is forgotten. Sometimes this doesn't work either. The ego is determined that sitting is useless and that there are so many important things to do. So I do one of these "important things" instead, all the while mindful of what's going on inside. That's a kind of practice too. And sometimes I just go to bed, because I'm exhausted and need to sleep!
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