BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 59

[Tairin]

That said, where does this koan or any koan fit within the framework described above? If the answer is not immediately apparent I would not waste any time with the particular koan. Just chop wood and carry water. This is always the ultimate answer anyways. Chop wood, carry water, when hungry eat, when tired sleep. Wash your bowls and drink tea if you have any questions.

Gassho
Warren
Sat today

[Mitty-san]

Hmmm. Like a lot of others, this one is difficult for me. It seems to be jumping around and going in a lot of different directions.

At least the monk conversing with Seirin seemed to be following it well enough.

Gassho, Paul.

Sat today on this SATurday.

[Byokan]

Hi All,

Another Koan which plays with that which can neither come nor go (even as it comes and goes) ... right through "life and death" in a world of life and death ... that which can never be found or lost even as we bump right into it.

The English expression which comes to mind is, "Ya wouldn't know it even if it bit ya on the ass" ... and it is your ass too!

Jundo, thank you for this, it was very helpful in approaching this snake. I find this koan to be very joyful. It feels to me as a moment of shared understanding between two dharma friends, and even a playful celebration of the Dharma. Most times I just kind of 'feel into' koans, but for some reason I felt like looking at this one line by line. Apologies for the length of this, you certainly can just read the very last line down there at the end and skip everything in between, I wouldn't blame you one bit. Here’s how I kind of generally understand their words. This is a vast over-simplification but here goes:

How about when a student proceeds on the trail?
What happens when one sets out upon the path of practice?

The dead snake hits the great road.
You will come upon Emptiness. You will meet your True Self. There’s nothing else out there.

I advise you not to bump into it.
Try to refrain from making distinctions.

When it’s bumped into, then what?
What happens when we meet our true selves?

You lose your life!
Realizing the truth of No-Self is losing your life.

When it’s not bumped into, then what?
What if we don’t meet our true self?

There’s no place to dodge to.
Sorry, you can’t avoid it. It is everywhere and everywhen.

At that very moment, then what?
What happens when this truth is realized?

It has been lost.
It -- you -- truth -- Emptiness -- cannot be located. In the moment it is realized it expands and contains everything. All and Nothing manifest simultaneously with no separation.

I wonder where it’s gone.
This wondering is chasing It with words and ideas and thoughts.

The grass is so deep there’s no place to seek.
Thoughts and concepts like weeds springing up all over.

Shield yourself Osho! Then you’ll be alright!
Hey, look out, we’re doing it right now, trying to capture it in words!

Your poison is equal to mine!
You’re a pretty smart cookie.

I like to think these two monks end this conversation laughing together!

I know it’s very silly to try to do a line-by-line reading for something that cannot really be pinned down that way. What they’re talking about is so alive and present. As piercing and acute as a snake bite. Strange and wonderful indeed! I haven’t even begun to capture it. Oh well, I’m happy to fail and make a fool of myself.

The appreciatory verse on boating somehow seems a bit out of place in all this "snake" talk ...

I’m actually very moved by this verse and think it fits in nicely with the main case. It’s poetry so I may not make much sense, but I will share with you how I feel this:

The ferryman in darkness turns the rudder.
The lone boat at night turns its bow.
We are the ferrymen of our boats. No one turns the rudder but ourselves. We all must constantly maintain a right direction. This puts me in mind of vow and repentance. Constantly re-orienting. Not toward some goal we can see; we may not even be able to see just where we’re headed. Our compass only shows the direction, the way, not a destination. We have to have faith in the compass. Trust in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Sincere practice moves us in the right direction.

The snow of both banks’ reed flowers intermingle.
I’m envisioning white reed flowers that look like snow. The two banks seem to represent duality. This speaks to me of illusion and delusion.

Smoky waters veil the autumn of one river.
I picture a misty haze over the water... Where is the dividing line between the mist and the water? They are one of course. The water comes forward as the mist, the mist drips back into the water. Maybe smoky waters are ignorance that keeps us from seeing clearly, seeing the true state of things.

Wind power helping the sail; going without poling.
We steer our boat carefully, but we can also relax and allow it to move forward and flow naturally with the wind and the current. We don’t need to force our way. Let our boat become one with the river.

Flute notes calling the moon; sailing down to Paradise.
Who is playing this flute? I like to think, on this night, maybe no one. Flutes are made of reeds... We know it is autumn... The reeds will be drying out... Maybe the flute music is just the wind blowing in the reeds. Just nature taking its course and everything doing what it does. This is the music that calls the moon. Maybe the moon is enlightenment, maybe it is just the beautiful moon over the river on a quiet and peaceful night. Paradise.

Okay, thank you for reading all this if you made it this far. Too many words for something that is beyond words. I really appreciate everyone sharing their thoughts and insights here, it’s very helpful.

Gassho
Byōkan
sat today

[Jundo]

Byokan the Snake Charner ...

The bite which kills is the bite which brings life.

Gassho, J

[Jakuden]

Beautiful Byokan! Gassho!

Jakuden
SatToday


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Risho]

Thank you Byokan; that was very helpful!

Which now leads to more questions which I didnt realize I had before I reread Byokans post several times and the koan again and again

Is the dead snake also the ferryman in the darkness, ie the True Self that is not always apparent but always there? I'm speculating and this imagery gets tricky, but is that why ferryman in the darkess is used?

I don't know if I fully understand this True Self either; Im not sure if we can fully understand it as much as realize it. Is this something we see in zazen as we learn to be with the thoughts, see through the thoughts, not push them away but settle in them, etc?

I dont know if self is a good word for it either, but is that stae of awareness where its not on the level of just form, duality etc, but a deeper level of interconnectedness where we are selves but also in touch with everything? In other words, is this True Self our self but way more than that, something that is all of us? Is this True Self the whole shebang?

Gassho

Risho
-sattoday

[TyZa]

Thank you for everyone's insightful comments. I really enjoyed Byōkan's. I have nothing to add about this Koan besides respectful silence. Although, I will say sometimes Wick's commentary is a handful of Koans unto itself. Thank you everyone!

Gassho,
Tyler

SatToday

[Toun]

Many insightful and wonderful comments.

What resonates with me is the imagery that the koan creates. When we notice the snake on the road, whether dead or alive, we have lost sight of the path. As mentioned in the commentary we must practice apart from mind, intention or consciousness. When we sit and an image, thought or emotion arises, a snake has hit the road. That's when the thought process starts to get in the way and grasping occurs. All things will arise and the then gradually dissipate into the Dharmadhatu, the absolute space of phenomena.

Oh well...just my musings

Gassho
Mike
Sat2day

[Jundo]

I decided to let this Koan percolate for another week so folks can catch their breath. Give folks a chance to catch up a bit too.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Hoseki]

Hi All,



Jundo, thank you for this, it was very helpful in approaching this snake. I find this koan to be very joyful. It feels to me as a moment of shared understanding between two dharma friends, and even a playful celebration of the Dharma. Most times I just kind of 'feel into' koans, but for some reason I felt like looking at this one line by line. Apologies for the length of this, you certainly can just read the very last line down there at the end and skip everything in between, I wouldn't blame you one bit. Here’s how I kind of generally understand their words. This is a vast over-simplification but here goes:

How about when a student proceeds on the trail?
What happens when one sets out upon the path of practice?

The dead snake hits the great road.
You will come upon Emptiness. You will meet your True Self. There’s nothing else out there.

I advise you not to bump into it.
Try to refrain from making distinctions.

When it’s bumped into, then what?
What happens when we meet our true selves?

You lose your life!
Realizing the truth of No-Self is losing your life.

When it’s not bumped into, then what?
What if we don’t meet our true self?

There’s no place to dodge to.
Sorry, you can’t avoid it. It is everywhere and everywhen.

At that very moment, then what?
What happens when this truth is realized?

It has been lost.
It -- you -- truth -- Emptiness -- cannot be located. In the moment it is realized it expands and contains everything. All and Nothing manifest simultaneously with no separation.

I wonder where it’s gone.
This wondering is chasing It with words and ideas and thoughts.

The grass is so deep there’s no place to seek.
Thoughts and concepts like weeds springing up all over.

Shield yourself Osho! Then you’ll be alright!
Hey, look out, we’re doing it right now, trying to capture it in words!

Your poison is equal to mine!
You’re a pretty smart cookie.

I like to think these two monks end this conversation laughing together!

I know it’s very silly to try to do a line-by-line reading for something that cannot really be pinned down that way. What they’re talking about is so alive and present. As piercing and acute as a snake bite. Strange and wonderful indeed! I haven’t even begun to capture it. Oh well, I’m happy to fail and make a fool of myself.



I’m actually very moved by this verse and think it fits in nicely with the main case. It’s poetry so I may not make much sense, but I will share with you how I feel this:

The ferryman in darkness turns the rudder.
The lone boat at night turns its bow.
We are the ferrymen of our boats. No one turns the rudder but ourselves. We all must constantly maintain a right direction. This puts me in mind of vow and repentance. Constantly re-orienting. Not toward some goal we can see; we may not even be able to see just where we’re headed. Our compass only shows the direction, the way, not a destination. We have to have faith in the compass. Trust in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha. Sincere practice moves us in the right direction.

The snow of both banks’ reed flowers intermingle.
I’m envisioning white reed flowers that look like snow. The two banks seem to represent duality. This speaks to me of illusion and delusion.

Smoky waters veil the autumn of one river.
I picture a misty haze over the water... Where is the dividing line between the mist and the water? They are one of course. The water comes forward as the mist, the mist drips back into the water. Maybe smoky waters are ignorance that keeps us from seeing clearly, seeing the true state of things.

Wind power helping the sail; going without poling.
We steer our boat carefully, but we can also relax and allow it to move forward and flow naturally with the wind and the current. We don’t need to force our way. Let our boat become one with the river.

Flute notes calling the moon; sailing down to Paradise.
Who is playing this flute? I like to think, on this night, maybe no one. Flutes are made of reeds... We know it is autumn... The reeds will be drying out... Maybe the flute music is just the wind blowing in the reeds. Just nature taking its course and everything doing what it does. This is the music that calls the moon. Maybe the moon is enlightenment, maybe it is just the beautiful moon over the river on a quiet and peaceful night. Paradise.

Okay, thank you for reading all this if you made it this far. Too many words for something that is beyond words. I really appreciate everyone sharing their thoughts and insights here, it’s very helpful.

Gassho
Byōkan
sat today

Gassho
Adam
Sattoday

[AlanLa]

Thank you, Byokan, for the line by line interpretation, very helpful. But i always read these koans in the context of my life at the moment I consume them. I am a simple man who goes for simple interpretations. For this one, I am the snake, and I am constantly getting in my own way, crossing my own road. Sometimes I am dead, and sometimes I bite myself on the ass, and everything in between. Sometimes I am poisonous, and sometimes I just hurt a bit and move on. Sometimes I don't realize I have been poisonously bitten until I am well down the path, and that's kind of where I am today.

I practice the precepts and vows, including those of atonement, as best I can, but then today, through slow and diligent practice, I finally realized that the snake bite of greed, anger, and ignorance that I attributed to someone a long time ago was my own snake biting me on my own ass. On the one hand, it hurts like hell to know you caused your own pain, that you are your own poisonous snake, but on the other hand it opens up a world of freedom to finally be free of your that poisonous pain. All this hit me with this passage from the commentary:

In his "instructions to the cook, Master Dogen said, Be very clear about this. A fool sees himself as another, but a wise person sees others as himself. You are not it. It actually is you.