BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 61

[Mitty-san]

Kempô’s "here it is" reminds me of something the great 21st century teacher Jundo Cohen said while giving a talk to his disciples at his hermitage atop Mt. Tsukuba.

...But in Zen Master Dogen’s view, the point of flying the plane is to fly the plane. Each moment by moment of flying is a constant arriving at the destination — right here and right here and, now, right here...

His full talk has been preserved here: http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...ing-Air-Buddha



Paul

Sat today.

[Roland]

BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 61

Can we really ever be there where 'here it is'? Every moment seems to be permeated by absence. The 'now' we experience is full of our musings about the future and our stories about the past. Maybe even those exceptional moments that we feel to be 'here', that the blue sky unfolds itself without any cloud, even those moments are secretly inspired by ancient stories and the longing for another future.

But then again 'here' is maybe the compassionate acceptance of the 'not ever really here'.

Gassho

Roland
#SatToday

[Mitty-san]

But then again 'here' is maybe the compassionate acceptance of the 'not ever really here'.

Hi Roland,

That's my thought too. Thoughts of the past and future are just as much "Here" as being aware of your breath or listening to the air conditioner.

,

Paul

Sat today.

[Eishuu]

Jishin, your poor cat! Glad she is going to recover. Metta to her, your doberman and the pool maintenance guy! Jakuden, I'm so sorry you are having to make that decision. I can imagine how hard it must be.

With regards to the koan, I've read it a couple of times and it's not really speaking to me. I'm left with a sad sense of my own lack of understanding. Both the direct and the roundabout teachings don't seem to reach me. Conceptually I know 'Here it is!' and I've had glimpses but right now I'm just aware that I don't understand, I'm not fully present. I guess the whole koan seems to be about sudden Enlightenment and about understanding.

Gassho
Lucy
Sat today

[Jundo]

I will just ask, as we fan this Koan, whether the fan rises to heaven to strike god's nose ... or does heaven come down to earth ... or is there perhaps no up or down in this up-down world, and god's nose constantly waves the fan?

Another famous fanning Koan on practice-enlightenment, recited by Dogen in the Genjo ... how to realize heaven here and now ...

Zen master Baoche of Mt. Mayu was fanning himself. A monk approached and said, "Master, the nature of wind is ever-present and there is no place it does not reach. When, then, do you fan yourself?"

"Although you understand that the nature of the wind is ever-present," Baoche replied, "you do not understand the meaning of its reaching everywhere."

"What is the meaning of its reaching everywhere?" asked the monk again. The master just kept fanning himself. The monk bowed deeply.

The actualization of the buddha-dharma, the vital path of its correct transmission, is like this. If you say that you do not need to fan yourself because the nature of wind is ever-present and you can have wind without fanning, you will understand neither ever-presence nor the nature of wind. The nature of wind is ever-present; because of that, the wind of the buddha's house brings for the gold of the earth and makes fragrant the cream of the long river.

http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachin...GenjoKoan8.htm

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Jishin]

Jishin in earnest asks Zen Master Jundo:

Why do we have to inhale air to breathe? It is everywhere, even in my lungs.

Jundo takes a deep breath in exasperation and tells Jishin to hold his breath to find out for himself (the proper function of air).

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_