Talks from the September, 2024 Sesshin
…Where There’s Nothing of Value, Lee Shields Pilgrimage: Tung-shan’s Sixty Blows, Lee Shields What was the purpose of Bodhidharma coming from the West, Lee Shields Being Human, Madelon Bolling The Iron Grindstone, Lee Shields Xuefengs Turtle Nose Snake, Lee Shields
Read MoreThe Iron Grindstone – a talk by Lee Shields, September 12, 2024
Iron Grindstone [Liu] went to [Guishan]. [Guishan] said, “Old cow, you’ve come!” She said, “Tomorrow there’s a great communal feast on Mount Tai —are you going?” [Guishan]lay down. Iron Grindstone Liu then left. Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record, Case 24, p 74. There is an elegance to the concise koans of our tradition like this one. It may sound enigmatic or mysterious, but that’s not what’s intended. In commentary for this case, Hakuin wrote this: This is a meeting of adepts, in which there are no more views of Buddha or opinions of Dharma. Are you going? They travel together; here there...
Read More…Where There’s Nothing of Value – a talk by Lee Shields, September 8, 2024
I built a grass hut where there’s nothing of value. After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap. When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared. Now it’s been lived in — covered by weeds. Attributed to Shih-T’ou Hsi-ch’ien [Shitou Xiqian], 700-790. Translation and copyright by Taigen Dan Leighton, Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi, 1987) This reading was taken from “Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage” written in eighth century China by Shih-T’ou Hsi-ch’ien. It is applicable to us here at Dharma Gate today as well. Together we have built...
Read MorePilgrimage – Tung-shan’s Sixty Blows – A talk by Lee Shields, September 9, 2024
Gateless Barrier Case 15 Tung-shan’s Sixty Blows Tung-shan came to see Yün-men. Yün-men asked him, “Where were you most recently?” Tung-shan said, “At Ch’a-tu.” Yün-men said, “Where were you during the summer?” Tung-shan said, “At Pao-tzu Monastery in Hu-nan.” Yün-men said, “When did you leave there?” Tung-shan said, “August 25th.” Yün-men said, “I spare you sixty blows.” Next day, Tung-shan came again and said, “Yesterday you said you spared me sixty blows. I don’t know where I was at fault.” Yün-men said, “You rice bag! Do you go about in such a way, now west of the river, now south of the...
Read MoreWhat was the Purpose of Bodhidharma Coming from the West? – A talk by Lee Shields, September 10, 2024
Someone asked [Linji], “What was the purpose of [Bodhidharma] coming from the West?” The master said, “If he had had a purpose he couldn’t have saved even himself.” Someone asked, “Since he had no purpose, how did the Second Patriarch obtain the dharma?” The master said, “‘To obtain’ is to not obtain.” Someone asked, “If it is ‘to not obtain,’ what is the meaning of ‘to not obtain’?” The master said, “It is because you cannot stop your mind which runs on seeking everywhere that [an ancestor] said, ‘Bah, superior [people]! Searching for your heads with your heads!’ When at these words you...
Read MoreXuefeng’s Turtle Nose Snake – A talk by Lee Shields, September 13, 2024
Xuefeng said to the assembly, “On South Mountain, there’s a turtle-nosed snake. You must all have a close look at it.” Changqing said, “Today, in this very hall, there is definitely someone who has lost his body and life.” A monk told Xuansha about this. Xuansha said, “Only Brother Leng [Changqing] would put it that way. I wouldn’t say it like that.” “What would you say, Your Reverence?” asked the monk. “Why use South Mountain?” responded Xuansha. Yunmen picked up his staff and threw it down before Xuefeng, and made a...
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