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2/11/2011

One treasure, hidden in this body

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Wednesday night we worked with Yumen's koan:

Yunmen said, “In the center of the cosmos, inside heaven and earth, there is one treasure, hidden in the body. It picks up a lantern and goes into the meditation hall. It brings the great three arched entrance gate and puts it on top of the lantern.”


We sat, and the koan was spoken into the room. 

After walking meditation, we sat and we went around the room, asked to put ourselves into the room by naming a part of our bodies that hurt . Just that.  With the notion of exploring the myth that awakening occurs in the mind.  That we sit and strive in spite of our bodies.

Lower back pain...flat feet...face and head pain...grey hair...tights shoulder...aching hips...bouncing hearts...shaking hands....broken thumbs...headaches...tired...bad knees...

Then we stood.  We were asked to squat slightly as we began our second meditation.  Just notice the burn in the legs and sit when it was time to sit. 

Then we talked about the koan.  About placing the gate on top of the lantern.  We talked about the light, and finding it, the joy of being at the center of the cosmos.

Frankly, I don't know how it touched people.  It touched me to hear that we were not golden buddhas, perfect and painless, but human buddhas, beat up getting to the finish line.  We find our awakening not in spite of our aches and pains and aging and death, but because of it. 

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2 Comments
Marika
2/16/2011 03:37:59 am

All week this has been with me... that these ailments are treasures hidden in my body (which wasn't the point of our exercise but it was my take away) helps me to be more patient and loving towards them. My hips, which hurt more today than they did last Wednesday, are suddenly treasures... and like the compassion I have been learning to cultivate in myself, this changes my experience of pain and discomfort.

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asics shoes link
3/15/2011 04:04:00 pm

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    “A Course on Koans” is the delusion-riddled work of Chris Kufu (“Wind in the Void”) Wilson, who began practicing Zen in 1967. He regards Taizan Maezumi, Robert Aitken, and David Weinstein as his root teachers. Each of them pecked at his shell until he “completed” the never-ending koan curriculum of the Harada-Yasutani lineage.

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