{"id":4508,"date":"2012-01-13T13:43:04","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T18:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=4508"},"modified":"2012-01-13T14:44:22","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T19:44:22","slug":"a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html","title":{"rendered":"A Brief Comment on the “Stone Crypt” Koan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death aided by the pursuit of one of the \u201cdharmakaya,\u201d \u201cbreakthrough,\u201d or \u201cfirst koan,\u201d pick your term, there is a short course called \u201cMiscellaneous Koan.\u201d<\/p>\n

In our school these were once called \u201cMiscellaneous Koans Following Kensho,\u201d but that usage has fallen away. Either redundant or over the top, or, probably, a little of both. Whatever we call \u2019em, I love these miscellaneous koan. They are very brief. \u201cSave a Ghost,\u201d \u201cCount the Stars in Heaven,\u201d for instance, are both the title and the whole case. Not only do they introduce us to the range of what we will encounter as we go forward in the discipline, here we learn the tropes and style of the koan way.<\/p>\n

It is a rich time, with powerful and multifaceted pointers.<\/p>\n

Among these, one of my favorite is called the \u201cStone Crypt.\u201d It does have a bit more to it than the title, although not all that much more. The question goes \u201cYou find yourself in a stone crypt. There is no window and the door is locked from the outside. How are you free?\u201d<\/p>\n

A good question, I find.<\/p>\n

Particularly if we notice how much our lives are indeed living in a stone crypt.<\/p>\n

As it happens right now I\u2019m preparing for Sunday\u2019s sermon, which will be anchored by a consideration of Henry Thoreau\u2019s \u201cCivil Disobedience.\u201d For that re-reading the essay. And, while doing that, I stumbled upon this passage from old Hank. It\u2019s been a few years since I read the essay, and I had no recollection of this sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solid stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron grating which strained the light, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Zen doesn\u2019t generally suggest we\u2019re other than mere flesh and blood and bone.<\/p>\n

But there is a worthy pointer here.<\/p>\n

For all of us who hope to be free.<\/p>\n

So, what do you think?<\/p>\n

Hearing this?<\/p>\n

Knowing your own life?<\/p>\n

Given what is given.<\/p>\n

How are you free?<\/p>\n

A worthy question, I suggest\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death aided by the pursuit of one of the \u201cdharmakaya,\u201d \u201cbreakthrough,\u201d or \u201cfirst koan,\u201d pick your term, there is a short course called \u201cMiscellaneous Koan.\u201d In our school these were once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Brief Comment on the "Stone Crypt" Koan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Brief Comment on the "Stone Crypt" Koan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monkey Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-13T18:43:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-13T19:44:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/files\/2012\/01\/supermans-thoreau-nonsense.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html\",\"name\":\"A Brief Comment on the \\\"Stone Crypt\\\" Koan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-13T18:43:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-01-13T19:44:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\"},\"description\":\"In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Brief Comment on the “Stone Crypt” Koan\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/\",\"name\":\"Monkey Mind\",\"description\":\"Easily distracted...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\",\"name\":\"James Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Ford\"},\"description\":\"James Ishmael Ford is a writer and spiritual director. He has been authorized as a teacher within two traditional Zen lineages. James has washed dishes, assisted a crab fisherman on the Florida keys, worked in bookstores up and down the California coast, and served as a Unitarian Universalist parish minister. He currently lives with his spouse Jan and her mother in Los Angeles. His next book the Intimate Way of Zen is due from Shambhala Publications in July, 2024.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.emptymoonzen.org\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Ishmael_Ford\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/author\/jamesford\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Brief Comment on the \"Stone Crypt\" Koan","description":"In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Brief Comment on the \"Stone Crypt\" Koan","og_description":"In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html","og_site_name":"Monkey Mind","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029","article_published_time":"2012-01-13T18:43:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-01-13T19:44:22+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/files\/2012\/01\/supermans-thoreau-nonsense.jpg"}],"author":"James Ford","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Ford","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html","name":"A Brief Comment on the \"Stone Crypt\" Koan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-13T18:43:04+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-13T19:44:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb"},"description":"In the Harada Yasutani curriculum once one has broken open into the great matter through our minute investigation into the question of life and death","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2012\/01\/a-brief-comment-on-the-stone-crypt-koan.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Brief Comment on the “Stone Crypt” Koan"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/","name":"Monkey Mind","description":"Easily distracted...","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb","name":"James Ford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Ford"},"description":"James Ishmael Ford is a writer and spiritual director. He has been authorized as a teacher within two traditional Zen lineages. James has washed dishes, assisted a crab fisherman on the Florida keys, worked in bookstores up and down the California coast, and served as a Unitarian Universalist parish minister. He currently lives with his spouse Jan and her mother in Los Angeles. His next book the Intimate Way of Zen is due from Shambhala Publications in July, 2024.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.emptymoonzen.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_Ishmael_Ford"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/author\/jamesford"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}