Collection of the Essence of the Tradition in the Essential Gate<\/em>) \u2013 a text from the\u00a0Huanglong branch of the Rinzai lineage, the branch that Dogen inherited and we in Soto Zen continue to transmit, the branch that seems to have specialized in the entangling vines approach to koan introspection.<\/p>\nIn any case, it is another lovely koan. This one has become sustenance for road. It\u2019s about the nature and practice of freedom, of course \u2013 how to be free in this world of traps and cages, sorting and hauling.<\/p>\n
Here it is:<\/p>\n
Two monks named Deep and Bright once arrived at the Huai River and saw people pulling a fishing net. A carp escaped through the net. Deep said, \u201cBrother Bright, how fleet, just like a patch-robed monk.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nBright said, \u201cAlthough that is so, how can it compare to not pushing into the net in the first place?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nDeep said, \u201cBrother Bright, you lack realization.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nLater, in the middle of the night, Bright finally had some insight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nDogen\u2019s Verse:<\/p>\n
The flowing waters of the Huai River reach Deep and Bright.<\/em>
\n Leaping free, the primal life of the golden-scaled fish is vivid.<\/em>
\n If this life does not return to the river depths,<\/em>
\n Sadly, it never sees the great wave rolling.<\/em><\/p>\nHere we find ourselves as patch-robed monks traveling with just a few things \u2013 robes, begging bowl, perhaps an umbrella. A far cry from the two pods we packed with clothing, furniture, and the inheritance from Wild Fox Zen that now becomes the beginnings of the physical manifestation of our new training center (zafus, zabuton, art, instruments, etc.).<\/p>\n
As Deep and Bright are already free of so much of the world. Perhaps Deep more than Bright, knowing that without the entanglement of the net, there\u2019s no freedom.<\/p>\n
And we are more than the Deep and Bright patch-robed monks \u2013 also the carp leaping free, the net, the village people fishing.<\/p>\n
As Bright, we receive our companion\u2019s directness to heart and roll with it through the night \u2013 carp, net, village people, and Deep. What did Bright see such that the koan reports that he finally had some insight?<\/p>\n
Happily, in the bright depths of this rolling life \u2013 the great wave.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently, at the end of a long day of sorting and packing and hauling (omg, the hauling and stacking!) for our big move from house\/zendo to our Portland, ME, Great Tides Zen destination for July 1, I opened up Dogen\u2019s Extensive Record and a lovely koan lept from the page as if I\u2019d never encountered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Leaping Free, the Primal Life, Deep and Bright<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recently, at the end of a long day of sorting and packing and hauling (omg, the hauling and stacking!) for our big move from house\/zendo to our Portland,\" \/>\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\/wildfoxzen\/2014\/04\/leaping-free-the-primal-life-with-deep-and-bright.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leaping Free, the Primal Life, Deep and Bright\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently, at the end of a long day of sorting and packing and hauling (omg, the hauling and stacking!) for our big move from house\/zendo to our Portland,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2014\/04\/leaping-free-the-primal-life-with-deep-and-bright.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wild Fox Zen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dosho.port\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-01T02:37:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-05-01T02:43:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/files\/2014\/04\/carp.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dosho Port\" \/>\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\/wildfoxzen\/2014\/04\/leaping-free-the-primal-life-with-deep-and-bright.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2014\/04\/leaping-free-the-primal-life-with-deep-and-bright.html\",\"name\":\"Leaping Free, the Primal Life, Deep and Bright\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-01T02:37:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-05-01T02:43:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"Recently, at the end of a long day of sorting and packing and hauling (omg, the hauling and stacking!) for our big move from house\/zendo to our Portland,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2014\/04\/leaping-free-the-primal-life-with-deep-and-bright.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2014\/04\/leaping-free-the-primal-life-with-deep-and-bright.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2014\/04\/leaping-free-the-primal-life-with-deep-and-bright.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Leaping Free, the Primal Life, Deep and Bright\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/\",\"name\":\"Wild Fox Zen\",\"description\":\"Living the Dream\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\",\"name\":\"Dosho Port\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7b9712e98924dea6c08d55890403352f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dosho Port\"},\"description\":\"Dosho Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teachers with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach, with the Vine of Obstacles Zen. 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<\/a><\/em>Recently, at the end of a long day of sorting and packing and hauling (omg, the hauling and stacking!) for our big move from house\/zendo to our Portland, ME, Great Tides Zen<\/a> destination for July 1, I opened up Dogen\u2019s Extensive Record<\/em> and a lovely koan lept from the page as if I\u2019d never encountered it before.<\/p>\n