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<\/span><\/p>\nGetting to eat a single grain of Luling rice enables one to see the monk Guishan; getting to supply a single grain of Luling rice enables one to see the water buffalo. The water buffalo eats the monk Guishan, and the monk Guishan feeds the buffalo.<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nWhat!? <\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nHere\u2019s a little background. First, there was this interaction:<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span>A monk asked, what is the ultimate meaning of the buddhadharma? <\/em><\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\nThe master [Qingyuan] said, \u201cWhat is the price of Luling rice?\u201d<\/em>
<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
Or in contemporary terms, \u201cWhat\u2019s the ultimate meaning of the buddhadharma?\u201d
\u201cWhat\u2019s the Dow at today?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nMaybe the ultimate isn\u2019t so far from the business of taking care of business.<\/p>\n
And then there was this one from Guishan:<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nAfter I pass away I will become a water buffalo at the foot of the mountain. On the left side of the water buffalo\u2019s chest the characters, \u2018I am a monk of Guishan\u2019 will be written. When you call me the monk of Guishan, I will be water buffalo. When you call me a water buffalo, I will be a monk of Guishan. Then how are you going to call me?\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n<\/em><\/span> <\/div>\nKatagiri Roshi loved this story and told it very often. He liked to laugh loudly afterwards and then ask, \u201cDo you understand?\u201d <\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nGuishan brings us upsidedown and rightside up, inside out and outside in \u2013 a beautiful dharma presentation (like the iris above from the Yugeji garden). <\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nNow Instructions for the Cook<\/em> was one of Dogen\u2019s very early writings and this is one of the first passages of Dogen really getting Dogen-esque. For one thing, he is using koans to teach everyday, practical behavior. I think it is Steve Heine who mentions in one of his books that this was not done in Chinese Ch\u2019an. The precepts governed daily life and koans governed the great matter. So here\u2019s Dogen teaching us how to cook with a koan, teaching and demonstrating the fundamental.<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nMoreover, Dizzying Dogen knowingly conflates two koans. You might think with all the Luling rice and water buffalo, eating and feeding that the point is to show the limits of the discursive mind. <\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nI think not.
<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span>And if you get inside the passage, I think you\u2019ll see too that the point is that to practice Zen in our work it is necessary to know our business inside out, outside in and to have the capacity to swing either way. <\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nDogen demonstrates this with his work \u2013 rolling out the dharma. The message is in both the content and the process. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nKnowing our business thoroughly and practicing it freely is one important face of Zen. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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