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<\/a><\/p>\nSesshin ended today. In dokusan the difference between understanding and realizing came up again. It\u2019s a difficult thing to learn (and \u201cteach\u201d) because most of us are only familiar with understanding and are impatient. Realization takes as long as it takes.<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s the difference?<\/p>\n Take the koan I offered in the last post:<\/p>\n \u2026When Kishizawa Ian, Suzuki Roshi\u2019s second teacher, was a young monk, he was sitting in meditation on a rainy day and heard the sound of a distant waterfall. Then the wooden han was struck. He went to his teacher (maybe Oka Sotan) and asked, \u201cWhat is the place where the sound of the rain, the waterfall, and the han meet?\u201d To realize is to actualize eternity, the mirror, breaking, and meeting. Realizing is probably not like anything you\u2019ve known before. If you\u2019ve real-ized breaking of the mirror, for example, you can say what color it is just as easy as it is to identify your own face in the mirror. <\/p>\n
His teacher replied, \u201cTrue eternity still flows.\u201d
And then he asked, \u201cWhat is this true eternity that still flows?\u201d
\u201cIt is like a bright mirror, permanently smooth,\u201d said his teacher.
\u201cIs there anything beyond this?\u201d asked the young monk.
\u201cYes,\u201d responded his teacher.
\u201cWhat is beyond this?\u201d inquired the young monk.
And his teacher replied, \u201cBreak the mirror. Come, and I\u2019ll meet you.\u201d
<\/span><\/em><\/span>
A lot could be said about the spunk and freshness of the young monk; the psychology of the ear organ, the ear consciousness, and the ear objects coming together (waterfull, rain, han); the references in the teacher\u2019s answers to the <\/span>Jewel Mirror Samadhi<\/span><\/span>; and how teacher and student meet. All that would be to understand the koan.<\/span><\/p>\n