{"id":460,"date":"2008-11-30T18:32:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-30T18:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail\/"},"modified":"2008-11-30T18:32:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-30T18:32:00","slug":"that-wonderful-tail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.html","title":{"rendered":"That Wonderful Tail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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This morning in the woods I caught Bodhi\u2019s tail in a shot unexpectedly and thought of one of my favorite and bedeviling koans,\u00a0<\/span>Gateless Gate # 38: Wu-tsu\u2019s Bffalo Passes Through the Window.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Later on, with the winter approaching and the daylight shrinking, I turned to savoring some old Dogen poems. I stumbled on Dogen also chewing on this wonderful tail.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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So first the koan with verse and then Steven Heine\u2019s translation from\u00a0<\/span>A Blade of Grass<\/span><\/span>\u00a0(apparently out of print)<\/span>:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Wu-tsu said, \u201cIt is like a buffalo that passes through a latticed window. Its head, horns, and four legs all pass through. Why can\u2019t its tail pass through as well?\u201d<\/span><\/span>
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Verse:
Passing through, falling in a ditch;0
turning beyond, all is lost.
This tiny litle tail \u2013
what a wonderful thing it is!
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
The world \u2014<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Like a [buffalo\u2019s] tail<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Not passing through the window,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Although no one is there<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Holding it back.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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No one holding back and yet something always left out. What could it be?<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning in the woods I caught Bodhi\u2019s tail in a shot unexpectedly and thought of one of my favorite and bedeviling koans,\u00a0Gateless Gate # 38: Wu-tsu\u2019s Bffalo Passes Through the Window.\u00a0 Later on, with the winter approaching and the daylight shrinking, I turned to savoring some old Dogen poems. I stumbled on Dogen also […]<\/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-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThat Wonderful Tail<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This morning in the woods I caught Bodhi's tail in a shot unexpectedly and thought of one of my favorite and bedeviling koans,\u00a0Gateless Gate # 38:\" \/>\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\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"That Wonderful Tail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This morning in the woods I caught Bodhi's tail in a shot unexpectedly and thought of one of my favorite and bedeviling koans,\u00a0Gateless Gate # 38:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.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=\"2008-11-30T18:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_0uPSljNE9f4\/STMwwEGkmqI\/AAAAAAAAAK4\/0YpURkNdGTQ\/s320\/101_0309.JPG\" \/>\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=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.html\",\"name\":\"That Wonderful Tail\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-11-30T18:32:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-11-30T18:32:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/#\/schema\/person\/45224391b7690e99673782337bd0eabd\"},\"description\":\"This morning in the woods I caught Bodhi's tail in a shot unexpectedly and thought of one of my favorite and bedeviling koans,\u00a0Gateless Gate # 38:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2008\/11\/that-wonderful-tail.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"That Wonderful Tail\"}]},{\"@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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