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![](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d5\/Sbgzhonzan1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nOn Friday mornings I\u2019m in the habit of reflecting on the Thursday night study session and offering something here from there. This session was particularly fun with lots of laughter. I\u2019ll share one story from the session in a minute.<\/p>\n
My comments here serve the double purpose of an offering for the blog reader and a pointer for the small group of practitioners participating in the 100-day training, either via the internet<\/span> or in person.<\/p>\n We\u2019re just going by day 50 right now and we\u2019re wrapping up our work with the first line of the Genjokoan<\/span><\/em>. At this rate we might complete the first run through about the time my son graduates from high school in 2015 \u2013 if all goes well (for him and us).<\/p>\n Here it is:<\/p>\n When all dharmas<\/span> are the buddha<\/span> dharma<\/span>, there is delusion and realization, practice, life and death, buddhas<\/span> and living beings.<\/em><\/p>\n And then the comment on this line from Kyogo<\/span>, one generation removed from Dogen<\/span>:<\/p>\n \u201cAll dharmas<\/span>\u201d is \u201cWhat is it that thus comes? <\/em>(\u662f\u4ec0\u9ebc\u7269\u6041\u9ebc\u6765)\u201d The sentence which says, \u201cThe ten thousand dharmas<\/span> have no fixed-self\u201d points to, \u201cIf I point out one thing, I am off the mark<\/em> (\u8aac\u4f3c\u4e00\u7269\u5373\u4e0d\u4e2d).\u201d<\/p>\n The above references to \u201cwhat\u201d and \u201cmissing\u201d come from this excerpt from Dogen\u2019s<\/span> all time favorite koan:<\/p>\n Hueneng<\/span> asked, \u201cWhat is it that thus comes?\u201d <\/em> Simply put, all<\/em> dharmas<\/span> are What?<\/span> and no<\/em> dharmas<\/span> are this misses it<\/span>.<\/p>\n So its like this story that from a guy who I\u2019ll call George. George is a real American Zen guy whom I like a lot. I heard George tell this story over ten years ago so the details may have gotten twisted in my twisted mind but I\u2019ll do my best.<\/p>\n In the late 1960\u2019s George had just finished his divinity degree<\/strong> from Yale and was hungry for some religious experience<\/strong>. George heard that there was a Zen master in San Franscisco<\/span> so he drove across the county to Tassajara<\/span> to meet the man.<\/p>\n George had to do a one-day sitting before being admitted to the monastery and meeting with Suzuki Roshi<\/span>. George had never sat for a second so a full day of getting up only to pee had his mind whirling.<\/p>\n At the end of the day he was ushered into Suzuki Roshi\u2019s<\/span> cabin. Suzuki offered him tea and said, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d<\/p>\n George took it like, \u201cWhat is it that thus comes?\u201d<\/p>\n His mind was launched into a swirl. He knew Zen through D.T. Suzuki and \u201cknew\u201d that there was no self. How could no self have a name? What could he say that wasn\u2019t a lie? What was his true name? Nothing came to mind. But saying nothing didn\u2019t seem to respond to the Roshi\u2019s<\/span> question so he felt that he had to say something, but what?<\/p>\n After a long, awkward pause, George gasped out, \u201cGeorge.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHi,\u201d said Suzuki Roshi<\/span>, \u201cmy name\u2019s Suzuki.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s like our familiar name is \u201c\u2018<\/em>What<\/span>?'\u201d and our family name is \u201cUngraspable<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n On Friday mornings I\u2019m in the habit of reflecting on the Thursday night study session and offering something here from there. This session was particularly fun with lots of laughter. I\u2019ll share one story from the session in a minute. My comments here serve the double purpose of an offering for the blog reader and […]<\/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-488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Nanyueh<\/span> did not know what to answer. For eight long years he pondered the question, then one day it dawned on him, and he exclaimed, \u201cThe moment I said \u2018this\u2019 I\u2019d miss the mark.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n