![](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_0uPSljNE9f4\/TT2YrJCV3VI\/AAAAAAAABCk\/dP5zW_HAhdc\/s1600\/zacchaeus-in-a-tree.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\nYesterday we completed a sweet weekend sesshin. Our theme during this period is the up-a-tree koan (see previous post) and we\u2019re using Dogen\u2019s \u201cThe Meaning of Bodhidharma Coming from the West\u201d as our play ground.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Our entry point is to taste the branch in our mouth \u2013 how each of us is up-a-tree in this life, vulnerable and alone. Hung out to dry.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This koan is like a dream \u2013 like the one where you show up at work for an important presentation and discover that you\u2019re naked. \u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Fortunately, in the koan there is also someone who comes along and calls up to you, again and again.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n So maybe we\u2019re not so alone. Our teeth are connected to the branch. The branch is connected to the tree. The tree is connected to the 1,000 foot cliff. The person below is calling. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And then it stops.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve had several deaths in the greater Zen community as the baby-boomer zeneration begins to exit stage left with three long-time priests affiliated with San Francisco Zen Center passing \u2013 Jerome Peterson<\/a>, Darlene Cohen<\/a>, and Lou Hartman<\/a> (click the name for more \u2013 all three link you to exceptionally tender-hearted expression).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n We also have some new online life from Zen teachers. Alan Senauke<\/a>, successor of Mel Weitsman and long-time exemplar of engaged Buddhism<\/a>, and Genmyo Smith<\/a>, co-founder of the Ordinary Mind School with Joko Beck, have each started new blogs. I look forward to watching them bloom.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, there is the person calling, \u201cWhat is the meaning of this one great life?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Yesterday we completed a sweet weekend sesshin. Our theme during this period is the up-a-tree koan (see previous post) and we\u2019re using Dogen\u2019s \u201cThe Meaning of Bodhidharma Coming from the West\u201d as our play ground. Our entry point is to taste the branch in our mouth \u2013 how each of us is up-a-tree in this […]<\/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-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n