‘WEDNESDAY with TAIGU’ – The Ten Oxherding Pictures (III)

Beliefnet

Home

Faiths & Prayer

Treeleaf Zen

‘WEDNESDAY with TAIGU’ – The Ten Oxherding Pictures (III)

posted by Jundo Cohen | 8:04am Wednesday November 25, 2009

The first picture … The Seeker

On his blog, Mike Dosho Port quotes Andy Ferguson’s translation of a poem by Sensu Tokujo, one of our Chinese ancestors:

Letting down the line ten thousand feet,

A single breaking wave makes ten thousand ripples.

At night in still water, the cold fish won’t bite.

An empty boat filled with moonlight returns.

Thefish is the golden fish and stands for a metaphor of awakening for evendead its eyes are bright and wide open. Just like the bull or the ox.We fish something we will never get, we won’t be allowed on thepromised land, we won’t be given what we expected. Much more. We end upwith the moonlight , a symbol of the oneness of practice andrealization. We end up with Shikantaza, being already home as we startour journey, for there is nowhere else to be. Just being is our home.So the seeking never ceases, it is the action through which we turn theDharma wheel, it is this continous practice. Nowhere to go, nobody whotravels, to destination to reach, just the full joy of being andunfolding this being-time now.

_______________________

(remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;

a sitting time of 20 to 35 minutes is recommended)

To subscribe to “Treeleaf Zen” click here.

most popular

beliefnet

Joyful Mind, Motherly Mind, Great Mind ( ... and thank you to Beliefnet)
( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXXIII)As we close this year 2009 ... all is truly but a constant beginning, ever new ...And as we conclude our reading of the Tenzo Kyokun, there remains ongoing life and practice ...In these final passages, Master Dogen reminds us to be joyful, to take care of

posted 3:12:37am Dec. 31, 2009 | read full post »

Between Heaven and Hell
(And, in case you have not heard ... after a lovely year here at Beliefnet.com, our daily "Sit-a-long with Jundo" Zazen netcasts will be moving home on January 1st to SHAMBHALA SUNSPACE, the webpage of the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines, where we will be a daily featured Buddhist blog ...

posted 3:45:48am Dec. 30, 2009 | read full post »

Life Is Our Temple
( Dogen's Instructions for the Cook - XXXI)Right here, right now ... this is the time and place of realization ... awakening and making it real ...___________________________When I observedaccomplished people in the past who held the position of cook, their personalqualities were naturally in

posted 7:54:33am Dec. 29, 2009 | read full post »

'Mondays with TAIGU' - A New Year ... No Expectations ...
A new year ... no expectations ...(After a lovely year here at Beliefnet.com, our daily "Sit-a-long with Jundo" Zazen netcasts will be moving home on January 1st to SHAMBHALA SUNSPACE, the webpage of the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines, where we will be a daily featured Buddhist blog ... si

posted 2:38:50am Dec. 28, 2009 | read full post »

Join our Weekly 'SATURDAY (almost) LIVE FROM TREELEAF' Real-Time Zen Meditation TONIGHT!
Due to technical difficulties ... A PRE-RECORDED 'RE-SIT' TODAY ... Please join our weekly "(almost) Live from Treeleaf" Zazenkai meditation ...We start with 3 floor prostrations (or deep Gassho), then chant the Heart Sutra in ENGLISH (see below), then sit about 40 minutes of Zazen, then 5 minutes o

posted 7:18:07am Dec. 26, 2009 | read full post »

read all»