So here we are again. We've witnessed the cutting of a cat and it seems that there's nothing we can do about it. It was interesting to hear Roshi say that he didn't particularly like this koan. I'm not sure exactly how he dislikes it, but I believe that he has some problem with it. And it seems to be the fact that out of all these full-time people practicing the way, nobody could change the situation and the cat paid the price.

[01:49]

And it looks like all these people who devoted their whole time to the practice and committed themselves, so none of them could do anything and the price was that the cat had to let her live. And these are the professionals, these are the full-time guys. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe what was necessary was maybe a janitor or something to walk in on the scene. Janitor? A cleaning man or something. Maybe it was necessary that some cleaning devil entered the scene. He might have done something without thinking and might have adopted the cat.

[02:58]

On the spot, decisively. In any case, Nanshuan's act reverberates down through the ages. And even we can feel the edge of his sword. However, at this point The sun is beginning to break through a little and I don't want to dwell on this dismal failure. So no one was enlightened. Tomorrow is another day. And after all, it's sort of silly to berate ourselves for not doing what we should do endlessly, to feel guilty.

[04:32]

And I don't think that Nanchuan... His intention was not to make people feel guilty. It's interesting, in the koan it says that he didn't criticize, he didn't... admonish, he didn't encourage, he didn't do any of those things. He just walked right into the middle of this scene and did something. And you might say that the whole world just was cleaved in two.

[05:42]

That's what a teacher is supposed to do. So if this, as I was trying to get a feeling for last night in Zazen, if this story has something to do with us and it's not just an academic subject... then it's more fun, then I want to find a way to play with it that doesn't immediately throw me into this or that.

[06:57]

Dann möchte ich einen Weg finden, damit herumzuspielen, ohne dass ich gleich hineingeworfen werde, entweder in dies oder das. Ich möchte nicht in der westlichen Halle sein und auch nicht in der östlichen. Aber ich muss irgendwo schlafen. And I have to practice somewhere. So it seems whatever approach I take, I'm called upon to act or do something. But clearly this action is not within the realm of this and that, of argument.

[08:16]

This is why the cat died. So if this is a teaching device in this tradition of Zen, then how do we actually make use of it? Yesterday we read it and began quite freely just to talk about it, our impressions about it. So that's one thing that we can do. We could also work with it in a more, let me say, a more classic way or a more traditional way.

[09:42]

And that is Once something in the koan or something about the koan catches your eye or hooks you or you feel something, then to gather it up. And to somehow hold it, as Roshi said, lightly, to lightly hold it, a phrase, a word, an image, There is a practice called wado, or turning word.

[10:49]

Some phrase or some word that turns you or moves you. And to take that word or image and be with it, sit with it and walk with it and be with it throughout the day. Now I actually find this a little bit difficult or problematic.

[12:13]

And I think I actually don't do it very well. That may just be my personality or my inclinations. I don't feel real diligent about keeping this thing in my mind. But many people have found this to be quite helpful, so I encourage myself to keep trying. Somehow to stay with some kind of feeling or image that this story brings up in you and Just kind of warm it like a bird on its egg.

[13:33]

Just as an experiment, we could try it, since we're here. And it's a very different approach and a different feeling for me than analyzing the koan and taking it apart and discussing it Sometimes I feel like there's just little bits of it lying all over the room and I'd like to clean them up and throw them away. So I offer that way of working with the turning word as another approach that I've been shown. In Crestone, we have spent sometimes a half a year or more on one koan.

[15:10]

I mean, you just can't even open the page after a while. It's just, oh, my God. But strangely enough, every time that we gather in the room and open the book and read through it, it's a little different ballgame. Which of course is not surprising. I mean, everything changes, right? So I don't want to talk too much more But what I would like to somehow say is that, or ask, where do these koans come from?

[16:24]

These are obviously the creation of people But were they like novelists or poets? How did they come up? I mean, we have a lot of stories words in culture that are passed down for ages and they're not necessarily special. I mean they might just be nice stories. So for me I should be able to create this koan or another koan.

[17:48]

It's just as good out of my own material. So then, when I look into this, I'm looking into my own depths. Then it becomes more vivid and alive. So I just invite us all to jump into our own water. And so I would like to invite everyone to jump into our own water. Okay. Should I say something about dividing up in groups?

[18:52]

Yeah. Roshi suggested that we divide up into groups as yesterday and maybe sort of gravitate to the same group you were in, but it's not a rule. I mean, maybe there's a developing conversation that you can pursue. Maybe somebody wants to ask you a question?

[19:13]

@Transcribed_UNK
@Text_v005
@Score_79.35