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December 2022
Dear Friends,
One of our most famous Zen stories has all the elements of a classic epic—drama, intrigue, the heroic deeds of an underdog out-performing the heir apparent. At the heart of the narrative is a contest – the 5th Ancestor proclaims that whoever can write a poem that best embodies the dharma will become the 6th Ancestor. The heavily favored Head Monk loses to the Outsider that works in the kitchen cleaning rice. Here are the two poems, as they’ve been handed down to us:
Head Monk Shen-hsui’s Poem:
Body is bodhi tree,
Mind is clear mirror’s stand.
Always clean, clean, clean.
Do not keep dust.
Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng’s Poem:
Bodhi has no tree,
Clear mirror has no stand.
Originally nothing,
Where is dust?
Of course, this whole drama comes down to us as literary invention, or the politicized, extravagant memory of prejudicial leanings. Even in the best of Zen circles, it seems we continuously find ourselves right back in the middle of picking and choosing, correct and incorrect, North and South, sudden and gradual, etc., etc. It’s understandable; we’re human.
But as practitioners of Zen we can ask ourselves, Who is the true heir apparent? Who or what do we follow?
Even the notion of “following” as a means to attain awakening is misleading. Better to stand strong, firmly rooted in “Don’t Know Mind” and shine forth, just as we are.
Yours, without contest, within the great wide context of being,
Jeong Ji
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