Author: Joriki

It is always the dragon! There is a famous lore called the “Dragon’s Gate” that is used in Zen often. For those of you who are not familiar with the story, I will offer a quick explanation. The lore takes place in rural China upon the Yellow River; this is a real location. In this story there are countless carp which spawn every year within the river. After swimming countless miles upstream, they gather at a deep pool at the foot of a waterfall called the “Dragon’s Gate”. The carp give pause there, while building their fortitude for one last struggle to summit the Dragons Gate. It is all or nothing! It is said that late at night, in the midst of the bright summer moon, the golden carp unify, mounting for one last battle. Most will fail, even after weeks of struggle they will give up and swim back down to the mild valley waters. However, there are a few who remain poised for the attack. They build so much energy, they begin to glow with a brilliant golden light. In a blinding flash, they travel up the falls will so much power that they breach the water’s surface and sail into the heavens. They sail so high they garner the attention of the gods. The gods are so moved by the golden carp’s perseverance; they strike them with a lightning bolt thus transforming the few into dragons! As the radiant and powerful dragons begin their descent, they are once again transformed back into a ordinary carp as they return to the water. It is always the the powerful dragon that gets the awe! After 30 years of practice, I know now it is not the dragon who weilds the diamond sword, but the simple carp. Upon returning to the waters of the everyday, the carp is at peace with the changing currents. He looks and acts according to the necessity of the present. He hides his head and horn, yet there is something odd that is unmistakable about him. I give you warning, take a second, third and fourth look! This ordinary fellow is quite extraordinary. It is the carp!

Sesshin, literally “to collect the mind”, is the Zen Buddhist seclusion or intensive period, consisting of 3-14 days of silent meditative practice. Included in these periods are daily zazen, chanting, communal meals, Dharma Talks/Teisho (sermons), samu (work) periods, and private interview (Dokusan) twice daily with Ryuun Joriki Baker, Osho.

During Sesshin, the Zen Student concentrates fully on their practice by collecting and mending the unbalanced energies of mind. This balance of mind we so desperately seek feels hidden from us in our daily lives. We seek outwardly for that which we perceive we are lacking. It is only with a deep commitment, and a willingness to face ourselves honestly, that we are able to break through and realize the perfection that is Tathagata. This systemic realization stokes the flames of true wisdom which burns brighter and brighter as we continue to combust and burn away our delusions and attachments. For centuries, philosophy and theology have tried to explain and conceptualize this process, their attempts are intrinsically shallow and hollow at best. The awakened mind is beyond word and letter, and the path of liberation runs straight ahead. With one true cut, we free fall into the vast emptiness of shunyata. Sesshin is a time to dedicate ourselves to the exploration of this great matter, and a time to realize the vast love and compassion of the Bodhisattva.

I always let students know that many times “passing” a koan is not really “knowing” it. When we “pass” a koan we merely see into it (kensho), it does not mean in anyway that we have completed it. As a matter of a fact we never “complete” a koan. If we continue to practice over the years, we may realize a koan’s greater depths repeatedly. I always say the best koans are Genjo Koan, or life koans. When we have insight into a koan, we have a basic understanding of its feel and expression. When confronted with this koan again organically, our dokusan experiences should allow a subtle grounding. Over and over we realize greater depths, endless dimensions. There is no meandering, daydreaming or bells to give pause when confronted with an organic nanto koan. Life comes at you head-on, indifferent to invitation and without reserve. Will you swerve and panic, or will you exhale and go straight on?

Gassho, Ryuun Joriki Baker, Osho offers private Zen Buddhist Instruction on Wednesdays and Thursdays via zoom or in person at the temple Tuesday afternoons. These private sessions are 1 hour and are designed for those who are interested in the attention and intimacy that only a “one on one” teaching environment can offer. These sessions include opening tea, Zen Dialectic Techniques (Hybrid of Koan Work and Counseling), meditation instruction, meditation, Zen Form, koan work/interview, and integrative techniques.

If interested, please email: Joriki@BlueMountainZendo.org

Phone: 484-735-0636

So much talk about abiding or finding the present moment. Take a breath, you can not escape the present moment. There is no need to “find” it. You don’t fall in and out of it, you are it. So no matter where you are, no matter how you feel or think, you are awake and manifest in full.

The zendo is a combustion chamber, it burns away that which has no true substance, and reveals the substance of truth which remains.

Blow wind blow, blow as you might, nothing is disturbed!

In order to truly speak with “one” voice, we must investigate the shards of the fragmented mind. We are host to a array of internal voices (limitless, primal, child, master, student, ect), and each perceives the world a bit differently. These voices are manifestations of the self, and some manifestations are caught within the scarring of ignorance, delusion and trauma. For spiritual maturity to be realized, these voices must be given permission to speak openly and honestly without the external censorship of others, or the internal supression by other voices. Part of this process is achived by the internal and external dialog between the various voices. Zen Practice offers a wonderful and safe container for us to investigate this work. Many koans invite this type of therapeutic play and ask us to “talk amongst ourselves” or to “strengthen and clarify” a particular voice. When the shards (voices) of mind are balanced, and fluid consciousness is realized. The flawless mirror reflects from upon the cool waters and with a single word the heavans fall from the sky.

One of the primary directions of practice is to cultivate and explore the various footings of emptiness (shunyatta). Early in practice we begin explore the initial stages of emptiness we call oneness. Through this practice we experience a deepening sense of unity with the world around us. For example, when I first started to explore the depths of oneness, I found myself better able to “feel” the world around me. This was such an eye-opening experience for me. It grew from just more empathy for other people to more empathy for all life, including our planet. The lines of devision were becoming so very faint. This feeling of oneness made it impossible for me to continue to hunt and fish. I felt too interconnected, and any potential harm was not worthwhile. This is not to say I am against hunting and fishing; I am not. It is just no longer for me. Tumbling further down the rabbit hole I began to have even deeper experiences. I remember standing at “Sangha Meadows” at Dai Bosatsu and literally becoming the swaying grasses and the buzzing sounds of chanting, yet there was no longer any me. These experiences were the cool breeze of Harvest Sesshin. They swept through everything, leaving not even the slightest trace. Deeper yet, there is the footing I like to call “light switch” Zen, nothing can be said, yet a sound can be made. Getting stuck here is easy. My internal dialog was, “I want emptiness again. I want to be one! Not these dam achy knees or irritating Zen Politics! I will just need to work harder at oneness”. Who can’t be stuck on these initial life altering experiences? We are like a fish in a small pool who swims so hard upward, and with so much intensity that he breaches the water’s surface, and for just a moment, glimpses a whole new extraordinary world, only to come crashing back down into the same old pool. “What the hell was that, and how do I get back?”, we scramble. Everything becomes about this experience. If asked anything about Zen, we thrust this experience forth! Too many together and they sound like a herd of cows! With this being said, it is so easy to make our home here yet, no matter how hard we try, the experience slips through our fingers like cradled water. Soon we are left with nothing but a decaying memory. No matter how hard we try to replicate our experience, the further away we seem to move from it. What a pity. For those who push through, and let go of even this footing, the rabbit hole goes even deeper. I explain these depths as “tearing through”. When we open fully, and let go to even the slightest attachment to oneness, we begin to press against the “membrane” that separates oneness from multiplicity. These two are many times explained as the full moon (pure consciousness) and its reflection dancing upon the ocean’s waves (positivity/ multiplicity). Such an odd reality when it comes to dichotic equations. When we push ever so deeper into one side, we may end up tearing through to the other and thereby creating a truly “non-dual” experience. You may exclaim, “You got your absolute negative in my absolute positive!”. I liken this to a single piece of paper. If we hold up a piece of paper, we may say it is “one” piece, yet that “one piece” is made up of two sides. Take away one side, and what is left? So, our “one” relies on “two”. What does this insight point too? What is it to both realize and navigate the true waters of “non-duality”? To ride the choppy waters of the ocean’s surface without ever truly leaving the darkest and deepest waters of its depths. What now…