koan – Todd Grant Yonkman

Gateless Gate 11: Land Interrogates Shrine Master

[Explanation: For over 20 years my spiritual practice has been Zen meditation. I am currently a member of Boundless Way Temple, Worcester, MA. I study koans under the instruction of David Rynick, Roshi. “Koan” comes from the ancient Chinese practice of law and simply means “case,” as in the record of a legal proceeding that points to the truth of the matter at hand. Koans are statements of proceedings usually in a monastery context, that point to truth. Another one of David’s students and I have taken up the practice of writing verses in response to some of the koans we study. My dharma name is “Setsusho.” Below is the koan. The koan translation from the original Chinese is by poet David Hinton. Rather than transliterate the character names, Hinton uses a literal translation of the Chinese characters: “Visitation-Land” a.k.a. Zhaozhou/Joshu. Confusing, but perhaps opening up more nuance of meaning. Following the koan is “Setsusho’s” response!]

Case

Master Visitation-Land stopped at a shrine-master’s hut and called out: “Anyone there? Presence? Any Presence there?”

The shrine-master simply held up his fist.

“You can’t anchor a boat in water this shallow,” said Land. Then he left.

Later he returned to the shrine-master’s hut and again called out: “Anyone there? Presence? Any Presence there?”

Once more the shrine-master simply held up a fist.

“Ah you–you can offer up and steal away, put to death and bring to life,” said Land. Then he bowed reverently.

Setsusho’s Verse

River pools below two boulders

Hermit swims long strokes

Against the current

Going nowhere

Gateless Gate 10: Lucid-Black Alone Impoverished

[Explanation: For over 20 years my spiritual practice has been Zen meditation. I am currently a member of Boundless Way Temple, Worcester, MA. I study koans under the instruction of David Rynick, Roshi. “Koan” comes from the ancient Chinese practice of law and simply means “case,” as in the record of a legal proceeding that points to the truth of the matter at hand. Koans are statements of proceedings usually in a monastery context, that point to truth. Another one of David’s students and I have taken up the practice of writing verses in response to some of the koans we study. My dharma name is “Setsusho.” Below is the koan. The koan translation from the original Chinese is by poet David Hinton. Rather than transliterate the character names, Hinton uses a literal translation of the Chinese characters: “Lucid-Black.” Confusing, but perhaps opening up more nuance of meaning. Following the koan is “Setsusho’s” response!]

Case

Lucid-Black asked Master Twofold Mountain: “I am perfectly alone now, perfectly impoverished. I’m an alms-beggar here. Won’t you please grant me the sustenance of your teaching?”

“You are Lucid-Black, acharya, great dharma-sage!” Twofold-Mountain called out in response.

“Yes, replied Lucid-Black.

“You’ve savored three cups of clear wine from our ancestral household of green-azure origins. And still you say you haven’t moistened your lips?”

Setsusho’s Verse

Side pierced, legs broken

Friday, third hour past noon

In sun-blotted dark, crowd’s mockery

wafts on the sweetest breeze

Gateless Gate 8: What-Next Invents Cartwheel

Case

Master Moon-Shrine Mountain asked the monks: “When What-Next invented the cartwheel, it had a hundred spokes. But what if hub and rim are broken off, spokes scattered away–do you understand the bright clarity of what it could do then?”

Setsusho’s verse

Deaf monk hears with eyes

Sparkling ripples slapping the raft

As he and Huck and Jim

Light out for the territories

Setsusho’s Verse: Gateless Gate #6: “World Honored One Twirls a Flower”

[Explanation: For over 20 years my spiritual practice has been Zen meditation. I am currently a member of Boundless Way Temple, Worcester, MA. I study koans under the instruction of David Rynick, Roshi. Another one of David’s students and I have taken up the practice of writing verses in response to some of the koans we study. My dharma name is “Setsusho.” Below is the koan. Following that is “Setsusho’s” response!]

6: WORLD-HONORED HELD FLOWER

Long ago on Spirit-Vulture Peak, Shākyamuni Buddha, the World-Honored One, held a flower up and revealed it to the sangha. Everyone sat in shadowy silence. Then Mahākāshyapa’s face broke into the faintest smile. The World-Honored-One said: “I possess the perfect dharma of the eye’s treasure-house, the nirvana of mind’s mysterious depths, the true form of formlessness, the subtle mystery of the dharma-gate. Not relying on words and texts, outside teaching and beyond doctrine—I here entrust all that to Mahākāshyapa.”

Hinton, David. No-Gate Gateway (p. 18). Shambhala. Kindle Edition.

Setsusho’s Verse
Ant crawls across IKEA carpet where a sleepy monk sits.

Amarylis blooms like juice squirting from peeled orange.

Monk, ant, amarylis.

This truth never fails.

Setsusho’s Verse: Gateless Gate #7 “Joshu’s Wash Your Bowls”

[Explanation: For over 20 years my spiritual practice has been Zen meditation. I am currently a member of Boundless Way Temple, Worcester, MA. I study koans under the instruction of David Rynick, Roshi. Another one of David’s students and I have taken up the practice of writing verses in response to some of the koans we study. My dharma name is “Setsusho.” Below is the koan. Following that is “Setsusho’s” response! Note: “Visitation-Land” is David Hinton’s poetic rendering of famous Zen Master Joshu’s name.]

7: VISITATION-LAND WASH BOWL

A monk asked Master Visitation-Land: “I’ve just arrived here in your thicket-forest monastery, Master. Please show me what you have to reveal.” “Have you eaten your mush?” Land asked. “Yes.” “Hurry then, wash your bowl!” At this, the monk was awakened.

Hinton, David. No-Gate Gateway (p. 20). Shambhala. Kindle Edition.

Setsusho’s Verse

Bowl specked with cereal sits in the kitchen.

Monk covered in bunny fuzz sits on the sun porch.

Unhindered.

Who washes?