They Can Fish It!

Greetings,

Next week we'll be on a break/retreat here at the hermitage and the following week we'll be in sesshin, so it'll be quiet here for the last week of December and the first week of January.

This week, though, I've got a lot planned. In addition to a recording of a portion of the introduction to Going Through the Mystery, I'll be posting a bunch of Dōgen teachings, mostly snippets, but also a long one - my version of "Shushōgi." Let's begin with this:

"When the aspiration to seek the Way has become sincere, either during only just sitting, or when dealing with a kōan of the people of olden times, or when meeting a Zen master [sanzen] - when one acts with true aspiration, though their aim be high, they can hit it, though their aim be deep, they can fish it."

-Dōgen Zenji in Shōbōgenzō zuimonki, trans. Eiji Suhara