Zen Forum International status

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Lindama
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Location: Forestville, CA usa

Re: Zen Forum International status

Post by Lindama »

i c... for purity sake. nothing new under the sun.
Not last night,
not this morning,
melon flowers bloomed.
~ Bassho
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Lindama
Posts: 685
Joined: Tue Sep 18, 2012 4:26 pm
Location: Forestville, CA usa

Re: Zen Forum International status

Post by Lindama »

Wild Fox koan.... good for this friday morning/afternoon/evening...
Tanahashi gives the following rendering of the koan:[1]

Every time Baizhang, Zen Master Dahui, gave a dharma talk, a certain old man would come to listen. He usually left after the talk, but one day he remained. Baizhang asked, "Who is there?"

The man said, "I am not actually a human being. I lived and taught on this mountain at the time of Kashyapa Buddha. One day a student asked me, 'Does a person who practices with great devotion still fall into cause and effect?' I said to him, 'No, such a person doesn't.' Because I said this I was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. Reverend master, please say a turning word for me and free me from this wild fox body." Then he asked Baizhang, "Does a person who practices with great devotion still fall into cause and effect?"

Baizhang said, "Don't ignore cause and effect."

Immediately the man had great realization. Bowing, he said, "I am now liberated from the body of a wild fox. I will stay in the mountain behind the monastery. Master, could you perform the usual services for a deceased monk for me?"

Baizhang asked the head of the monks' hall to inform the assembly that funeral services for a monk would be held after the midday meal. The monks asked one another, "What's going on? Everyone is well; there is no one sick in the Nirvana Hall." After their meal, Baizhang led the assembly to a large rock behind the monastery and showed them a dead fox at the rock's base. Following the customary procedure, they cremated the body.

That evening during his lecture in the dharma hall Baizhang talked about what had happened that day. Huangbo asked him, "A teacher of old gave a wrong answer and became a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. What if he hadn't given a wrong answer?"

Baizhang said, "Come closer and I will tell you." Huangbo went closer and slapped Baizhang's face. Laughing, Baizhang clapped his hands and said, "I thought it was only barbarians who had unusual beards. But you too have an unusual beard!"
Not last night,
not this morning,
melon flowers bloomed.
~ Bassho
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Dan74
Former staff member
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Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2012 3:59 pm
Location: Switzerland

Re: Zen Forum International status

Post by Dan74 »

Lindama wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:27 pm i c... for purity sake. nothing new under the sun.
Not sure what you want to say with this, Linda. Sounds like you disapprove but I'm just not sure.
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明安 Myoan
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Location: Portland, OR

Re: Zen Forum International status

Post by 明安 Myoan »

This thread has been closed as the status of the ZFI was well discussed last year.
To continue conversation about Sweeping Zen, please use this thread in the Lounge.

:thanks:
Namu Amida Butsu
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