Taught by Rev. Ryushin Thach
4 Tuesday evenings form 6:45 to 8 pm,
October 14, 21, 28 November
3 with the option of possibly a 5th class on the 10th
Class will be offered in-person only. Hybrid might be possible if there is enough interest.
Please set an intention to attend all classes.
In Soto Zen literature, koans are used as teaching stories that serve as pointers to that which is all be impossible to meet in the usual conceptual ways. These ancient, enigmatic tales as we know them date from our Tang and Song Dynasty ancestors. As they are taught in our Soto tradition, they are surprisingly immediate, playful and evolving. Rather than arriving at some one answer, they continue to draw us into our lives. It is a wonderful coincidence that we are studying Genjokoan in this practice period. Sojun Weistman called it Dogen’s “koan of our life.”
These teaching stories are like jewels reflecting our lives back to us.
In this class we will:
- Become familiar with the evolution of koan practice, and the major collections of koans that Soto Zen teachings are drawn from. – Explore and practice with several well known and not so well known koans that exemplify koans with different emphasis.
- Become familiar some of the most iconic and prolific Song and Tang dynasty teachers in koan literature.
- Take up koan practice with the questions of our lives.
The class will be participatory with some didactic teaching.
There is no main text for this class. Most of the koans references will be drawn from the Shokoroku (Book of Serenity) using the Thomas Cleary translation.
Here is a link to this text. The on-line versions are formatted in somewhat reader unfriendly way/ the aded saying are especially difficult. We won’t be planning to spend much time with that aspect of koan study for this class.
Copies of the specific koans out of the Shokoryoku and the Koun Yamada commentary will be sent out electronically the week before the class when they will be discussed.
If you prefer to use paper copies for the class and cannot print them out yourself, please contact Ryushin.
Our first class will include spending time with case 53 Huangbo’s “Dreg-Slupers. Copies will be emailed to those who sign up.
There are many lectures and commentaries on the koans we’ll look at. They are interesting and helpful, but for our purposes, I’d encourage you to sit with the koan, reading it over and over again, touching into it during your days. You are not looking for the “correct “answer, but rather, what questions you have as you dive in or something in the koan that calls out to you. So, perhaps better to wait to look at what others have said until you have had a few days with the koan we’ll be looking at.
Here are a few other references I liked for the pointers they give to koan study:
Through the Forest of Every Color: Awakening with Koans by Joan Sutherland. Although there is no pdf on line, you can read the introduction without purchasing the book. (Consider supporting Joan’s work if you are interested though)
Bring Me the Rhinoceros by John Tarrant https://cdn.bookey.app/files/pdf/book/en/bring-me-the-rhinoceros.pdf
Passing Through the Gateless Barrier: Koan Practice for Real Life by
Guo Go (very helpful introduction) The Book of Equanimity by Gerry Shishin Wick. Can be a little too explanatory so read with caution.
