406. MASTER GEN-UN-KEN ( DARK CLOUD )
Head and shoulders it stands
-- Mount Perumalmalai --
above the hills and mountains
that cluster at its feet.
Atop this mountain there rests
-- in solemn stillness --
a Dark Cloud that embraces
all who would climb its peak.
Who knows whence it comes
-- or whither it blows --
the Wind that shapes and moves
this Dark ( Perumalmalai ) Cloud?
(For AMA Samy's 85th birthday)
405. When directed in a koan to 'put out the fire', I must ask myself what does 'put out' mean, that is, how is it used in the grammar of this language game. And again, mind the gap.
404. Does the Master demand the impossible when he tells me 'Put out that fire a thousand miles away!' Not if I am mindful of the nature of 'the gap'.
403. The Zen novice is directed to go straight on a narrow mountain path with ninety-nine curves. Notice that the narrow winding path is a mountain path. Might this be significant?
402. Koan: 'Inorder to be a worthy Zen student I must go straight on a narrow mountain path with ninety-nine curves'. Like with so many Zen koans this one demands that the student do the (seemingly) impossible. The central point of the koan would have the student 'go straight' on a narrow winding mountain path. Can this be done? If so, how?
401. In the vast wide world of Master Unmon, is there room for Bodhidharma? If so, where?
400. Bodhidharma is a key figure in the Zen Buddhist tradition in that he is credited with transmitting Dhyana Buddhism from India to China where it was translated into C'han. Contemporary scholarship has raised questions about the historicity of Bodhidharma and his pivotal role linking Dhyana and C'han. Should it be demonstrated that Bodhidharma is a fictional character, how would this affect your practice of Zen?
