< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 1 Dig deep 1 November 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, ONE NIGHT ISAN WAS IN ATTENDANCE ON HYAKUJO, SITTING TILL LATE IN THE QUIETNESS OF THE MOUNTAIN TEMPLE. “WHO ARE YOU?” HYAKUJO ASKED. “REIYU,” REPLIED ISAN. “RAKE IN THE FIREPLACE,” INSTRUCTED HYAKUJO. ISAN DID AS HE WAS TOLD AND SAID, “I FIND NO EMBERS LEFT.” HYAKUJO TOOK UP THE TONGS AND, RAKING DEEP DOWN, BROUGHT UP A TINY BURNING EMBER, WHICH HE SHOWED TO ISAN, AND SAID, “JUST THIS, YOU SEE!...

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 2 Inertia of habit 2 November 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, ON ONE OCCASION, A MONK ASKED ISAN ABOUT THE NEED FOR CULTIVATION OF ONE’S SPIRITUAL LIFE AFTER ENLIGHTENMENT. ISAN RESPONDED THAT IT WAS NEEDED BECAUSE OF THE “INERTIA OF HABIT.” HE THEN WENT ON TO SAY: “WHAT YOU HEAR MUST FIRST BE ACCEPTED BY YOUR REASON; AND WHEN YOUR RATIONAL UNDERSTANDING IS DEEPENED AND SUBTILIZED IN AN INEFFABLE WAY, YOUR MIND WILL, OF ITS OWN SPONTANEITY, BECOME COMPREHENSIVE AND BRIGHT, NEVER TO RELAPSE INTO THE STATE OF DOUBT AND DELUSION....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 3 Start witnessing 3 November 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, ON ONE OCCASION, A MONK CAME TO ISAN’S MONASTERY TO BE TAUGHT, AND, SEEING HIM, ISAN MADE AS IF TO GET UP. “PLEASE DON’T STAND UP!” EXCLAIMED THE MONK. “I HAVEN’T SAT DOWN YET!” SAID ISAN. “I HAVEN’T BOWED YET,” THE MONK SAID. “YOU RUDE CREATURE!” COMMENTED ISAN....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 4 How about you? 4 November 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, ONCE, TO KYOZAN, ISAN COMMENTED: “ALL THE BUDDHAS IN THE SAMADHI ENTER INTO A SPECK OF DUST AND TURN THE GREAT WHEEL OF THE LAW.” KYOZAN SAID TO HIM, “HOW ABOUT YOU?” ISAN RESPONDED, “THERE IS SOMEONE; MAKING HIM AN EXAMPLE, WE CAN GET IT FROM HIM....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 5 Just be here 5 November 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, ISAN SAID TO KYOZAN, “I HAVE HEARD THAT WHEN YOU WERE WITH HYAKUJO, IF YOU WERE ASKED ABOUT ONE, YOU COULD ANSWER ABOUT TEN. IS THAT TRUE?” “I WOULDN’T LIKE TO SAY,” REPLIED KYOZAN. “ATTEMPT TO SAY SOMETHING THAT EXPRESSES THE HIGHEST POINT OF BUDDHISM,” SAID ISAN....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 6 The only hope 6 November 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, ISAN SAID TO KYOZAN: “MOST OF THE PEOPLE UPON THIS GREAT EARTH, WITH THEIR LIMITLESS CONSCIOUSNESS OF CAUSE AND EFFECT, LACK THE AWARENESS OF THAT ORIGINAL NATURE WHICH THEY SHOULD RELY UPON. CAN YOU TELL WHETHER THEY HAVE THIS AWARENESS OR NOT?” KYOZAN REPLIED: “I HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS DIFFICULTY....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 7 Blue sky 1 December 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, ON ONE OCCASION, TWO ZEN MONKS CAME FROM A RIVAL COMMUNITY AND, ARRIVING AT ISAN’S MONASTERY, COMMENTED: “THERE IS NOT A MAN HERE WHO CAN UNDERSTAND ZEN.” LATER, WHEN ALL THE MONKS WERE OUT GATHERING FIREWOOD, KYOZAN SAW THEM BOTH RESTING. HE PICKED UP A PIECE OF FIREWOOD AND SAID TO THE TWO: “CAN YOU TALK ABOUT IT?...

< Previous | Contents ‌CHAPTER 8 Essential zen 2 December 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER, KYOZAN ONCE RETURNED TO ISAN TO INTERVIEW HIM. ISAN SAID TO HIM, “YOU ARE NOW CALLED A GOOD AND CLEVER TEACHER. HOW CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THOSE WHO COME FROM ALL PARTS AND KNOW IT, AND THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW IT; THE MASTERS WHO HAVE INHERITED IT, AND THOSE WHO HAVE NOT; THE PROFOUND LEARNING, AND THE MEANING LEARNING?...