04/23/2026
This week’s koans:
Book of Serenity, Case 20
Fayan was going on pilgrimage.
Dizang said, “Where are you going?”
Fayan said, “Around on pilgrimage.”
Dizang said, “What is the purpose of pilgrimage?”
Fayan said: “I don’t know.”
Dizang said, “Not knowing is most intimate.”
Book of Serenity, Case 2
Emperor Wu of Liang asked Great Teacher Bodhidharma, “What is the highest meaning of the holy truths?”
Bodhidharma said, “Empty — there’s no holy.”
The emperor said, “Who are you facing me?”
Bodhidharma said, “Don’t know.” The emperor didn’t understand.
Bodhidharma subsequently crossed the Yangste River, came to Shaolin, and faced a wall for nine years.
And a callback to the last koan we worked together:
Blue Cliff Record, Case 43
A monk asked Tung Shan, “When cold and heat come, how can we avoid them?”
Shan said, “Why don’t you go to the place where there is no cold or heat?”
The monk said, “What is the place where there is no cold or heat?”
Tung Shan said, “When it’s cold, the cold kills you; when it’s hot, the heat kills you.”
Fixed views about don’t-know mind seem extra-likely to block how it functions. So… we will circle around the matter, look at a couple of koans, maybe talk about what don’t-know is not.
