Blue Collar Zen

The extreme punishment for a thief -- his foot is chopped off -- transforms him into a sage.

Join us in the tea room as Sunim reads the story of the great sage Tumbledown, as told by Confucius, and then he and Myungju discuss the way forward for all of us to become free.

A story within a story.

An unremarkable monk, a scholar, a young disciple. A loving wife, a foolish husband. Their lives separated by time, yet cross on a mountain-top, fire & weeds their teachers.

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War: The curse of humanity. An old man with a wrangled & broken arm shares his story from youth, of being the lone surviving man in the entire region, of a long & bloody war in 8th century China that killed 10 million men over the course of decades.

A story in the book of prose & poems by Po Ch'u I, a famous poet & Taoist of 8th century China. Translated by David Hinton.

A simple cook shares the Way of Tao with his ruler (the Emperor).

Yielding, with the 4 Adepts

from the Chuang Tzu

The 4 Adepts is a story read from the Chuang Tzu.  Story read by Abbot Hwalson Sunim, then a conversation afterward together with Vice-Abbot Myungju Sunim.

On the 4 Adepts (Taoist Sages):  As Adept Cart becomes sick and faces death, he shares with us & his fellow sages his own fearless and yielding view of death, as a simple extension of the eventual passing of all things....

This version of Chuang Tzu has been translated by David Hinton, and is part of his collection The 4 Classics (of Taoism).

Thank you for listening...

by Zen Master Daehaeng

A man journeys home through the misty mountains of old Korea.  But as previous karma follows him, he meets with unexpected fortune, & terror.  Letting Go, written by Zen Master Daehaeng, presents us with a story we can all relate to.

Zen Master Daehaeng (1927 - 2012) was a Buddhist nun began her spiritual life at the age of 8 in Korea, before its split into North & South. As an enlightened master, she taught for more than 40 years at the Han Ma Um Center (founded 1972), and broke many of the traditional roles in Korean Buddhism, by having both male & female disciples, and teaching that people from all walks of life could practice & awaken to their true nature.

Enter the world of Zen nuns.  A common kitchen nun finds her teacher's instruction simple enough, but eventually the endless work & burden of cooking in the zen community becomes a serious complication in her quest for mental, emotional & spiritual peace.  Frustrated, hastily she makes the fire to prepare the winter solstice dish -- red bean porridge -- and winds up at the brink.

Six thousand years ago two folks were having a walk in the mountains.  They were Taoist sages, which simply means they were very sincere & accomplished spiritual practitioners.  Master Timid Magpie asked the elder Master Noble Tree a question about the Way of things. Some questions are timeless, felt in the heart of ancient humans as deeply as we feel them in our own hearts & minds. Welcome to my teacher's tea room, where we share this story, and a simple conversation about it. Today's podcast weaves meditation, Taoism, chickens & eggs, Zen, practice as a routine, and other subjects. We hope you enjoy the winding road of this morning's Christmas story.

Abbot Yang Chu is excited to hear that his master Lao Tzu is on his way back from his remote hermitage.  He drops everything to travel up to meet his teacher on the road home.

This episode follows the second part of Pusol's life, and his death.