Recorded on March 17, 2024.

In this second teisho on the trilogy of Te-shan koans, Roshi Martin looks at Case 4 of the Blue Cliff Record: “Te-shan Carries His Bundle.” In the previous teisho Te-shan set down the backpack of brilliant commentaries on the Diamond Sutra he’d been lugging around. Here he carries his bundle of monk’s gear and, post-satori, seems hardly to know what to do with it.

Selected references:

• The Blue Cliff Record, Translated by Thomas Cleary and J.C. Cleary  - Case 4       "Te-shan Carries His Bundle"
• The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment by Roshi Philip Kapleau
• Original Chan Teachings of Buddhism Selected from The Transmission of the Lamp, Translated with Introductions by Chan Chung-Yuan

Photo  credit: Wooden Buddha in the shrine room at Endless Path Zendo, Rafe Martin

• Books by Roshi Rafe Martin
• Talks on YouTube
• More information at endlesspathzen.org