Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 1/26/25 - The sole purpose of a koan is to help the student experience their true nature. As a skillful means, a koan helps us see where we are clinging, and the karma we carry in this life. Yet even an enlightened being has this karmic body to grapple with. The challenge is to be in complete intimacy with our true nature, as it is, as we are.  Part 3 of 3

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 1/26/25 - The sole purpose of a koan is to help the student experience their true nature. As a skillful means, a koan helps us see where we are clinging, and the karma we carry in this life. Yet even an enlightened being has this karmic body to grapple with. The challenge is to be in complete intimacy with our true nature, as it is, as we are. Part 3 of 3

Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi - ZMM - 1/26/25 - The sole purpose of a koan is to help the student experience their true nature. As a skillful means, a koan helps us see where we are clinging, and the karma we carry in this life. Yet even an enlightened being has this karmic body to grapple with. The challenge is to be in complete intimacy with our true nature, as it is, as we are.&nbsp; Part 3 of 3

Zhaozhou’s “Mu” and Skillful Compassion

Shugen Roshi has been in full time monastic training since the mid-1980's. He received dharma transmission from Daido Roshi in 1996. He has been the Head of the Mountains and Rivers Order since Daido Roshi's passing in 2009 and is the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery.

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Zhaozhou’s “Mu” and Skillful Compassion

Zhaozhou’s “Mu” and Skillful Compassion