Episode Description: This talk combines three related Blue Cliff Record cases 70, 71, and 72. We meet Hyakujo, Isan, Goho and Ungan, who grapple with the nature of speech and ultimate understanding. Roshi Henry Shukman draws on his extensive literary background to relate koan structure with narrative storytelling, which includes references to character transformation in Tolstoy’s War and Peace and a discussion of epic poetry’s roots in the shamanic journey. This far-reaching and inspiring teisho is not to be missed!
Image Credit: Hush, by Hartwig HKD, CC BY-ND 2.0.
Featured Image Credit: Zen Morning, by Hartwig HKD, CC BY-ND 2.0.