Wild Places
People go to wild places to search for their true nature.
When you do this, where is your true nature?
—Going to Wild Places (PZI Misc Koans, Case 73a:1st of Doushuai’s 3 Barriers)
People go to wild places looking for their true nature—I have gone to wild places looking for my true nature: backpacking, hiking, driving to work, attending a week-long meditation retreat.
John Tarrant often says, “A question means a journey.” When I do this, where is my true nature?
I recently returned from our fall sesshin where I took the role of timekeeper. All my doubts arose about doing it right, making mistakes, being in the dark zendo sitting with everyone for hours a day.
That’s the wild place where I felt the joy of ringing the bells, seeing your faces, all of us together searching for our true nature.
I’ll ring bells for you on Tuesday as we step into the wild place of our hearts.
—Jan Brogan, November 7th, 2023
(David Weinstein is away this week)
David Weinstein Roshi,
Director of Rockridge Meditation Community
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