Jon shares excerpts from and commentary on David Hinton’s recent koan collection translations.

The epic journey of a thousand faces is a story older than humanity itself. How, in this ordinary world of struggle, can we return to our original dwelling place?

When we read any koan, poem, or myth, we often encounter bits that stand out and speak to us, shiny objects that say, “Come closer, look at me, play with me.” Sometimes, they hook us and refuse to let go. The third line in this week’s poem was just such an ornament. Who doesn’t want to ascend to heaven?

“The challenge of my whole life has been to slow down. I find it very difficult to be still—to endure it.”

—Marie Howe

The Third Rank is called “Coming from Within the Real,” and we are learning to embody, to become intimate, with emptiness. We make it our own.

The second rank is called “The Real within the Apparent,” written in the 9th century by Dongshan, the founder of the Caodong (Soto) Chan-Zen School. His Five Ranks present a kind of lyrical roadmap of the process of awakening.

Dongshan’s Five Ranks form the final collection of koans in Pacific Zen’s curriculum. The first rank recognizes darkness and shadow in our lives: the dirt, the mud, the smelly garbage. It is this dark matter that of necessity accompanies us in our search for light in the universe.

“Politics is a power struggle to get to the top of the heap. Calcutta and Mother Teresa are about working with those who are at the bottom of the heap. I came to see them as no different from myself and their needs as important as my needs. And you’re there to serve them, and in doing that you are attaining as great a state of being as one can.”

—Governor Jerry Brown

Jerry Brown is one of the most fascinating public servants of our era; he remains a passionate advocate for nuclear disarmament, environmental protections, and education reform. Jerry’s life has been one of both spiritual contemplation and political action, all in hopes of making the world better for others.

It is nice to occasionally experience the universe as incredibly silly, to see the world as a vast field of play. In even the most dire of circumstances, at times we can taste a quality of suchness and light, one that existed before we attached the definitions “pain” and “struggle.”