Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Roshi
Zen Mountain Monastery, 03/26/2020
Blue Cliff Record, Case 50
The monk in the koan asks “What is every atom samadhi?” Yunmen answers “Food in the bowl, water in the bucket.” In this talk, Shugen Roshi explores this profoundly simple teaching: the need to protect the mindfulness we are cultivating from the “thieves” of boredom, distraction, anxiety, and other hindrances. Roshi relates this constancy of practice to a teaching from Yasodhara on extending loving-kindness in every direction, reminding us that concentration must not exclude the many beings with which we share this life.
