A nun asked Zen Master Zhaozhou, "What is the deeply secret mind?"
The master squeezed her hand.
The nun said, "Do you still have that in you?
The master said, "It is you who have it."
Commentary
This is one of several troubling dialogues involving Zhaozhou. He did not begin teaching until he was in his 80s -- a very old man. And yet several of the koans involving him suggest that he brought sexuality into his teaching.
The nun asks about "the deeply secret mind." All of us have deep, hidden places within us and few places could be more difficult to access than our sexuality. Perhaps this is behind her question.
Zhaozhou touches her, an action that crosses an important monastic barrier. She confronts him and he puts it back on her. It's possible that this is a moment of clean teaching. But, given the touching, it seems improbable.
Source: The Recorded Sayings of Joshu, translated by James Green
Photo by horizontal.integration
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