It’s the invitation all teachers, since Shakyamuni Buddha, have extended to all students: the invitation to wake up and to experience our True Nature.Ĭhing Ch’ing, who taught in 10th Century China, was fond of extending this particular invitation to his students.
When the asker of the question is a teacher, though, as it is in this case, I tend to see the question less as a question than as an invitation. If the person asking is a student, is the question coming from ignorance? Is it coming from a deep sense of spiritual disquiet – from the edge of some breakthrough not yet realized? Or is it coming from a desire to show off or to show someone else up? Any combination of these is possible. If someone in the koan is asking a question, one of the first things I want to understand is what prompted question. To understand what this koan has to offer, then, we must become Ching Ch’ing. Those of you who have been around Treetop for a while will be familiar with the exhortation to become your koan – every part of it. To me, this is one of the most tender and heartfelt exchanges in all of the koans I’ve encountered. The monk said, “What is the meaning of ‘I almost don’t lose myself.’”Ĭh’ing said, “Though it still should be easy to express oneself, to say the whole thing has to be difficult.” The monk said, “What about you, Teacher?”Ĭh’ing said, “I almost don’t lose myself.”
They lose themselves and follow after things.” “Ching Ch’ing asked a monk, “What is that sound outside the gate?” The monk said, “The sound of raindrops.”Ĭh’ing said, “Sentient beings are inverted.
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