Descent of the Host, 46th Day of Childwinter, 526 M.E. (Deneb): A monk once asked Zen Master Jōshū, "What is a true statement?" Jōshū replied, "Your mother is ugly."

Is there any surprise that Jōshū (778-897 CE) is one of my favorite Zen Masters? 

When a monk once bid him farewell, Jōshū asked, "Where are you going?" The monk replied, "I'm going to visit various places to learn the buddha-dharma."

Jōshū advised him, "Do not stay where buddha exists and run quickly from where no-buddha exists." The monk replied, "In that case, when you put it like that, I'll stay right here."

Jōshū was trying to get the monk to realize that the Way is not to be found far or near, within or without. To search for it is to miss it. Jōshū had learned this when he asked his teacher, Nansen, “What is the Way?” and Nansen famously answered, “Ordinary mind is the Way.” 

Jōshū asked, “Should I seek after it or not?” and Nansen answered, “If you try to turn toward it, you go against it.” 

“The Way does not belong to knowing or not knowing," Nansen explained. "Knowing is delusion. Not knowing is blank consciousness. When you have truly reached the Way beyond all doubt you will find it as vast and boundless as outer space. How can it be talked about on a level of right and wrong?” 

Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253 CE) said, "Just cast aside body and mind and practice without desire either to realize the Way or to attain the dharma. Then you can be called an undefiled practioner." John Daido Loori (1931-2007) said, "If you seek it from others, you go astray. If you seek it from within, you are far removed from it."   

Today was a walking day, but I barely got in half a Washington because of the rain. Tomorrow is a sitting day, and only the weather in my own mind can deter me then. The forecast, as always, is foggy.