Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Two Sesshins: April 2023 Crying and Laughing and May 2023 Ducky Down

April Sesshin












May Sesshin



On the weekend of April 20 -- 24, 2023, we had an online only Zoom sesshin at the Temple.  Our tanto, Rev. Paul Galvin, named it the "Crying and Laughing Sesshin" after an incident that followed our selected koan: Baizhang's Wild Duck, Case 53 from the Blue Cliff Record.  In the story, Baizhang and his teacher Mazu have a dialogue about a duck, and later, Baizhang expresses his new view of reality with a fellow student, first by crying and then by laughing.  (Or, depending on the translation source, in the reverse order.)

And then in May 19 -- 22 we had our hybrid Ducky Down sesshin, named by our residential tanto, Jenny Smith, and based on a comment in our Dharma dialogue quoting a Sesame Street song, attached here for your delight:  Put the Duckie Down

The Dharma as conveyed by ducks!