"The Koans of Everyday Life: The Practice of Genjokoan”
Schedule of talks and suggestions for supplemental reading
May 7 - Sensei Genyo - Intro to study and practice of Genjokoan
May 14 - Roshi - Intro to Book of Householder Koans
May 21 - Sensei Shunryo - Chao Chu’s “Wash Your Bowls” - koans of everyday life
June 4 - Ayesha - talk of her choice as an invited guest teacher
June 11 - Dharma Holder Dantika - Dongshan’s Three Pounds of Flax, Blue Cliff #12
July 2 - Kanji - The Issue at Hand, Dogen’s Genjokoan
July 9 - Sensei Daijo - The Practice of Genjokoan
July 16 - Rev. Sensei Sonen - All Things Preach the Dharma, Dongshan’s story, #38 in Transmission of Light
July 23 - Inzan starts out, group presentation of Koans
Supplemental background info on the Genjokoan tradition
1) Taigen Leighton, in his Introduction to “Cultivating the Empty Field” has a section discussing the importance of clarifying and resolving ones conditioning in order to manifest freedom in one's functioning, in ones ability to respond to life. In this discussion he comments:
“This process is reflected in the traditional Soto approach to koan practice, which is to see the events and conflicts of our own lives as cases to be penetrated, both in meditation practice and consultation with a teacher. This approach, called genjokoan (the koan manifesting in life) in Dogen’s Japanese teaching, may use the traditional koan stories, but only as they apply to our own experience. Hence we may see genjokoan as a technique to work through our own conditioned dusts to the original boundless field and its expression in our lives. It is an aspect of turning the light within to illuminate ourselves, and so, perhaps, allow the dropping off of body-mind." (Leighton, 2000, Cultivating the Empty Field, p. 25)
2) Hee-Jin Kim in his book “Eihei Dogen, Mystical Realist” (2004) includes a number of passages about the practice of genjokoan, He translates genjo-koan as the “koan realized in life”, which is contrasted with kosoku-koan, the koan of ancient paradigms, namely the codified koans found in the well-known koan collections such as the Blue Cliff Record. In Kosoku-koan
Genjokoan as a tradition of understanding and practice is mentioned or discussed on the following pages in Kim’s book: p. 64, 80-82, 90, 99. 123, 124, 130, 134, 229, 232, 233, 274n
p.64, “the act of sitting in meditation seeks no longer to attain a special state of consciousness, nor to become a Buddha, and consequently is called the “koan realized in life” (genjo-koan)
p. 80—82 in Kim’s book has the most extensive discussion of this tradition.
On page 80 Kim explains that the root of koan practice in Zen history appears to have begun with the teacher Mu-chou Tao-tsung
“as events of enlightenment in the sense of present living and lived realities of life -- as the realization of truth itself. This was the koan realized in life (genjo-koan) which may have been what many Zen teachers employed to the guidance of disciples during the Tang period.”
3) Steven Heine in his book “Dogen and the Koan Tradition” writes:
"In several passages of his writings Dogen explicitly refutes the use of koans ... When Dogen does deal in his writings with the issue of the meaning and importance of the koan, he seems to prefer the doctrine of genjokoan (spontaneous manifestation of the koan in concrete activities) to the Rinzai approach known as kanna-zen (introspecting the koan), which involves examining and contemplating kosoku- koan (old sayings or paradigmatic cases) included in koan collections” p. 8 “Dogen and the Koan Tradition”
Bibliography
Texts: Book of Householder Koans, Dogen’s Genjokoan (many possible translations), selected traditional koans, selected background texts and commentaries. (Genyo will provide a page of short selections from commentaries by Taigen Leighton, and Hee-Jim Kim)
Additional Bibliography: for Dogen's text consider: 1) Dogen’s Genjo Koan: Three Commentaries. 2) Also Realizing Genjokoan by Okumura. 3) Moon in a Dewdrop (ed. Tanahashi) includes Genjo Koan and other relevant texts including Mountain and Waters Sutra. On genjokoan practice, there is a teisho by Taigen Leighton: https://www.ancientdragon.org/the-practice-of-genjokoan/
Schedule of talks and suggestions for supplemental reading
May 7 - Sensei Genyo - Intro to study and practice of Genjokoan
May 14 - Roshi - Intro to Book of Householder Koans
May 21 - Sensei Shunryo - Chao Chu’s “Wash Your Bowls” - koans of everyday life
June 4 - Ayesha - talk of her choice as an invited guest teacher
June 11 - Dharma Holder Dantika - Dongshan’s Three Pounds of Flax, Blue Cliff #12
July 2 - Kanji - The Issue at Hand, Dogen’s Genjokoan
July 9 - Sensei Daijo - The Practice of Genjokoan
July 16 - Rev. Sensei Sonen - All Things Preach the Dharma, Dongshan’s story, #38 in Transmission of Light
July 23 - Inzan starts out, group presentation of Koans
Supplemental background info on the Genjokoan tradition
1) Taigen Leighton, in his Introduction to “Cultivating the Empty Field” has a section discussing the importance of clarifying and resolving ones conditioning in order to manifest freedom in one's functioning, in ones ability to respond to life. In this discussion he comments:
“This process is reflected in the traditional Soto approach to koan practice, which is to see the events and conflicts of our own lives as cases to be penetrated, both in meditation practice and consultation with a teacher. This approach, called genjokoan (the koan manifesting in life) in Dogen’s Japanese teaching, may use the traditional koan stories, but only as they apply to our own experience. Hence we may see genjokoan as a technique to work through our own conditioned dusts to the original boundless field and its expression in our lives. It is an aspect of turning the light within to illuminate ourselves, and so, perhaps, allow the dropping off of body-mind." (Leighton, 2000, Cultivating the Empty Field, p. 25)
2) Hee-Jin Kim in his book “Eihei Dogen, Mystical Realist” (2004) includes a number of passages about the practice of genjokoan, He translates genjo-koan as the “koan realized in life”, which is contrasted with kosoku-koan, the koan of ancient paradigms, namely the codified koans found in the well-known koan collections such as the Blue Cliff Record. In Kosoku-koan
Genjokoan as a tradition of understanding and practice is mentioned or discussed on the following pages in Kim’s book: p. 64, 80-82, 90, 99. 123, 124, 130, 134, 229, 232, 233, 274n
p.64, “the act of sitting in meditation seeks no longer to attain a special state of consciousness, nor to become a Buddha, and consequently is called the “koan realized in life” (genjo-koan)
p. 80—82 in Kim’s book has the most extensive discussion of this tradition.
On page 80 Kim explains that the root of koan practice in Zen history appears to have begun with the teacher Mu-chou Tao-tsung
“as events of enlightenment in the sense of present living and lived realities of life -- as the realization of truth itself. This was the koan realized in life (genjo-koan) which may have been what many Zen teachers employed to the guidance of disciples during the Tang period.”
3) Steven Heine in his book “Dogen and the Koan Tradition” writes:
"In several passages of his writings Dogen explicitly refutes the use of koans ... When Dogen does deal in his writings with the issue of the meaning and importance of the koan, he seems to prefer the doctrine of genjokoan (spontaneous manifestation of the koan in concrete activities) to the Rinzai approach known as kanna-zen (introspecting the koan), which involves examining and contemplating kosoku- koan (old sayings or paradigmatic cases) included in koan collections” p. 8 “Dogen and the Koan Tradition”
Bibliography
Texts: Book of Householder Koans, Dogen’s Genjokoan (many possible translations), selected traditional koans, selected background texts and commentaries. (Genyo will provide a page of short selections from commentaries by Taigen Leighton, and Hee-Jim Kim)
Additional Bibliography: for Dogen's text consider: 1) Dogen’s Genjo Koan: Three Commentaries. 2) Also Realizing Genjokoan by Okumura. 3) Moon in a Dewdrop (ed. Tanahashi) includes Genjo Koan and other relevant texts including Mountain and Waters Sutra. On genjokoan practice, there is a teisho by Taigen Leighton: https://www.ancientdragon.org/the-practice-of-genjokoan/