The Koan for September
A Grain of Rice
I take the whole great earth and pinch it into the size of a grain of rice and toss it before you. It’s pitch dark like a bucket of black lacquer. Beat the drum! Go search for it! (- Xuefeng Yicu ca 875 CE)
Commentary by Hakuin Ekaku ca 1750 CE: Don’t say ‘this is it, too’ or something like that! The fields and mountains are all abloom, blossoming as if to inspire folk songs, blossoming as if to show people something. Come together as if you were looking for a lost child.
Newsletter
We send a newsletter for every first, third and fifth (when there is one) week. It shows what we're doing, and has poetry and pictures and some writing about the koan, and life, and sometimes what's going on in the world.
Lead Teacher
Rachel Boughton
Rachel Boughton is a Zen Roshi. She's a feminist, artist, writer, and meditation and koan teacher. She is also a Jungian Analyst.
Support Us
Practice is its own reward, but money is encouraging and helps pay the bills. Our tradition typically relies on donations and that works pretty well when everyone gives what they can. Also, generosity and reciprocity are deeply satisfying for both the giver and the receiver, and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. If you like what we do together, please make a donation.
Donations can be made below on Paypal, or by sending a check to the address in the footer.
