Breaking Out of Consensus Trance
– New Thinking Allowed
At a deep level we are all to some extent or another in a Consensus Trance, believing that we are separate, disconnected from Nature, and alone. I call this the “Separation Hypothesis.” The following two koans are part of a body of Zen practice designed to shake us instantly as they did these ancient monks from their Collective Trance.
— Practical examples of how to emerge from Consensus Trance with Two Koans:
Seizei is Poor and Destitute
A monk, Seizei, asked Master Sõzan, “Seizei is poor and utterly destitute.
Will you give him support?”
Sõzan called out, “Seizei!”
Seizei responded, “Yes, teacher!”
Sõzan said, “You have just finished three cups of the finest (Hakka) wine of China, and still you say you have not yet moistened your lips!”
Discovery Questions:
- Who is Seizei’s real self?
- Why is Seizei fortunate and abundant and not alone?
- Why do we constantly forget this experience in our own lives?; how to remind ourselves that every moment reaffirms the gift of life, a taste of the finest Hakka wine?
Source: Koun Yamada, The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan) Case 10
Lingyun Encounters Peach Blossoms
Lingyun was wandering in the mountains and became lost in his walking. He rounded a bend and saw peach blossoms on the other side of the valley. This sight awakened him and he wrote this poem:
For thirty years I searched for a master swordsman,
how many times did the leaves fall,
and the branches burst into bud?
But from the moment I saw the peach blossoms,
I’ve had no doubts.
Many years later, Keizan, a Japanese teacher, wrote:
The village peach blossoms didn’t know
their own pinkness
but still they freed Lingyun
from all his doubts.
Discovery Questions:
- What does a master swordman have to do with our doubts and illusions?
- Who is the master swordsman? Show me.
- How are our doubts helpful?
- Why are peach blossoms perfect, just as they are?
Reference: Miscellaneous Koans Case 37, Transmission of Light (Denkoroku) Case 12, Entangling Vines Case 8
