Shadeless Trees

Greetings Friends,

We are moving through this wonderful collection of encounters with Buddhist Women found in the book The Hidden Lamp for our Summer Read. This week we met Keizan Zenji and Mokufu Sonin engaged in the dialogue below:

Hidden Lamp Case 20: Sonin’s Shadeless Tree

Master Keizan Jokin asked the nun Mokufu Sonin, “The winter is coming to an end and the springtime is arriving. There is an order to this. What is your understanding?”

Sonin replied, “In the braches of a tree without shade, how could there be any seasons?”

These two people are very important figures in the history of Zen Buddhism. They are direct Ancestors in our Soto Zen lineage tree. So, they are our Ancestors.

What is an Ancestor?

One way we understand Ancestor in Buddhism is someone who aligns their heart and mind with the aspiration to awaken and liberate all beings from suffering. So, someone who wants to help us wake up!

But one Zen teacher says in actuality —all beings are your ancestor.

What would it be like to truly see the world this way?

Are all beings trying to awaken us?

Is everyone we meet helping us on this path of liberation from suffering?