Paul Maloney, roshi, examines the question of what, if anything, is to be attained through the practice of Zen. While we may feel that we know WHY we are here in sesshin, the answer as to what are we actually DOING, now that we are, may not be so clear.

This is a commentary on Case 28 of The Iron Flute, “Lung-yu’s Ultimate Stage.” The Case goes like this:

A monk asked Lung-yu, “What did old masters attain when they entered the ultimate stage?” “They were like burglars sneaking into a vacant house,” came the reply.

This teisho was given at the Autumn sesshin in 2018