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Koan Summer 8: When the Four Elements Scatter

Aug 7, 2025
1 min read

A small child squats to look at an insect, her hair a nimbus backlit by the morning sun. Old friends reminisce, “Do you remember when. . .?” We share an awareness of aging, of time passing, of the body and brain shifting.  Tou-shuai’s Three Barriers (Case 47 of the Mumonkan) asks: “When the light of your eyes falls, how are you free?”


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