Your Hand, The Buddha’s Hand

Do you ever feel like you're looking at your life from the outside? Or that your thoughts and feelings are somehow less valid than those of other people? Or that you're missing an understanding of life that somehow everyone else has?

I created this brief, guided Zen koan meditation to put you back in touch with your own deep connection to life.

You are here. You are real. And you matter.

Washing dishes, driving a car, waving hello. These are the actions of a Buddha. This koan meditation is about the intimacy you share with the old masters.

Q: How is my hand like the Buddha’s hand?
A: Playing guitar in the moonlight.

- From Huanglong Huinan’s Three Turning Words (Pacific Zen Institute Miscellaneous Koan Collection).

Transcript

Jesse Carden here with another koan meditation for you. And this one is about that maybe the pure land of awakening might not be so far away. Our koan is, How is my hand like the Buddha's hand? How does my hand compare to the Buddha's hand? So try to find yourself in a place that's comfortable and where people aren't going to bug you for a bit and feel free to pause this meditation while you do that. Otherwise, Here we go. How does my hand compare to the Buddha's hand? And somebody said in response, Playing guitar in the moonlight. Playing guitar in the moonlight. And so just take that question and put it down in your body somewhere. How does my hand compare to the Buddha's hand? And you can take note of whatever answers your mind gives. So all manner of things the mind tries to do, The koan usually resists it or tries to figure it out or tries to blame someone, Thinks about something else. And that's fine. You don't have to stop your mind from doing anything. Just notice what comes up in response to the question. How is my hand like the Buddha's hand? I feel my stomach gurgling. How is my stomach like the Buddha's stomach? You feel the breath moving in and out. How is my breath like the Buddha's breath? I have a tendency to make Buddha something that's separate from us. It's a historical figure that once was a prince and then became a spiritual seeker. Or it's some special awakened state of mind that certainly I don't possess. Or it's monks somewhere in a temple in some faraway country. But I don't think that's the true Buddha. It's not a historical figure. It's not a wooden statue. It's not some special state of mind that only special people get to have. And so just returning to the question, How is my hand like the Buddha's hand? And so whatever appears for you in this meditation, Just come back to the question, How is my hand? How are my thoughts? How are my emotions? How are my sensations? Like the Buddha's. Nothing special here. Nothing extraordinary to strive for, To achieve. Just to be. And so I'll end this meditation in just a moment. But as usual, Please don't leave your koan here. You can take this anywhere with you. Washing the dishes, Answering the phone, Writing a letter. How is my hand like the Buddha's hand?