Which is the True You?

Recorded March 8, 2025This teisho is on Case 35, The Gateless Barrier -- "Wu-tsu: Which is the True Ch'ien?""Wu-tsu asked a monk, 'The woman Ch’ien and her spirit separated. Which is the true Ch’ien?' ”Zen master Wu-tsu uses a popular ghost tale of his time to explore something truly intimate. He is facing directly into the question of Identity: Who am I? Isn’t this at the root of all that drives and bugs and puzzles and torments us? Beneath all such questions as “Why did I do that?” or “Why must I suffer this?” lies the most direct and challenging query of all: “Who am I?”Peace, genuine peace — or at least a greater degree of it — Zen teaching says -- lies in digging down into this fundamental question and finding out just who it is we’re referring to and talking about when we say — or think — “I”. Wu-men’s commentary on the case as follows:"If you realize the true one, then you’ll know that emerging from one husk and entering another is like a traveler putting up at an inn. If this is not clear, don’t rush about wildly. When you suddenly separate into earth, water, fire and air, you’ll be like a crab dropped into boiling water, struggling with your seven arms and eight legs. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!"Image: Crab on its back, Vincent Van GoghBooks by Roshi Rafe MartinTalks on YouTubeMore information at endlesspathzen.org