Hiya, some of our journeys are inner ones, some more external. Which is this?

One day master Tozan asked his student Ungo, “Where have you been?”

Ungo replied, “Walking in the mountains.”

“Which mountain is suitable to live on?”

“Which one is not?”

Tozan said, “If so, the whole country has been tried out by you.”

Ungo replied, “No.”

“Then you have found a road of entry?” Tozan asked.

Ungo said, “There’s no road.”

“How can you meet me if there’s no road?” The master asked.

“Were there a road, I’d be a life apart from you.”

Tozan said, “Hereafter even a thousand or ten thousand people, will be unable to hold this man back.”

      Here in London, I’m still working on things for our Zen pilgrimage to Japan. It’s going to be a unique experience for the students coming. The first week will be a sesshin, Zen retreat, with a focus on attaining kensho, realisation of your true nature. In the second week we’ll be studying some of the traditional arts that have been influenced by Zen – tea ceremony, calligraphy, aikido, traditional cooking, that sort of thing. We’ll be leaving the country on Monday 11th May.

      But beforehand, I’d like to invite you to a movie about a spiritual journey called, “Walking with Kukai.” It’s about the ancient Japanese pilgrimage on the Island of Shikoku. I’ve been asked to introduce the film at the International Buddhist film festival at the Barbican in London. The programme starts 6pm, sunday 10th May. There’s more information here: http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/event-detail.asp?ID=9144 Hope to see you there.