I'm reading The Gateless Gate, the one with commentary by Koun Yamada. I'm not reading this to "work through" the koans; I simply want to become familiar with the stories and anecdotes that are in the koans.

In the commentary to "The Barbarian Has no Beard," there is a discussion of "the essential nature."

"The essential nature has no form, no color, no weight, no length, no place, no concepts, no taint or blemish attached to it. Is is perfectly pure. [. . .] If the whole universe were to be completely destroyed, the essential nature would continue to exist because it is empty..."

It seems to me that a way of imagining the "essential nature" is that it is what is left when there is no form, no color, no weight, no length, etc. Any thoughts?

Gassho,

Kirk

Sat