How to wash a bowl?

Hi r/zen, I am curious how you interpret these two Joshu koans, and how you practice them.

First I’ll present the two koans, give my interpretation, and finally ask a question given my interpretation.

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Sayings of Joshu #257

A monk asked Joshu, "What is my self?"

Joshu said, "Have you eaten your rice gruel?"

The monk said, "I have."

Joshu said, "Then go and wash your bowl."

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Sayings of Joshu #245

Someone asked, "Meeting with a 'man of the Way' - what is that like?

Joshu said, "Serving food in a lacquer bowl."

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I interpret the bowl to be a metaphor for the self, or more specifically the vessel of the self. The rice is the participation with Delusion, and the purpose of cleaning the bowl is to remove all clinging (the rice sticks) to Delusion.

The second koan makes me think my interpretation is okay, since for a man of the Way nothing sticks, he clings to nothing.

Question #1: How do you clean your bowl?

Question #2: Joshu #257 doesn’t suggest to the monk to lacquer his bowl, only to wash it. It’s a bad idea to lacquer a dirty bowl so maybe there is a third step that is resolved in #245. Once my bowl is clean, is it obvious how to lacquer?

Submitted February 19, 2023 at 04:10AM by junetwentyfirst2020 https://ift.tt/l3hdjq4