Whom Do You Pursue?

Okay, I’m going with koans today. The meaning of “koan” is “a public case.” A text intended to be debated in public. The literal translation of the word ‘koan’ is “judge’s bench.” It occurred to me that reading the Bible as if it was a quarry full of buried koans might be worthwhile. Many scriptural texts seem to slant sideways to me already. So. I’m going to try and follow the structure of classical koan collections, with a re-stating of the text, a commentary, and then an appreciative poem.

1 Samuel 24:1-22

14 Against whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A single flea?

David’s enemy is defenseless before him, pissing in the corner of the cave, but David only embarrasses himself by sneaking up to kill Saul and then just cutting off a corner of his robe. How could he do such a thing? So Saul gets away, only to have David chase after him, bow down on hands and knees before him, call him “my Lord,” and then yell at him about how stupid he is to chase after “a dead dog” and “a single flea” with his whole army, when he’s about to lose his kingdom to the Philistines.

So it’s a bit like our minds, huh? Pledging all our assets to chase after an obsession, while reality carries on without us. I can imagine karma in the role of a cop shaking his head with a scornful snort at the drug dealer who calls in a report that someone stole his heroin. Then there is the question of this metaphor. I get frustrated with Bible commentaries, because they all have essentially the same assumptions and interpretations. What if David wasn’t calling attention to his own insignificance at all? What if the dead dog and the singular flea are being called to witness these events? David had no assurance that Saul wouldn’t kill him on the spot. After all, that is what Saul came to do. David suddenly comprehended that his values were more important than his life, and he acted on that understanding without a second thought. It was the shock of realizing that he nearly murdered the rightful king of Israel while he was defenseless and vulnerable that woke David up. Maybe it all came down to the importance of a dead dog; the significance of a single flea. Maybe that was it!

 

A dog left in a hot car while we go shopping

Will soon be dead.

What will that lone flea do then?

 

Acts 13:44-52

46b Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles…….51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them …

Paul seemed to think that the Jews were somehow judging themselves to be unworthy of eternal life, but then Paul was pretty egotistical. Only Paul could invest a bad case of sour grapes with such theological weight.

Not only that, but I keep getting a little gif playing in my head of Paul pulling on the corners of his mouth, sticking out his tongue, and chanting, “Nyah, nyah, na na nya nya!” at some bewildered rabbis. Apparently Paul believed that the Jews would be humiliated somehow if Paul quit bothering them and went off to be all exclusive with the Gentiles.

Then there’s this thing about “shaking the dust off your feet.” Again, all the Biblical commentaries are stultifying in their conformity. Nobody seems to notice that Jesus has a thing about dust. He writes in it, and spits in it to make mud for eye ointment; he’s the one who tells the disciples that shaking dust off your feet is a condemnation, but not one commentator goes on to ask, “What’s the significance of dust?” Well I went right back to the Old Testament and guess what?  We are dust! It says so right in Genesis. We are dust, and to dust we shall return. It’s all about the dust!! The Hebrew word is “aphar,” which means (more or less) “the dry dust of the ground.” (I kept thinking of the “Dust Bowl” and dust storms.) Dust is dry and evokes a sense of barrenness, whereas dirt or earth can be damp and fertile. Dust blows in the wind. It was God’s breath that gave dust life. “The dust of the earth” is “aphar adam’ah,” and guess what? That’s where the word Adam comes from. So what the hell are we doing here, shaking our own nature, our very selves, off of our feet? Are we condemning ourselves? Are we testifying against our own lack of compassion, against the dryness of our own hearts? I would say, “Yup.” 

Helpless dust falling back to earth:

Has someone died?

No wind blows here now.

 

Mark 4:1-20

11 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; 12 in order that 'they may indeed look, but not perceive, and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.' "

Parables, parables, parables! What? Are we not supposed to understand? Are we not intended to turn again and be forgiven? What is this about secrets, and those “in the know” as opposed to those outside the exclusive Jesus gang? Jesus says he talks in riddles on purpose so that people will not understand, and will not turn again and be forgiven. One more time, I have to complain about these damn Bible commentaries. Not a single one took the time to reason it out. Jesus lets us know, over and over again, that he wants people to be right with God. He recommends the kingdom of heaven as a good place to live in. So, the simplest and most appropriate conclusion here would be that there is a benefit in not understanding! There is an advantage in not returning and being forgiven! What could that be? I recently found out that the correct translation of “metanoia” (which is usually translated as “repent” or “turn around”) is “to go beyond the mind.” “Meta” -- “beyond;” plus “nous” – “mind.” So perhaps Jesus is talking to his disciples as people who have already experienced the benefit of “not getting it.” Maybe they know that “you can’t get there from here,” because they have already found the way to where they are not going. Do you think that they might understand that forgiveness is not something you can be given for the asking? Do you think that they might diligently practice the skills of doubting their own concepts and questioning their own comprehension?

I can’t help it, but this looks a lot like dharma transmission to me. Jesus is telling the disciples to figure out how they can get people to figure things out on their own. The disciples are being reminded that the Way has no road map, and they are being educated in the art of helping people to “go beyond their minds.” Jesus is giving them an example of how to talk in parables, in such a way that people won’t get it, because getting it is a huge mistake; an even bigger mistake than not getting it! The lesson is that “looking but not perceiving” is absolutely essential to the process of enlightenment; that “to listen, but not understand” is a prerequisite for the struggle that leads to realization. There is another layer here too, that suggests that the very act of looking-but-not-perceiving might be valuable on its own account; that to listen-but-not-understand may very well be an admirable thing; that to not-turn-again-and-be-forgiven is somehow commendable.

 

This is definitely a secret!

No-one knows the Way

To the Unseen Land except for us!

Unfortunately, you can’t get there from here.