This week’s koan comes from the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 98. Many things roar in my life, the sea, my friend when she is angry with me, the traffic on 101. I know the lion’s roar, the bear and jaguar. It seems that cats of all sorts and sizes can be caught mid-roar. The cats that I live with will on occasion roar, though I think that their roar is more like a hiss. I roar from the pulpit. I can roar with laughter. Sometimes the roar crescendos as things get difficult and I am se

As Guisahn the teacher and Yangshar the student were strolling together outside the monastery, a crow flew past with a persimmon in its beak and dropped the fruit in front of them. Guishan picked it up and passed to Yangshan, who, after washing the fruit in water, returned it to his teacher. Guishan asked, "What do you mean by this? Yangshan replied, "This is a reward for your great goodness." Guishan said, "But you shouldn't come away empty-handed and he gave half the fruit