Reflections on The Blue Cliff Record

David K. Reynolds, Ph.D.

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The Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku in Japanese, Pi Yen Lu in Chinese) is a collection of Chinese Chan (Zen) vignettes that are used in the training of some Zen monks. I have revised and adapted these anecdotes to fit the training of Constructive Living instructors.

There may be no actual relationship between the themes of the original Sung Dynasty collection of koans and the themes of our Constructive Living (CL) koans. They may, however, be distant cousins.

  1. Constructive Living recognizes that change is enevitable. We are sometimes neurotic and sometimes not.
    What changes?
    Is your answer to this question always the same?

  2. STUDENT: "Does accepting reality mean you must stop questioning or investigating or challenging reality?"
    INSTRUCTOR: "No."
    STUDENT: "What if reality is so complex I can't figure it out?"
    INSTRUCTOR: "Please pass the jelly. I need it for my toast."

  3. Instructor A: "How is the fishing?"
    Instructor B: "High tide, low tide."
    Instructor A: "Yes. Thanks, moon."

  4. STUDENT: "Who is the best CL instructor?"
    INSTRUCTOR: "That's certainly a realistic question."
    STUDENT: "Do you have a realistic answer?"
    INSTRUCTOR: "Yes."
    STUDENT: "What is it?"
    INSTRUCTOR: "Don't you know?"

  5. How big is a phobia? Where is anxiety located?
    Where can you run to escape shyness?
    Does depression follow you around?
    There is more to your mind than you think.
    What does it mean to swallow the whole bottle of pills, labels and all? Doesn't that make one sick?

  6. What about the future of Constructive Living?
    Tell me about your Constructive Living today.
    Why?
    Past, present, future--all are gifts.

  7. Your perfectionism, your idealism, your disappointments, your obsessions, your successes and failures are not add-ons. They are you.
    So is this sentence now.

  8. Do I spend too much time talking and writing about Constructive Living?
    There he goes again!
    Do you want me to talk about living it?
    And again!
    What should I say then?
    Again!

  9. STUDENT: Am I a monitor that displays reality? Must I accept the input, the operating system, the transparency?
    INSTRUCTOR: Reality displays itself.

  10. INSTRUCTOR: When did your obsession begin? Is it here with you now? When will it be gone?
    STUDENT: Those are difficult questions.
    INSTRUCTOR: No, those are impossible questions.
  11. If Reality is the only teacher of CS, then what is the status of CL instructors?

  12. STUDENT: What is the cause of my mental anguish?
    INSTRUCTOR: It hurts!

  13. STUDENT: I want to write a paper comparing CL, CBT, and RET.
    INSTRUCTOR: Go get some paper.
    STUDENT: Okay, now can we start?
    INSTRUCTOR: Go get a pen.
    STUDENT: Okay, now we can start.
    INSTRUCTOR: Done!

  14. STUDENT: Can you boil down the CL teachings to a single phrase?
    INSTRUCTOR: Go ahead and do it.
    STUDENT: That's the phrase?
    INSTRUCTOR: No, that's a suggestion.

  15. STUDENT: What is an unfelt feeling?
    INSTRUCTOR: It is behind an unsaid utterance.

  16. STUDENT: Please fix my bad temper.
    INSTRUCTOR: Which bad temper?
    STUDENT: Mine.
    INSTRUCTOR: No, which bad temper of yours?
    STUDENT: I don't understand.
    INSTRUCTOR: That's better.

  17. STUDENT: What is the ultimate source of Constructive Living's effectiveness?
    INSTRUCTOR: Hearing complaints is tiresome.
    STUDENT: I'm not complaining.
    INSTRUCTOR: Neither am I.

  18. STUDENT: What would I be like if my neurosis were gone?
    INSTRUCTOR: Your fly is unzipped.
    STUDENT: Okay. There, it's fixed.
    INSTRUCTOR: That's better.

  19. If only he hadn't gone. I wish I were taller. What if the plane should crash. If my parents had been more loving. If I weren't so sensitive. These statements are already unnecessary suffering.
    There is only one solution.

  20. STUDENT: What are the secret teachings of CL?
    INSTRUCTOR: Please close the door.
    STUDENT: Okay. We're alone now. What are the secret teachings?
    INSTRUCTOR: Please sit down.
    STUDENT: All right. I'm ready.
    INSTRUCTOR: Please take out a pen and paper.
    STUDENT: Okay.
    INSTRUCTOR: Good. Excuse me.
    The Instructor leaves the room.

  21. STUDENT: What is an obsession that isn't noticed?
    INSTRUCTOR: An obsession.
    STUDENT: What is an obsession that is noticed?
    INSTRUCTOR: An obsession with problems.

  22. STUDENT: Where are all the shinky neurotics?
    INSTRUCTOR: Right here.
    STUDENT: You mean in this room?
    INSTRUCTOR: Call if a "room" if you like.
    STUDENT: How puzzling!
    INSTRUCTOR: The door of this "room" swings in and out.

  23. INSTRUCTOR1: We all walk on water; the depths are beneath our feet.
    INSTRUCTOR2: A few have moments of noticing; a few drown.
    INSTRUCTOR1: You are rocking the boat.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Thanks for the ride.
    INSTRUCTOR1: I feel the spray on my face.

  24. INSTRUCTOR1: Did CL lead you to enlightenment yet?
    INSTRUCTOR2: Your fly is unzipped.
    INSTRUCTOR1: (Looks down.) No it's not.
    INSTRUCTOR2: I made you look.
    INSTRUCTOR1: So did I.

  25. When have you mastered CL?
    Not when you think you have mastered it.
    Not when you ask me for verification that you have mastered it.
    Not when you have your destination in sight.
    Only when you have forgotten CL.

  26. INSTRUCTOR1: What is extraordinary?
    INSTRUCTOR2: Being a self-made man.
    INSTRUCTOR1: (Laughing.) How wise you are to say such.
    INSTRUCTOR2: (Laughing.) Yes, I am.

  27. INSTRUCTOR1: Will you life a constructive life in your old age?
    INSTRUCTOR2: Reality just keeps coming.

  28. INSTRUCTOR1: Are there secret teachings of CL?
    INSTRUCTOR2: Yes
    INSTRUCTOR1: What are they?
    INSTRUCTOR2: If I told you would they be secret?
    INSTRUCTOR1: If you told me I could keep a secret.
    INSTRUCTOR2: If I knew them I might tell you.
    INSTRUCTOR1: If you knew them they wouldn't be secret.
    They both laugh. Why?

  29. STUDENT: When I die will my neurotic fears of dirt die with me or not?
    INSTRUCTOR: They are dead.
    STUDENT: Then my worries about the fears will die, too?
    INSTRUCTOR: They are not dead.

  30. STUDENT: I heard that Dr. Reynolds studied directly with the founder of Naikan. Is that true?
    INSTRUCTOR: I just brushed my teeth.

  31. STUDENT: Am I doing CL right?
    INSTRUCTOR1: Yes.
    INSTRUCTOR2: No.
    The student goes to two other instructors.
    STUDENT: Now am I doing CL right?
    INSTRUCTOR3: No.
    I4: No.

  32. A student raised his hand to ask a question of his professor. When called upon, the student forgot his question. Embarrassed he returned to taking notes on the professor's lecture. What is the CL point here?

  33. STUDENT: I want to see life's grand scheme and have grand purposes.
    INSTRUCTOR: When you parked your car you left your headlights on.
    Overview and details, big and little purposes-what is your perspective on them?

  34. INSTRUCTOR: Where are you from?
    STUDENT: Dallas, originally.
    INSTRUCTOR: What do you know about Constructive Living?
    STUDENT: Not much.
    INSTRUCTOR: That is a good start. We'll go from there.
    STUDENT: It is good to talk with you.
    If talking can be dangerous what is the fitting value of this conversation?

  35. CL maxims are untouchable. CL goals are unreachable. CL itself cannot be found. So what is its usefulness? Look around and you will see.

  36. INSTRUCTOR1: Where have you been?
    INSTRUCTOR2: I've been out traveling.
    INSTRUCTOR1: What kind of car?
    INSTRUCTOR2: I started out in a snappy top-down convertible, but it didn't go far, so I headed home in a solid sedan. There is better driving in the long run.
    INSTRUCTOR1: Yes, it beats letting the traffic go by while your depreciating car is parked in the garage awaiting new parts.
    What are these CL instructors really talking about?

  37. Shinks sitting on the couch searching the mind for life answers find only more mind.
    Researchers working in their labs searching for psychological answers find no mind at all.
    Absorbed in cutting and clearing away tree branches I lose my mind.
    Where did it go? How will you search for an answer to this koan?

  38. Pushing the car, it remained stuck fast.
    Thinking of exactly where to hit the ball, he missed.
    Constructing a CL assignment, nothing came to mind.
    Opening the window, wind whistles through.
    Who breezes?

  39. STUDENT: What is the true basis of CL?
    INSTRUCTOR: Look out the window.
    STUDENT: Can you live like this all the time?
    INSTRUCTOR: Look out, Chicken Little, the sky is falling!

  40. STUDENT: CL is marvelous!
    INSTRUCTOR: It's sometimes hard to know what needs doing.
    STUDENT: The whole theory of CL delights me!
    INSTRUCTOR: Don't let it obscure your view of this doorknob.

  41. Feelings and impulses give information about what needs DOING.
    hOWEVER, THE DAY TRAIN IS PREFERABLE TO THE NIGHT train.

  42. STUDENT: If my wife were kinder to me I would be kinder to her.
    INSTRUCTOR: Here, have a pretzel.
    STUDENT: See what I mean?
    INSTRUCTOR: Do you see what I mean?

  43. STUDENT: I wish it weren't so humid today.
    INSTRUCTOR: Do you want to go where you never have to say that?
    STUDENT: Where would that be?
    INSTRUCTOR: Just be fully hot, as you are.

  44. INSTRUCTOR: CL is like touch typing.
    STUDENT: How is that?
    The instructor types out a letter without looking at the keyboard.

  45. STUDENT: Is borrowing borrowed?
    INSTRUCTOR: Stringing words, stringing beads.
    Both pretty, both storable.
    Cutting string scatters chaos.
    Careful now! Your fingernails are growing.

  46. STUDENT: Can you teach CL with words?
    INSTRUCTOR: Not really.
    STUDENT: Then why are there so many CL books?
    INSTRUCTOR: Invitations.
    STUDENT: Invitations to what?
    INSTRUCTOR: You can't speak your mind, no matter what you read or write.

  47. STUDENT: What do you mean by "word reality"?
    INSTRUCTOR: Why do your words make sense to me? They have word reality.
    STUDENT: So CL uses word reality to teach about Reality.
    INSTRUCTOR: Reality teaches about Reality just by being real.

  48. STUDENT: Why do you teach CL?
    INSTRUCTOR: Dumb question, no answer.
    STUDENT: But there must be lots of reasons why.
    INSTRUCTOR: Why do you ask?
    STUDENTs offers an explanation.
    INSTRUCTOR: Dumb answer to a dumb query.

  49. STUDENT: After one has mastered CL what comes next?
    INSTRUCTOR: After you have mastered CL I'll tell you.
    STUDENT: You can't tell me now?
    INSTRUCTOR: Let's see, what needs doing next?

  50. STUDENT: Is a videotaped image reality?
    INSTRUCTOR: This is a videotape; this is a vcr; this is a television.

  51. Here is a story:
    STUDENT: Let's talk about talking.
    INSTRUCTOR: Already begun.
    STUDENT: Who decides what needs to be said.
    The instructor leaves the room.
    The student calls after her, "But I didn't finish!"
    Do you understand this story?

  52. STUDENT: When I drive the freeway I see danger and death all around, so I avoid freeways.
    INSTRUCTOR: When I drive the freeway I see traffic around my car.
    STUDENT: I see traffic, too.
    INSTRUCTOR: It sounds like you see only exit ramps.

  53. STUDENT: I'm always anxious.
    INSTRUCTOR: Are you anxious now?
    STUDENT: Not now.
    INSTRUCTOR: Then you are cured.
    STUDENT: But I might become anxious later.
    INSTRUCTOR: Now you are neurotic. Are you anxious now?
    STUDENT: No.
    INSTRUCTOR: Then you are cured.
    STUDENT: But--
    INSTRUCTOR: Now you are neurotic.

  54. INSTRUCTOR: There is a difference between talking about changing your life and changing your life.
    STUDENT: What is the difference?
    INSTRUCTOR: None at the moment.

  55. STUDENT: CL is about 'doing what needs doing,' right?
    INSTRUCTOR: I won't say.
    STUDENT: Why is it about 'doing what needs doing'?
    INSTRUCTOR: I won't say.
    STUDENT: Why won't you say.
    INSTRUCTOR: I won't say and I can't say.
    STUDENT: Is that what needs doing now?
    INSTRUCTOR: Yes.
    STUDENT: Why?
    INSTRUCTOR: I won't say and I can't say.

  56. STUDENT: Let's talk about changing my life.
    INSTRUCTOR: Just a moment. (The instructor ties the student securely to a chair.) Okay, change your life.
    STUDENT: No, no. I just want to talk about it.
    INSTRUCTOR: See what I mean?

  57. STUDENT: CL theory holds that Reality tells us what needs doing.
    INSTRUCTOR: Yes.
    STUDENT: How does it do that?
    INSTRUCTOR: Excuse me. (The instructor leaves the room.)
    STUDENT: I wonder why she did that?

  58. STUDENT: I have trouble deciding to get up or not in the morning.
    INSTRUCTOR: How shall I explain what to do? Let me think. There are so many possible assignments. Maybe...No, better might be...Or perhaps...Well, let's think about it on the way to your car. Would you close the door, please?

  59. If CL is about doing why do you teach with words?
    Would you please hand me that book over there? Oh, yes, and the map under it, too.
    Here they are.
    Thanks. Now go next door and see if Pen will answer your question.

  60. Put your finger on the location of your anxiety.
    No, it's not in your head or in your heart. Where is it? Where is your memory of your childhood? Where is your hope for relief from your shyness?
    Now, where is this room? this chair? this rug? No, not exactly.
    Look carefully at this pen.
    The room, the chair, the rug, and your shyness are all gone.

  61. To teach CL I must set up an image of CL that is not CL. Who will learn and teach with me?

  62. Something "thinks" us.
    Something "decides" us.
    Something "plans" us.
    Something makes sense of Reality.
    If you think it is your brain you confuse sunlight and a photograph.

  63. Talking won't cure neurosis. There is nothing to cure. And talking doesn't get the bed made or the dishes washed.
    Reading and writing don't either.

  64. A STUDENT, hearing the previous koan, got up and left the room. We hear the sound of water running and pan scrubbing. Of course, the student wasn't really neurotic.

  65. STUDENT: I understand that CL is not merely about words.
    The instructor looked up from his carving and then returned to it.
    STUDENT: Yes, I see.

  66. The story of your past is today's fiction.
    So is the above statement.
    Did you read it?

  67. George began planting carrots.
    "This is CL," George said.
    "Not CL at all," Ron replied.
    "Then what is CL?" asked George.
    Ron began planting carrots.

  68. Why do you joke so much?
    Because you are so serious.
    Why will joking help me?
    How funny! Stop joking! spoken while laughing.

  69. A:Let's talk about purposes.
    B:A purpose talked about is not a real purpose.
    A:Then let's ponder purposes.
    C:No, let's act on purposes.
    A:What do you think about purposes? You can't really tell me, can you.

  70. INSTRUCTOR1: Isn't it possible to just visualize doing CL?
    INSTRUCTOR2: Can you imagine doing that?
    INSTRUCTOR1: I couldn't say. Anything might happen.

  71. On arrival at IACL meetings...
    INSTRUCTOR1: Welcome! Here is a question for you. Without moving a muscle how do you think your way into a Constructive Life?
    INSTRUCTOR2: You are standing still and being noisy, too.
    I1; I'll carry your bags up to your room.

  72. INSTRUCTOR1: How do you achieve peace of mind?
    INSTRUCTOR2: Have you achieved it?
    INSTRUCTOR1: You dived into the mud.

  73. STUDENT: What is the source of my fears and obsessions?
    INSTRUCTOR1: I'm busy now. Go ask I2.
    STUDENT: What is the source of my fears and obsessions?
    INSTRUCTOR2: I'm preparing a speech. Go ask I3.
    STUDENT: What is the source of my fears and obsessions?
    INSTRUCTOR3: Who knows? Go ask I4.
    STUDENT: What is the source of my fears and obsessions?
    I4: Here is a CL book. I3 never read it. (The answer is not in the book.)

  74. Peter wore a muffler on a summer day. People thought him weird,not knowing about his cold.
    Peter never explained about the muffler.
    A psychological muffler was unnecessary.

  75. INSTRUCTOR1: You are a fine CL instructor.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Sometimes.
    INSTRUCTOR1: Like now; you are modest.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Your kindness shows clearly.
    INSTRUCTOR1: Sometimes.
    INSTRUCTOR2: We see eye to eye.
    INSTRUCTOR1: Yes.
    They part after playing the game.

  76. INSTRUCTOR1: Even with sunglasses it is difficult to watch a fire. The flames keep dancing, changing shape.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Is it impossible to put out the fire?
    INSTRUCTOR1: Excuse me. (She leaves the room.)

  77. STUDENT: What is better than CL's theory?
    INSTRUCTOR: A chocolate chip cookie.
    STUDENT: What is better than a chocolate chip cookie?
    INSTRUCTOR: For your purposes, CL's theory.

  78. STUDENT: Will CL lead to enlightenment?
    INSTRUCTOR: Only if your head is screwed on backwards.
    STUDENT: What do you mean?
    INSTRUCTOR: Here, have some veggies.

  79. Two wooden bowls came from the same tree. By their lacquer you assess their value.

  80. STUDENT: Do neurotic minds flow, too?
    INSTRUCTOR: Yes, now fast, now slow.
    STUDENT: Do obsessive minds flow, too?
    INSTRUCTOR: Yes, though they may eddy in their flow.
    STUDENT: Flowing is inevitable?
    INSTRUCTOR: Stopping is a flowing illusion.

  81. INSTRUCTOR1: Those who are special never die.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Who are they?
    INSTRUCTOR1: Not you. Not me.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Not now.

  82. STUDENT: I shall die someday. Give me something eternal to hold on to.
    INSTRUCTOR: You shall die someday.
    STUDENT: Yes.
    INSTRUCTOR: That is one answer. Here is another: You shall die someday. Here is another: This pen is black.

  83. STUDENT: Can I worry and do what needs doing at the same time?
    INSTRUCTOR: Just worry while doing what needs doing.

  84. INSTRUCTOR1: How can I motivate myself to live a Constructive Life?
    INSTRUCTOR2: Talking won't help.
    INSTRUCTOR1: But you just talked.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Have you any suggestions?

  85. INSTRUCTOR1: What would happen to CL if your plane crashed?
    INSTRUCTOR2: What would happen to CL if I turned into a pumpkin?
    INSTRUCTOR1: But that is impossible!
    INSTRUCTOR2: The plane crash in your mind is impossible, too. Can you see why?
    (And with that he left the room to show possibility.)

  86. Reality is here for everyone. But what you see is what you get, however dim your vision.
    Seeing clearly is better than seeing through any lenses, however admirable their tint.

  87. STUDENT: Thank Neurosis! I'm cured!
    INSTRUCTOR: Yes, your pain is your cure. Neurosis is cure. How could you have one without the other?
    STUDENT: I owe Everything to CL.

  88. STUDENT: In our neurotic moments of suffering we see but don't see, hear but don't hear, speak but don't speak. How can I know if this is a neurotic moment?
    INSTRUCTOR: Come here; I'll show you something.
    STUDENT: Okay. (The student goes to the instructor.)
    INSTRUCTOR: It isn't.
    What did the instructor show the student?

  89. CL holds that doing affects seeing and that seeing affects doing.
    Physicists hold that measuring affects measurements.
    Do measurements affect measuring?
    There is only measuring.

  90. STUDENT: If words represent only word-reality why write CL books?
    INSTRUCTOR: The answer is in the writing.

  91. Bring my mother back to me.
    She died.
    Then bring my childhood back to me.
    Even though it was imperfect?
    I don't care if it was imperfect or not.
    Let's reflect on your childhood.
    Ah, there it is.
    No, it isn't.

  92. Wake up! Pay attention to Reality, do what needs doing, die.
    What else is there for you?

  93. INSTRUCTOR1: In a CL book I read that we must clean up our lives. What does that mean?
    I2 began to sweep the room. I1 began emptying wastebaskets.
    INSTRUCTOR2: Why are you doing that? I2 kept on emptying wastebaskets.
    INSTRUCTOR1: Exactly.

  94. You cannot know CL as I do.
    I cannot know CL as you do.
    Only you can decide what you need to do.
    But I can see what you do.
    Does that mean that I know your decision?

  95. There is only one Reality. It isn't "your" Reality or "my" Reality.
    But there are countless ways to see and talk about it.
    So, are "my" words Real?
    They are as Real as you fears and anxieties and doubts.

  96. STUDENT: What CL words will save me? What tapes? What books?
    INSTRUCTOR: You hear too well. Yet you are deaf. Put a match to a book and it will burn.

  97. Who does what needs doing?
    Who perceives Reality in order to decide what needs doing?
    Who is Reality?

  98. STUDENT: Can you tell me what I need to do?
    INSTRUCTOR: No.
    STUDENT: Should I decide what I need to do?
    INSTRUCTOR: Yes.
    STUDENT: But you just told me what I need to do.
    INSTRUCTOR: No.
    Why not?

  99. STUDENT: What is the best way to control my emotions?
    INSTRUCTOR: Wiggle the ear in front of your nose.
    STUDENT: I don't understand.
    INSTRUCTOR: Then never wiggle the nose on the left side of your head.

  100. Words and purposes and fresh moments are conversion gifts.
    So is conversion.

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