Meditate on a Zen koan to release self-judgment and connect with the quiet, unchanging observer within you.

English

There is someone in your life who is not limited by fear or judgment, who moves freely about the world unhindered. Perhaps you've seen them come and go, but you're not sure where you can meet them. This koan meditation offers you a direct line.
"There is a true person of no rank constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is this true person of no rank?"
 - Linji Yixuan (Pacific Zen Institute Miscellaneous Koan Collection)

Finding The True Person Of No Rank

This is Jesse Cardin with a guided meditation for you with a koan. So this meditation is about settling into your larger self. It's good if you can find yourself in a position where you don't have to pay too much attention to holding your body up. And find yourself in a place where you can give all of your attention to this meditation for the next few minutes. I'm just letting the silence come to you. and letting the sounds of the world come to you. Our koan for this meditation goes like this. There is a true person of no rank. constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is this true person of no rank? There is a true person of no rank constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is this true person of no rank? And so allowing the koan to just settle. into your being. This is not a riddle that your mind can solve. There's not a conceivable answer to find. The practice here is just to keep company with the koan. and let it change you. Who is this true person of no rank? If you look closely, they're here right now. not somewhere else in some other time. in some other life. or some other circumstances. And so as always with working with a colon, we can just assume that whatever is appearing to us is part of the koan. And so whatever's happening in your mind, in your heart, in your body, in the world around you, That's your koan. Who is this true person of no rank? And so as you're sitting, you might notice all the ways. that your mind makes life small. makes you small. What are your concerns right now? Are you worried about something? Are you angry about something? sad about something. may be happy about something. The true person of no rank does not have an opinion. about which of these is good and which is bad. You might also notice the way that your mind judges and assesses things. something as simple as How am I doing at this meditation? or something larger. Maybe, how am I doing at my job? How am I doing as a parent, or a friend, or a partner? How am I doing as a person? There is a true person of no rank who's not trapped by these assessments. who's not subject to them. not afraid or diminished by them. not seeking to improve or overcome or achieve. The true person is always at rest. And so while we're sitting together, you can just let your mind relax. which also means relaxing your grip on your mind. Let it play. Let it do whatever it does. It's no concern of yours. There is a true person of no rank constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is this true person of no rank? There is someone here who is simply hearing. Simply seeing. Simply feeling. tasting. smelling. Thinking. There is someone who is simply sitting. Breathing. Even when this person moves, they don't go anywhere. always here. And if you sit like this for a time. You might start to notice that there is a deep silence inside you. and all around you. inside the pains and the joys. of having a human body. inside the desires and resistances. There's a silence inside the bird calls. inside the sound of trucks on the highway. inside your own thoughts. And so in just a moment I'm going to ring the bell to end the meditation. but you don't have to leave your koan here. I encourage you to take it with you everywhere you go. There is a true person of no rank. constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is this true person of no rank?