It’s most wonderful that Yunmen’s Manifestation (Case 27 in The Blue Cliff Record) is the first koan I encountered, and passed through, following my 50th birthday, which was last week:

 

A monk asked Yunmen, “When the tree withers and the leaves fall, what’s happening?”

Yunmen replied, “The golden wind is revealing itself.”

 

Excellent. Excellent.

 

Life is like that.