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ZenLife Blog
![The Conversation Doesn’t Take Place](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/648c7aa235145a35c0f499ad/1699122075592-WUP2Y9OGU7IEIYN2QG12/bodhidharma1-231x300.png)
The Conversation Doesn’t Take Place
There is a famous koan in our Zen tradition about Bodhidharma meeting Emperor Wu. This strange fellow from India blows in on a large Dharmakaya wind and presents himself at court. He must have cut an odd figure in his ragged robes and sandals amidst the formality and finery of the Emperor’s palace.
![After Awakening](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/648c7aa235145a35c0f499ad/1687043947965-S1EPL90TT2GMH5AGAND5/Skin+of+Heaven.jpg)
After Awakening
This is the crux of the whole Genjokoan. He’s saying that when you look at your reflection in water, there’s a tipping point: either the water’s transparent or it’s murky and reflective like a mirror. It doesn’t gradually become a mirror. It’s either a mirror or it isn’t. Dogen is using this as a metaphor: when you drop off the body-mind, when you forget the self, you become a mirror that reflects the dharma.