Up a Tree: Precarity, Not-Knowing, and Awakening Times

Up a Tree: Precarity, Not-Knowing, and Awakening Times

March 30, 2026 · 44 min

About this episode

Roshi Joan Halifax discusses the themes of precarity and not-knowing in the context of current global issues through the lens of a koan.

In this Wednesday Night Dharma Talk, Roshi Joan Halifax opens by naming her deep concern for the ongoing wars, displacement, and political upheaval seen throughout the world. Rather than offering direct reassurance, she turns to two stories held in deliberate tension: Kyōgen’s koan “Man Up a Tree,” in which a man hanging by his teeth from a branch is asked a question he cannot answer without… Source

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