June 15, 2026

Without relinquishing your previous understanding, without acquiring new understanding, you must study.

Ryōkan wrote this during a period when he had already abandoned a formal temple position, choosing instead to live alone in a small hut on Mount Kugami. He had walked away from institutional Zen, not out of bitterness, but because he felt the official structures had hardened into performance. This line carries the paradox he lived: real learning is not about clearing the slate or accumulating more, but about returning to exactly where you are, right now, with fresh attention.