Stepping from the One-Hundred Foot Pole

New Years Blessings! And wow, it feels like its off to a chaotic start. In times like these, I find it vital to ground myself in this bodhisattva vow. To remember what is always reliable, no matter what circumstance or situation I find myself in.

I would like to share a koan that has been close to my heart as we began 2026.

Mumonkan Case 46: Stepping from the Top of the Pole

Sekiso asked: How do you step from atop a 100-ft pole?

Another eminent master from former times said:

You who sit on the top of the 100-ft pole,

Although you have entered the Way, it is not yet genuine.

Take a step from on top of the pole

And worlds of the ten directions are your total body.

So many koans use images from our everyday lives. Images we are familiar with. These images can become mindfulness bells. Sensory reminders that speak the language of awakening.

Here we have a tall pole. A one hundred foot pole. These are the poles of large flags, like the one in the Perkins parking lot I remember growing up. Any large pole will do though.

I have been noticing power line poles. Actually just today the power company came and ascended the thirty foot power pole right across from my office window.

So, let me ask.

Have you ever been on top of a one hundred foot pole?

What about metaphorically?

The analogy of being on top of a one hundred foot pole can apply to any place, any belief or habit pattern that we get attached to or stuck in. These are the beliefs, attitudes, experiences, thoughts that keep us at a distance from our lives.

Essentially it boils down to the ways we contract around the belief in a separate self.

How we feel separate, not good enough, alone, exiled, bad and feed that separation. How we attach to certain beliefs, views or vantage points about ourselves and the world.

There is something familiar or even comforting about the beliefs we hold on to about ourselves and the world.

But also something deeply uncomfortable—like trying to live on top of a hundred foot pole. We fear falling to our deaths, so we get used to the small, and unstable precipice of our thoughts and beliefs.

What are the poles that you sit on top of? How did you get up here?

Practice is always inviting us to find these places where we separate —where we defend, withdraw, space-out, get anxious, cling, where we over-think—and get curious about them.

Curiosity is a practice of nearness.

It’s a commitment to stay with ourselves in our direct experience even if it is uncomfortable or unfamiliar. Even if parts of us believe that it will be our end, it will be the fall to our deaths.

Enter the Fool

This koan evokes for me the spirit of the Fool card in the Tarot. Someone at home in the mystery—resourceful, responsive and playful. Someone initiated into the wisdom of emptiness. Who has turned themselves inside out and recognize that this whole world is their true body!

These are qualities that we often associate with Zen sages and bodhisattvas. These are qualities we are awakening in our own practice.

As we enter this New Year, I aspire to come back to zero. To recognize the poles of beliefs, attitudes, fears that I am perched on. And to dare to take the next brave step.

Sometimes this is plunging feet first into the unknown, often it is more subtle. Like bringing gentle curiosity to that feeling of stinginess, to the trembling in the heart, to the ways you withdraw or start over-thinking.

What is happening here?

How can you stay connected to yourself in the aliveness of this experience?

We are like this fool-bodhisattva-sage—at home in the mystery, at home in ourselves. May we actualize our playfulness, our resourcefulness and responsiveness this year. May we appreciate the dream. And live from the expansiveness of our true Self.

Take a step from on top of the pole

And worlds of the ten directions are your total body.

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I’m Amy Kisei. I am a Zen Buddhist Teacher, Spiritual Counselor, Astrologer and Artist. I offer 1:1 Spiritual Counseling sessions using IFS and Hakomi (somatic mindfulness). I also offer astrology readings. Check out my website to learn more. I currently live in Columbus, OH and am a supporting teacher for the Mud Lotus Sangha.