# Stepping from the One-Hundred Foot Pole

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/earth-dreams-zen-buddhism-and-the-soul-of-the-world-6415534/stepping-from-the-one-hundred-foot-pole.md
Podcast: [Earth Dreams: Zen Buddhism and the Soul of the World](https://stenobird.com/podcast/earth-dreams-zen-buddhism-and-the-soul-of-the-world-6415534)
Published: 2026-01-11T11:26:00+00:00
Episode link: https://amykisei.substack.com/p/stepping-from-the-one-hundred-foot
Audio file: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/183938394/89d3991249e204fe1323e22b269818c5.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1905

## Resource

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 s…

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