You might think that this has to do with the 1st & 2nd Patriarchs of Zen. You might think the debt is Huike cutting off his arm to prove how dedicated he was to practice, and how badly he wanted Bodhidharma to be his teacher. But Jonson Sunmin Miller's talk at One Mind Zen on the 3rd of August has more to do with Bodhidharma's entry into practice...and suffering the injustice of student debt.
