Zen Koans Go Here

[abrakamowse]

Right & Wrong

When Bankei held his seclusion-weeks of meditation, pupils from many parts of Japan came to attend. During one of these gatherings a pupil was caught stealing. The matter was reported to Bankei with the request that the culprit be expelled. Bankei ignored the case.

Later the pupil was caught in a similar act, and again Bankei disregarded the matter. This angered the other pupils, who drew up a petition asking for the dismissal of the thief, stating that otherwise they would leave in a body.

When Bankei had read the petition he called everyone before him. "You are wise brothers," he told them. "You know what is right and what is not right. You may somewhere else to study if you wish, but this poor brother does not even know right from wrong. Who will teach him if I do not? I am going to keep him here even if all the rest of you leave."

A torrent of tears cleansed the face of the brother who had stolen. All desire to steal had vanished.

Edited May 14, 2016 by abrakamowse
grammar

[abrakamowse]

Upāsaka Lu K'uan Yü:

The aim of the Chan [Zen] is to strip the mind of all feelings and passions for the purpose of disentangling it from the phenomenal so that the self-nature can return to its normal state and operate in the normal way without hindrance.

This stripping is not gradual but sudden. In that sudden moment we see for the first time our self-nature. This moment is called in Chan, jian-xing 見性, that is, seeing our self-nature. It can’t be put into words. It can only be hinted at by various means. In general what this further implies is that the phenomenal is only a dependent arising of this self-nature. This nature while singular and perfected can still give rise to countless differences within itself. Still, there is perfect harmony like waves and water. Disharmony arises when we do not see this self-nature leaving only the vast differences of phenomena.

[Flicker_boy]

"if I'm enlightened but nobody knows about it, am I really enlightened?" master not-so-fast, circa 1900

[abrakamowse]

When asked why he practiced zen, the student said, “Because I intend to become a Buddha.”
His teacher picked up a brick and started polishing it. The student asked “What are you doing?” The teacher replied, “I am trying to make a mirror.”
“How can you make a mirror by polishing a brick?”
“How can you become Buddha by doing zazen? If you understand sitting Zen, you will know that Zen is not about sitting or lying down. If you want to learn sitting Buddha, know that sitting Buddha is without any fixed form. Do not use discrimination in the non-abiding dharma. If you practice sitting as Buddha, you must kill Buddha. If you are attached to the sitting form, you are not yet mastering the essential principle.”
The student heard this admonition and felt as if he had tasted sweet nectar.
— Dōgen Zenji

[askdfjnak]

http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html

[Azrael]

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

[cetus]

4 hours ago, Arik said:

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

@Arik It sounds like a cloud on a Tuesday morning

Edited May 19, 2016 by cetus56

[abrakamowse]

Master [Hui-an] asked [Huai-jang], “Where are you coming from?”
Huai-jang said, “Mount Sung.”
The Master said, “What sort of thing comes here like this?”
Huai-jang said, “To call it a ‘thing’ is to miss the mark.”
The Master said, “Can it be cultivated or experienced?”
Huai-jang said, “It’s not that it isn’t cultivated or experienced, but rather that it isn’t corrupted or defiled.”
The Master said, “It’s just because it isn’t corrupted or defiled that it’s treasured by all buddhas. You’re like this. And I’m like this.”
— The Platform Sutra
 

[cetus]

29 minutes ago, ___ said:

If a man speaks his mind in a forest, and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?

Good one!    I started meditation because I heard it would silence the constant chatter in my mind. It's not working, I can still hear the wife.

[cetus]

 

19 minutes ago, cetus56 said:

 I started meditation because I heard it would silence the constant chatter in my mind. It's not working, I can still hear the wife.

 I know, that joke doesn't deserve even the sound of one hand clapping.

[abrakamowse]

1 hour ago, cetus56 said:

 

 I know, that joke doesn't deserve even the sound of one hand clapping.

No, it was good Lol... It deserves the sound of a cloud on a Tuesday morning

[abrakamowse]

@___  Jed McKenna rocks

[Primeval]

"What is Zen?" The Master asked the Students.

The first one replied "Zen is a Way of Life."

"Yes" said the Master.

The next one replied "Zen is a Way to Die."

"Yes" said the Master.

The third one replied "Zen is Nothing and Zen is Everything."

"Yes" said the Master.

The fourth Student didn't say anything.

The Master then said "You first three are wrong," and pointed to the fourth Student saying "That is Zen."

Edited May 20, 2016 by Lha Bho
Because Dragons

[askdfjnak]

Oh my god, a talking head!

[abrakamowse]

KYOGEN'S MAN HANGING IN THE TREE

Kyogen said, "It (Zen) is like a man (monk) hanging by his teeth in a tree over a precipice. His hands grasp no branch, his feet rest on no limb, and under the tree another man asks him, 'Why did Bodhidharma come to China from the West (India)?' If the man in the tree does not answer, he misses the question, and if he answers, he falls and loses his life. Now what shall he do?"

[abrakamowse]

In that case, what do we mean in this school by ‘to practice Zen’? In this school, by ‘to practice,’ we mean not to be obstructed by anything and externally not to give rise to thoughts about objective states. And by ‘Zen,’ we mean to see our nature without being confused.

And what do we mean by ‘Zen meditation’? Externally to be free of form is ‘Zen.’ And internally not to be confused is ‘meditation.’ Exter- nally, if you are attached to form, internally, your mind will be confused. But if you are free of form externally, internally your nature will not be confused.

Your nature itself is pure and focused. It is just that you come into contact with objects, and as you come into contact, you become con- fused. When you are free of form and not confused, you are focused. To be free of form externally is ‘Zen.’ Not to be confused internally is ‘meditation.’ External Zen and internal meditation, this is what we mean by ‘Zen meditation.’

The Vimalakirti Sutra says, ‘Suddenly all at once, we return to our original mind.’ And the Bodhisattva Precept Sutra says, ‘Our original nature is pure.’ Good friends, see the fundamental purity of your own nature. Cultivate and put to work for yourselves the dharma body of your own nature. Practice for yourselves the practices of a buddha. Begin and complete for yourselves the path to buddhahood.

[askdfjnak]

"Mu"

[abrakamowse]

This is not a koan but is a very good advice:

”It is better to do your own path imperfectly, than another’s perfectly.”

Krsna

[abrakamowse]

9 hours ago, Gone said:

"Mu"

Neti Neti

[abrakamowse]

Buddha The Diamond Sutra:

“No being has ever entered Nirvana.”

"Isness" is an illusion