Kung-an/Koan's of Ch'an/Zen Buddhism
"How can I enter Ch'an?"
"Do you hear the murmuring of the stream?"
"Yes"
"Therein you may enter."
"There is a frog in the lawn."
"What is the frog doing?"
- mimes with her face and hands what the frog might be doing.
"Why do you come here?"
"I come seeking enlightenment."
"Why should you leave your home and wander about and neglect your
own precious treasure? There is nothing I can give you. Why do you
seek enlightenment from me?"
"But what is my treasure?"
"It is he who has just asked the question. It contains everything
and lacks nothing. There is no need to seek it outside yourself."
"Winter comes and summer comes. How do we avoid them?"
"Why do you not go where there is neither summer nor winter?"
"How could it be that there is neither a summer nor a winter?"
"You feel hot in summer and cold in winter."
(seeing ants carrying food away...)
"Our ants are in such a hurry to gather their supply. Do they crave
or not?"
"Ask the ants."
(An emperor asked a Zen master to come to his palace and explain
a sutra; the master arrived, mounted a platform, rapped on a table,
descended and left.)
A Zen disciple asked the emperor "Sir, did you understand?"
The emperor said "No."
"What a pity! The master was never so eloquent."
Monk 1: "Zen masters are always trying to save everyone. But if you
were to meet someone deaf, dumb and blind, he cannot see you, hear
you or ask you. The master will then be unable to save him."
(Monk 2 on hearing this was troubled and consulted a Zen master).
The master said "Bow please" and the monk obeyed.
When the monk looked up, the master thrust a staff at him. The monk
leaped back and the master said "Good, you are not blind. Now,
approach."
The monk did and the master said "You are not deaf either. Do you
understand?".
The monk replied "Understand what, sir?".
The master said "Ah, you are not dumb either."
A boy broke a rare teacup that belonged to his master.
When he saw the master, he asked "Why does death happen?".
The master said "It is natural. Everything lives and dies."
The boy showed the broken cup and said "It was time for your cup to
die".
(seeing a flapping wind...)
Monk 1: "The flag moves."
Monk 2: "The wind moves".
Teacher: "It is your mind that moves".