Zen Stories - A Selection

Flower Shower
Subhuti was Buddha’s disciple. He was able to understand the potency of emptiness, the viewpoint that nothing exists except in its relationship of subjectivity and objectivity.
One day Subhuti, in a mood of sublime emptiness, was sitting under a tree. Flowers began to fall about him.
“We are praising you for your discourse on emptiness,” the [...]

A Dharma Discourse on the Koan “Joshu Investigates an Old Woman”

The Old Woman of Taishan
Dharma Discourse by Abbot John Daido Loori
Master Dogen’s 300 Koan Shobogenzo,* Case 29
FROM THE MUMONKAN:
CASE 31: Joshu Investigates an Old Woman
The Main Case
There was an old woman on Mount Tai path. A monk asked her, “Where is the path to Mount Tai?”1
The old woman said, “Go straight ahead.” 2 The [...]

The Great Zen Master Lin Chi Yi-Sen

(Lin-chi Yi-sen, Lin-chi I-hsuan, Rinzai, Rinzai Gigen)

Died 867
Venerable Master Lin Chi Yi-Sen founded one of the most influential school of Buddhism after the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng. For centuries his followers were the leading Ch’an (Zen) Buddhist masters of China. In the twelfth century, his teachings spread to Japan and formed the Rinzai School [...]

T’ang Dynasty Master Kuei-shan Ling-yu - Zen Stories

Introduction
Too often in practice it seems, like Hsiang-yen, we are just after more answers, as if getting the “right” answer to that “big” question will straighten out everything. Yet, staying with a question which has the power to stop the mind can transform a life. Real questioning is like polishing a gem, removing the “extra.” [...]

The Gateless Gate by Chan Master Wu-men Hui-hai Or Mumon Ekai - Koans 31-39

Case 31 Josho Investigates an Old Woman 三十一　趙州勘婆

趙州、因僧問婆子、臺山路向甚處去。

A monk asked an old woman, “What is the way to Taisan?”

婆云、驀直去。
The old woman said, “Go straight on.”
僧纔行三五歩。 婆云、好箇師僧、又恁麼去。

Zazen Ron - Discussion of Zazen by Rinzai Master Enni

Enni Ben’en
(1202-80)
Early Japanese Rinzai zen monk. He entered the Tendai order at the age of 5, and while growing up received a broad education in Buddhist and Confucian studies (see Confucianism), and after receiving full ordination as an adult, was introduced to Tendai esoteric rituals. He travelled in China from 1235 to 1241, and studied [...]