rve/gist:6048024

## gistfile1.txt
Koan:
Hogen of Seiryo monastery was about to lecture before dinner when he noticed that the bamboo screen, lowered for meditation, had not been rolled up. He pointed to it. Two monks arose wordlessly from the audience and rolled it up. Hogen, observing the physical moment, said, "The state of the first monk is good, not that of the second."
Mumon's Commentary:
I want to ask you: which of those two monks gained and which lost? If any of you has one eye, he will see the failure on the teacher's part. However, I am not discussing gain and loss.
Mumon's Poem:
When the screen is rolled up the great sky opens, Yet the sky is not attuned to Zen.
It is best to forget the great sky
And to retire from every wind.


Koan:
Goso said: "When a buffalo goes out of his enclosure to the edge of the abyss, his horns and his head and his hoofs all pass through, but why can't the tail also pass?"
Mumon's Commentary:
If anyone can open one eye at this point and say a word of Zen, he is qualified to repay the four gratifications, and, not only that, he can save all sentient beings under him. But if he cannot say such a word of Zen, he should turn back to his tail.
Mumon's Poem:
If the buffalo runs, he will fall into the trench; If he returns, he will be butchered.
That little tail
Is a very strange thing.


Koan:
A monk asked Nansen: "Is there a teaching no master ever taught before?" Nansen said: "Yes, there is."
"What is it?" asked the monk.
Nansen replied: "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not things."
Mumon's Commentary:
Old Nansen gave away his treasure-words. He must have been greatly upset Mumon's Poem:
Nansen was too kind and lost his treasure. Truly, words have no power.
Even though the mountain becomes the sea, Words cannot open another's mind.


Koan:
The student Doko came to a Zen master, and said: "I am seeking the truth. In what state of mind should I train myself, so as to find it?"
Said the master, "There is no mind, so you cannot put it in any state. There is no truth, so you cannot train yourself for it."
"If there is no mind to train, and no truth_ to find, why do you have these monks gather before you every day to study- Zen and train themselves for this study?"
"But I haven't an inch of room here," said the master, "so how could the monks gather? I have no tongue, so how could I call them together or teach them?"
"Oh, how can you lie like this?" asked Doko.
"But if I have no tongue to talk to others, how can I lie to you?" asked the master. Then Doko said sadly, "I cannot follow you. I cannot understand you
"I cannot understand myself," said the master.


Koan:
Shuzan held out his short staff and said: "If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact. N, what do you wish to call this?"
Mumon's Commentary:
If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact. It cannot be expressed with words and it cannot be expressed without words. Now say quickly what it is.
Mumon's Poem: .
Holding out the short staff,
He gave an order of life or death.
Positive and negative interwoven,
Even Buddhas and patriarchs cannot escape this attack.


Koan:
Joshu asked the teacher Nansen, "What is the true Way?"
Nansen answered, "Everyday way is the true Way.' Joshu asked, "Can I study it?" Nansen answered, "The more you study, the further from the Way." Joshu asked, "If I don't study it, how can I know it?"
Nansen answered, "The Way does not belong to things seen: nor to thing: unseen. It does not belong to things known: nor to things unknown. Do not seek it, study it, or name it. To find yourself on it, open yourself wide as the sky."


Koan:
Hyakujo wished to send a monk to open a new monastery. He told his pupils that whoever answered a question most ably would be appointed. Placing a water vase on the ground, he asked: "Who can say what this is without calling its name?"
The chief monk said: "No one can call it a wooden shoe."
Isan, the cooking monk, tipped over the vase with his foot and went out. Hyakujo smiled and said: "The chief monk loses." And Isan became the
master of the new monastery.


Koan:
One day Unmon said to his disciples, "This staff of mine has transformed itself into a dragon and has swallowed up the universe! Oh, where are the rivers and mountains and the great earth?"


Koan:
A master was asked the question, "What is the Way?" by a curious monk. "
It is right before your eyes," said the master. "Why do I not see it for myself?" "Because you are thinking of yourself."
"What about you: do you see it?"
"So long as you see double, saying `I don't', and `you do', and so on, your
eyes are clouded," said the master.
"When there is neither 'I' nor 'You', can one see it?"
"When there is neither `I' nor `You', who is the one that wants to see it?"


Koan:
Tozan said to his monks, "You monks should know there is an even high understanding in Buddhism." A monk stepped forward and asked, "What the higher Buddhism?" Tozan answered, "It is not Buddha."


Koan:
Chiyono studied Zen for many years under Bukko of Engaku. Still, she could not attain the fruits of meditation. At last one moonlit night she was carrying water in an old wooden pail girded with bamboo. The bamboo broke, and the bottom fell out of the pail. At that moment, she was set free. Chiyono said, "No more water in the pail, no more moon in the water."


Koan:
A monk asked Ganto, "When the three worlds threaten me, what shall I do?" Ganto answered, "Sit down." "I do not understand," said the monk. Canto said, "Pick up the mountain and bring it to me. Then I will tell you."


Koan:
To realize Zen one has to pass through the barrier of the patriarchs. Enlightenment always comes after the road of thinking is blocked. If you do nc pass the barrier of the patriarchs or if your thinking road is not blocked whatever you think, whatever you do, is like a tangling ghost. You may ask "What is a barrier of a patriarch?" This one word, 'MU', is it.
This is the barrier of Zen. If you pass through it, you will see Joshu face t face. Then you can work hand in hand with the whole line of patriarchs. I this not a pleasant thing to do?
If you want to pass this barrier, you must work through every bone in you body, through every pore of your skin, filled with this question: "What `MU'?" and carry it day and night. Do not believe it is the common negative symbol meaning nothing. It is not nothingness, the opposite of existence. I you really want to pass this barrier, you should feel like drinking a hot iro ball that you can neither swallow nor spit out.
Then your previous lesser knowledge disappears. As a fruit ripening i season, your subjectivity and objectivity naturally become one. It is like dumb man who has had a dream. He knows about it but he cannot tell i
When he enters this condition his ego-shell is crushed and he can shake th heaven and move the earth. He is like a great warrior with a sharp sword. If Buddha stands in his way, he will cut him down; if a patriarch offers him an obstacle, he will kill him; and he will be free in his way of birth and death. H can enter any world as if it were his own playground. I will tell you how to d this with this koan:
Just concentrate your whole energy into this MU, and do not allow an discontinuation. When you enter this MU and there is no discontinuation -- your attainment will be as a candle burning and illuminating the who] universe.
	Koan:
	Hogen of Seiryo monastery was about to lecture before dinner when he noticed that the bamboo screen, lowered for meditation, had not been rolled up. He pointed to it. Two monks arose wordlessly from the audience and rolled it up. Hogen, observing the physical moment, said, "The state of the first monk is good, not that of the second."
	Mumon's Commentary:
	I want to ask you: which of those two monks gained and which lost? If any of you has one eye, he will see the failure on the teacher's part. However, I am not discussing gain and loss.
	Mumon's Poem:
	When the screen is rolled up the great sky opens, Yet the sky is not attuned to Zen.
	It is best to forget the great sky
	And to retire from every wind.


	Koan:
	Goso said: "When a buffalo goes out of his enclosure to the edge of the abyss, his horns and his head and his hoofs all pass through, but why can't the tail also pass?"
	Mumon's Commentary:
	If anyone can open one eye at this point and say a word of Zen, he is qualified to repay the four gratifications, and, not only that, he can save all sentient beings under him. But if he cannot say such a word of Zen, he should turn back to his tail.
	Mumon's Poem:
	If the buffalo runs, he will fall into the trench; If he returns, he will be butchered.
	That little tail
	Is a very strange thing.


	Koan:
	A monk asked Nansen: "Is there a teaching no master ever taught before?" Nansen said: "Yes, there is."
	"What is it?" asked the monk.
	Nansen replied: "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not things."
	Mumon's Commentary:
	Old Nansen gave away his treasure-words. He must have been greatly upset Mumon's Poem:
	Nansen was too kind and lost his treasure. Truly, words have no power.
	Even though the mountain becomes the sea, Words cannot open another's mind.


	Koan:
	The student Doko came to a Zen master, and said: "I am seeking the truth. In what state of mind should I train myself, so as to find it?"
	Said the master, "There is no mind, so you cannot put it in any state. There is no truth, so you cannot train yourself for it."
	"If there is no mind to train, and no truth_ to find, why do you have these monks gather before you every day to study- Zen and train themselves for this study?"
	"But I haven't an inch of room here," said the master, "so how could the monks gather? I have no tongue, so how could I call them together or teach them?"
	"Oh, how can you lie like this?" asked Doko.
	"But if I have no tongue to talk to others, how can I lie to you?" asked the master. Then Doko said sadly, "I cannot follow you. I cannot understand you
	"I cannot understand myself," said the master.


	Koan:
	Shuzan held out his short staff and said: "If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact. N, what do you wish to call this?"
	Mumon's Commentary:
	If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact. It cannot be expressed with words and it cannot be expressed without words. Now say quickly what it is.
	Mumon's Poem: .
	Holding out the short staff,
	He gave an order of life or death.
	Positive and negative interwoven,
	Even Buddhas and patriarchs cannot escape this attack.


	Koan:
	Joshu asked the teacher Nansen, "What is the true Way?"
	Nansen answered, "Everyday way is the true Way.' Joshu asked, "Can I study it?" Nansen answered, "The more you study, the further from the Way." Joshu asked, "If I don't study it, how can I know it?"
	Nansen answered, "The Way does not belong to things seen: nor to thing: unseen. It does not belong to things known: nor to things unknown. Do not seek it, study it, or name it. To find yourself on it, open yourself wide as the sky."


	Koan:
	Hyakujo wished to send a monk to open a new monastery. He told his pupils that whoever answered a question most ably would be appointed. Placing a water vase on the ground, he asked: "Who can say what this is without calling its name?"
	The chief monk said: "No one can call it a wooden shoe."
	Isan, the cooking monk, tipped over the vase with his foot and went out. Hyakujo smiled and said: "The chief monk loses." And Isan became the
	master of the new monastery.


	Koan:
	One day Unmon said to his disciples, "This staff of mine has transformed itself into a dragon and has swallowed up the universe! Oh, where are the rivers and mountains and the great earth?"


	Koan:
	A master was asked the question, "What is the Way?" by a curious monk. "
	It is right before your eyes," said the master. "Why do I not see it for myself?" "Because you are thinking of yourself."
	"What about you: do you see it?"
	"So long as you see double, saying `I don't', and `you do', and so on, your
	eyes are clouded," said the master.
	"When there is neither 'I' nor 'You', can one see it?"
	"When there is neither `I' nor `You', who is the one that wants to see it?"


	Koan:
	Tozan said to his monks, "You monks should know there is an even high understanding in Buddhism." A monk stepped forward and asked, "What the higher Buddhism?" Tozan answered, "It is not Buddha."


	Koan:
	Chiyono studied Zen for many years under Bukko of Engaku. Still, she could not attain the fruits of meditation. At last one moonlit night she was carrying water in an old wooden pail girded with bamboo. The bamboo broke, and the bottom fell out of the pail. At that moment, she was set free. Chiyono said, "No more water in the pail, no more moon in the water."


	Koan:
	A monk asked Ganto, "When the three worlds threaten me, what shall I do?" Ganto answered, "Sit down." "I do not understand," said the monk. Canto said, "Pick up the mountain and bring it to me. Then I will tell you."


	Koan:
	To realize Zen one has to pass through the barrier of the patriarchs. Enlightenment always comes after the road of thinking is blocked. If you do nc pass the barrier of the patriarchs or if your thinking road is not blocked whatever you think, whatever you do, is like a tangling ghost. You may ask "What is a barrier of a patriarch?" This one word, 'MU', is it.
	This is the barrier of Zen. If you pass through it, you will see Joshu face t face. Then you can work hand in hand with the whole line of patriarchs. I this not a pleasant thing to do?
	If you want to pass this barrier, you must work through every bone in you body, through every pore of your skin, filled with this question: "What `MU'?" and carry it day and night. Do not believe it is the common negative symbol meaning nothing. It is not nothingness, the opposite of existence. I you really want to pass this barrier, you should feel like drinking a hot iro ball that you can neither swallow nor spit out.
	Then your previous lesser knowledge disappears. As a fruit ripening i season, your subjectivity and objectivity naturally become one. It is like dumb man who has had a dream. He knows about it but he cannot tell i
	When he enters this condition his ego-shell is crushed and he can shake th heaven and move the earth. He is like a great warrior with a sharp sword. If Buddha stands in his way, he will cut him down; if a patriarch offers him an obstacle, he will kill him; and he will be free in his way of birth and death. H can enter any world as if it were his own playground. I will tell you how to d this with this koan:
	Just concentrate your whole energy into this MU, and do not allow an discontinuation. When you enter this MU and there is no discontinuation -- your attainment will be as a candle burning and illuminating the who] universe.