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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 . . . → Read More: Koan: Right and Wrong Mokugen was never known to smile until his last day on earth. When his time came to pass away he said to his faithful ones: “You have studied under me for more than ten years. Show me your real interpretation of Zen. Whoever expresses this most clearly shall be my successor and receive my robe and . . . → Read More: Koan: A Smile in His Lifetime Publishing the Sutras Tetsugen, a devotee of Zen in Japan, decided to publish the sutras, which at that time were available only in Chinese. The books were to be printed with wood blocks in an edition of seven thousand copies, a tremendous undertaking. Tetsugen began by traveling and collecting donations for this purpose. A few sympathizers would give . . . → Read More: Koan: Publishing the Sutras Koan: Eshun’s Departure When Eshun, the Zen nun, was past sixty and about to leave this world, she asked some monks to pile up wood in the yard. Seating herself firmly in the center of the funeral pyre, she had it set fire around the edges. “O nun!” shouted one monk, “is it hot in there?” “Such a matter would . . . → Read More: Koan: Eshun’s Departure Suiwo, the disciple of Hakuin, was a good teacher. During one summer seclusion period, a pupil came to him from a southern island of Japan. Suiwo gave him the problem: “Hear the sound of one hand.” The pupil remained three years but could not pass this test. One night he came in tears to Suiwo. “I must return . . . → Read More: Koan: Three Days More Koan: Shoun & His Mother Shoun became a teacher of Soto Zen. When he was still a student his father passed away, leaving him to care for his old mother. Whenever Shoun went to a meditation hall he always took his mother with him. Since she accompanied him, when he visited monasteries he could not live with the . . . → Read More: Koan: Shoun & His Mother Gisho’s Work Gisho was ordained as a nun when she was just ten years old. She received training just as the little boys did. When she reached the age of sixteen she traveled from one Zen master to another, studying with them all. She remained three years with Unzan, six years with . . . → Read More: Koan: Gisho’s Work Koan: Not Far from Buddhahood A university student while visiting Gasan asked him: “Have you ever read the Christian Bible?” “No, read it to me,” said Gasan. The student opened the Bible and read from St. Matthew: “And why take ye thought for rainment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they . . . → Read More: Koan: Not Far From Buddhahood Koan: If You Love, Love Openly Twenty monks and one nun, who was named Eshun, were practicing meditation with a certain Zen master. Eshun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her. One of them wrote her a love letter, insisting upon a private meeting. Eshun . . . → Read More: Koan: If You Love, Love Openly Koan: No Loving Kindness There was an old woman in China who had supported a monk for over twenty years. She had built a little hut for him and fed him while he was meditating. Finally she wondered just what progress he had made in all this time. To find out, she obtained the help of a girl . . . → Read More: Koan: No Loving Kindness |
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