Koans & Select Literature
Mount Sumeru
A student asked Master Yun-Men, “Not even a thought has arisen, is there still a sin or not? The master answered, “Mount Sumeru.”
Why did the Master say Mount Sumeru?
Iron Wheel
Venerable Master Song-Wol said to his students: “Almighty God is highly esteemed and powerfully omnipresent. He has never moved at all, yet he melts the iron wheel. But how does he melt the iron wheel?”
The Cost Of Following Jesus
Zen Master PoHwa Sunim brought a case from the Bible and asked a question to his students. The case was:
“As Jesus was walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ (Luke 9:57-59 NIV)
Jesus said that he has no place to lay his head, but then he said, “Follow me.”
To where should we follow Jesus?
The Horseback Rider
There was a monk with patched clothes passing by farm land. He saw a scarecrow wearing nice clothes and decided to take down the clothes to wear himself. At the moment, he took down the clothes, a man on horseback rushed up to him and asked the monk loudly:
“If you take the clothes from the scarecrow, what can the scarecrow do?”
The monk did not know how to respond. After many years of practicing, the monk became enlightened, and he realized the horseback rider was Avalokita (Kuan-Se-Um-Po-Sal).
If you were that monk, how would you respond after you were questioned by the Horseback Rider?
Sword Mountain
Master So-San(Su-Shan Kuang-Jen;837-909) came to Venerable Master Too-Ja (Tou-Tzu), who asked: “Where are you coming from?”
So-San answered, “I come from Yon-Pyong (Sword Mountain).”
Too-Ja asked, “Then did you bring your sword?”
So-San responded, “Yes, I did.”
Too-Ja Immediately requested, “Show it to me, this old monk.”
So-San, with his finger, pointed at the ground in front of the master instead of answering with the words.
Too-Ja, then abruptly left for his room.
That afternoon he called the attendant to bring So-San to have a cup of tea with him. The attendant said, “Master, after this mornings event, he left immediately.”
Then Too-Ja sang a Gatha (Poem):
“For the last thirty years enjoying the horseback riding Today, fell from the horse back by the litter donkey.”
In this case, when the Patriarch requested, “Show it to me, this old monk,” why did So-San point at the ground in front of the master, instead?
The Doctrinal And Patriarchal Teachings
Once, a student came to the Venerable Chan Master Pa-Lung (Pa-Ling) and asked:
“Are patriarchal teachings and doctrinal teachings the same or different?”
Chan Master Pa-Lung answered:
“When a chicken is cold, it climbs to the top of the tree:
When a duck is cold, It goes under the water.”
Why did Patriarch (Pa-Lung) answer: “When a chicken is cold, it climbs to the top of the tree; when a duck is cold, it goes under the water,” when asked about the difference between patriarchal and doctrinal teachings?