Green Koans Case 43: Jōshū’s “Mu”
CASE #43: Jōshū’s “Mu” A monk asked Jōshū, “Has a dog the Buddha Nature?” Jōshū answered, “Mu.” BACKGROUND: Jōshū (Ch. Zhàozhōu) lived from 778 to 897 C.E. and is often said to be the greatest Ch’an…
Green Koans
Green Koans Case 42: Hui-ke Offers His Arm
CASE #42: Hui-ke Offers His Arm Bodhidharma sat in a cave for nine years gazing at the wall. Hui-ke arrived to inquire about the dharma, but Bodhidharma refused to teach him. Finally, taking a knife, Hui-ke…
Green Koans Case 41: The Meaning of Suffering
CASE #41: The Meaning of Suffering Shakyamuni asked, “What is wisdom?” and when no one could answer, added: “It is the ability to perfectly understand and patiently accept the truth of suffering.” BACKGROUND: Perfectly understand To…
Green Koans Case 40: The Gift of Rice
CASE #40: The Gift of Rice In a letter to a follower, Nichiren Daishonin wrote: The essence of the sutras preached before the Lotus Sutra is that all phenomena arise from the mind. To illustrate, they…
Green Koans Case 39: The Great Natural Way
CASE #39: The Great Natural Way Masanobu Fukuoka once wrote: “The more the farmer increases the scale of his operation, the more his body and spirit are dissipated and the further he falls away from a…
Green Koans Case 38: Ajaan Lee Refuses to Bow
Case 38: Ajaan Lee Refuses to Bow Phra Ajaan Lee once passed the rainy season among the remote hill tribes of central Thailand. One night when he was feeling ill, he dozed off for a…
Green Koans Case 37: Myoe’s Letter to Japan
CASE #37: Myōe’s Letter to Japan The monk Myōe wrote a letter to the Island of Japan: Why do we need to seek anything other than your physical form as an island since it is the…
Green Koans Case 36: P’ang Splits Wood
CASE #36: P’ang Splits Wood Layman P’ang wrote: My daily activities are not unusual, I’m just naturally in harmony with them. Grasping nothing, discarding nothing. In every place there’s no hindrance, no conflict. My supernatural power…
Green Koans Case 35: Into the Wild
CASE #35: Into the Wild In the Buddhacarita, the Indian monk Ashvaghosha wrote: Seeing for the first time the royal highway,so crowded with respectful citizens,dressed in clean and dignified clothes,the prince rejoiced somewhat and thoughthe was…
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