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Post by zin on Dec 12, 2016 17:25:56 GMT -5
Daibai asked Baso: "What is Buddha?" Baso said: "This mind is Buddha." Later, another monk asked Baso: "What is Buddha?" Baso said: "This mind is not Buddha." What do you know with certainty about this this exchange? Baso changes his mind frequently! (couldn't resist joking) |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 17:37:07 GMT -5
Some people say that Jesus was a pacifist, and some people say that he was an activist. When he turned over the tables of the money changers, was that the act of a pacifist or an activist? Have I got to pm you this answer as well? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 17:41:07 GMT -5
Some people say that Jesus was a pacifist, and some people say that he was an activist. When he turned over the tables of the money changers, was that the act of a pacifist or an activist? Have I got to pm you this answer as well? why? have the courage to put yourself out here  |
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Post by zendancer on Dec 12, 2016 18:05:37 GMT -5
Some people say that Jesus was a pacifist, and some people say that he was an activist. When he turned over the tables of the money changers, was that the act of a pacifist or an activist? Have I got to pm you this answer as well? Yes, that's not a formal or classical koan, but it would be better not to answer it in public. I use that koan to show that koans can be used in the Christian tradition as well as in Buddhism. ZM Seung Sahn once conducted a silent retreat for monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. He converted many of the famous koans into Christian terminology. His main koan that he asked the monks was, "Where is Jesus Christ this moment?" |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 18:20:46 GMT -5
Have I got to pm you this answer as well? Yes, that's not a formal or classical koan, but it would be better not to answer it in public. I use that koan to show that koans can be used in the Christian tradition as well as in Buddhism. ZM Seung Sahn once conducted a silent retreat for monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. He converted many of the famous koans into Christian terminology. His main koan that he asked the monks was, "Where is Jesus Christ this moment?" Ok. Applying them in a trans-traditional way like that makes a lot of sense. |
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 18:23:30 GMT -5
The bridge flows, while the water stays motionless. Why?
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 18:28:31 GMT -5
The master Bankei's talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras not indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead, his words were spoken directly from his heart to the hearts of his listeners.
His large audience angered a priest of the Nichiren sect because the adherents had left to hear about Zen. The self-centered Nichiren priest came to the temple, determined to have a debate with Bankei.
"Hey, Zen teacher!" he called out. "Wait a minute. Whoever respects you will obey what you say, but a man like myself does not respect you. Can you make me obey you?"
"Come up beside me and I will show you," said Bankei.
Proudly the priest pushed his way through the crowd to the teacher.
Bankei smiled. "Come over to my left side."
The priest obeyed.
"No," said Bankei, "we may talk better if you are on the right side. Step over here."
The priest proudly stepped over to the right.
"You see," observed Bankei, "you are obeying me and I think you are a very gentle person. Now sit down and listen."
lol 😁😁😁
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 22:53:34 GMT -5
The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.
In great anger the parent went to the master. “Is that so?” was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbours and everything else he needed.
A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth – the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.
The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.
Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: “Is that so?”
What was Hakuin thinking?
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 22:57:12 GMT -5
When Bankei was preaching at Ryumon temple, a Shinshu priest, who believed in salvation through the repitition of the name of the Buddha of Love, was jealous of his large audience and wanted to debate with him.
Bankei was in the midst of a talk when the priest appeared, but the fellow made such a disturbance that bankei stopped his discourse and asked about the noise.
“The founder of our sect,” boasted the priest, “had such miraculous powers that he held a brush in his hand on one bank of the river, his attendant held up a paper on the other bank, and the teacher wrote the holy name of Amida through the air. Can you do such a wonderful thing?”
Bankei replied lightly: “Perhaps your fox can perform that trick, but that is not the manner of Zen. My miracle is that when I feel hungry I eat, and when I feel thirsty I drink.”
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 22:59:09 GMT -5
Several citizens ran into a hot argument about God and different religions, and each one could not agree to a common answer. So they came to the Lord Buddha to find out what exactly God looks like.
The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind to the elephant and told them to find out what the elephant would “look” like.
The first blind men touched the elephant leg and reported that it “looked” like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant tummy and said that an elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man hold on to the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. And all of them ran into a hot argument about the “appearance” of an elephant.
The Buddha asked the citizens: “Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?”
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 23:05:52 GMT -5
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. Now what do you wish to call this?”
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 23:09:02 GMT -5
When you can do nothing, what can you do?
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 23:09:34 GMT -5
When the many are reduced to one, to what is the one reduced?
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 23:09:59 GMT -5
What is the color of the wind?
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Post by steven777 on Dec 12, 2016 23:12:09 GMT -5
One day Banzan was walking through a market. He overheard a customer say to the butcher, “Give me the best piece of meat you have.”
“Everything in my shop is the best,” replied the butcher. “You can not find any piece of meat that is not the best.”
At these words, Banzan was enlightened.
What is your commentary on this?
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