Zen 2.0 | Short Courses in Koans
For each koan group series John Tarrant selects 6 koans for study by the groups – one koan each week. The koan of the week is posted online on John's Zenosaurus blog, along with questions for the groups to discuss each week. All of the groups work with the same koan each week throughout the program, and the larger PZI Monday night programs may also center on these "koans of the week." The first two series have been completed. The third series is currently underway.
Learn more about the small koan groups.
The links below take you directly to the koan study page for that week.
Quick links to series: Series One | Series Two | Series Three
Series Three
The Koan:
A monk asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?”
“Yes,” replied Zhaozhou,
“Then why did it jump into that bag of fur?”
“It knew what it was doing and that’s why it dogged.”
Another time a monk asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?”
“No.”
“All beings have buddha nature. Why doesn’t a dog have it?”
“Because it’s beginning to awaken in the world of ignorance.”
- The second koan in this series will be posted soon.
The Koan:
If you are scorned by others and are about to drop into hell because of evil karma from your previous life, then because you are scorned by others, the evil karma of your previous life will be extinguished.
The Koan:
Yunmen said, “In the center of the cosmos, inside heaven and earth, there is one treasure, hidden in the body. It picks up a lantern and goes into the meditation hall. It brings the great three arched entrance gate and puts it on top of the lantern.”
The Koan:
Helping Her Dad
Mr. Pang was selling baskets. Coming down off a bridge with his arms full, he stumbled and fell. When his grownup daughter saw this, she ran up and threw herself down on the ground beside him.
“What are you doing?” cried Mr. Pang.
“I saw you fall to the ground, so I’m helping,“ she replied.
“It’s a good thing no one was looking,“ remarked Mr. Pang.
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Series Two
The Koan:
There is a true person of no rank who is constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is that true person of no rank?
The Koan:
Bodhidharma's Vast Emptiness
The Emperor asked the great master Bodhidharma, "What is the number one principle of the holy teaching?"
Bodhidharma said, "Vast emptiness, nothing holy."
"Who are you, standing in front of me?" asked the emperor.
"I don't know," said Bodhidharma.
The Emperor didn't get it.
The Koan:
In the old days there were sixteen bodhisattvas. They all got into the bath together and realized the cause of water. They called out, "This subtle touch reveals the light that is in everything. We have reached the place where the sons and daughters of the Buddha live."
The Koan:
Save A Ghost
The Koan:
The Coin Lost In The River Is Found In The River
The Koan:
Who is hearing this sound?
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Series One
Introduction to the small group approach to a course for koan study.
The Koan:
Sickness and medicine correspond to each other. The whole world is medicine. What am I?
The Koan:
A monk asked Dongshan, "When the cold visits us, how can we avoid it?"
Dongshan said, "Why not go where there is no cold?"
The monk asked, "Where is the place without cold?"
Dongshan said, "When it is cold, the cold kills you. When it is hot, the heat kills you."
The Koan:
Question: How is my hand like the Buddha's hand?
Answer: Playing guitar in the moonlight.
The Koan:
Stop The War
The Koan:
If you turn things around you are like the Buddha.
The Koan:
The teacher said to the gathering, "If you get it the first time you hear it, you will teach the buddhas and ancestors. If you get it the second time you hear it, you will teach gods and humans. If you don't get it till the third time you hear it, you won't even be able to save yourself."
A student asked, "When did you get it?"
The teacher said, "The moon sets at midnight, I walk alone through the town."
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