Zen Koans
Selected and edited by M. Divjak
Contents
What to answer
Wash the bowl
Three calls
Not the wind, not the flag
Three pounds of flax
How to call a short staff
A cup of tea
The stone in mind
Prvo načelo
Dekle in luža
Ti nisi jaz
Goska v steklenici
What to answer
Pupil: "In Zen this very mind is Buddha. Is this correct?"
Teacher: "If I say yes, you will think that you understand
without understanding. If I say no, I would be contradicting a
fact which many understand quite well."
Wash the bowl
Pupil: "I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me."
Teacher: "Have you eaten your rice porridge?"
Pupil: "I have eaten."
Teacher: "Then you had better wash your bowl."
Three calls
Teacher: "Pupil."
Pupil: "Yes."
Teacher: "Pupil."
Pupil: "Yes."
Teacher: "Pupil."
Pupil: "Yes."
Teacher: "I ought to apologize to you for all this calling, but
really you ought to apologize to me."
Not the wind, not the flag
Two monks are arguing about a flag.
First monk: "The flag is moving."
Second monk: "The wind is moving."
Teacher: "Not the wind, not the flag; the mind is moving."
Three pounds of flax
Teacher is weighing some flax.
Pupil: "What is Buddha?"
Teacher: "This flax weighs three pounds."
How to call a short staff?
Teacher shows his short staff to his pupils: "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?"
A cup of tea
The teacher received a monk who came to inquire about Zen.
Teacher served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then
kept on pouring. The monk watched the owerflow until he no
longer could restrain himself.
Monk: "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
Teacher: "Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and
speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your
cup?"
The stone in mind
Two monks are arguing about subjectivity and objectivity.
Teacher: "There is a big stone. Do you consider it to be inside
or outside your mind?"
One monk: "From the Buddhist viewpoint, everything is an
objectification of mind, so I would say that the stone is inside
my mind."
Teacher: "Your head must feel very heavy, if you are carrying a
stone like that in your mind."
Prvo načelo
Učitelja so vprašali: "Kaj je prvo načelo?"
Odgovoril je: "Če bi vam povedal, bi postalo drugo načelo."
Dekle in luža
Učitelj in učenec sta šla po blatni cesti. Naletela sta na
ljubko dekle v svilenem kimonu, ki ni vedelo, kako bi prišlo
čez lužo. "Pridi, dekle," je rekel učitelj, jo dvignil in
prenesel čez blatno mlakužo. Učenec ni spregovoril, dokler
nista pod večer prispela do hrama. Tedaj se ni mogel več
zadržati: "Mi redovniki se ne dotikamo žensk. Zakaj si tisto
storil?" "Dekle sem pustil tam," je odgovoril učitelj, "ali jo
ti še vedno nosiš?"
Ti nisi jaz
Učitelj se je s prijateljem sprehajal ob reki: "Kako božansko
se ribe v vodi radostijo življenja!" "Ti nisi riba," mu je
oporekal prijatelj, "kako torej veš , da se ribe veselijo
življenja?" "Ti nisi jaz," mu je odvrnil učitelj, "kako torej
veš , da jaz ne vem, da se ribe veselijo življenja?"
Goska v steklenici
Visoki uradnik je vprašal učitelja: "V davnih časih je živel
človek, ki je imel gosko v steklenici. Rasla je, dokler ni mogla
več ven; človek ni hotel razbiti steklenice niti poškodovati
goske - kako bi jo ti spravil ven?" Mojster je vzkliknil: "O,
uradnik!" Uradnik je odgovoril: "Da?" "No, pa je zunaj," je rekel
mojster.
Glavni vir
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.
Penguin Books, 1987.