A Philosopher Asks Buddha and Other Koans

[Straw Dog]

A philosopher asked Buddha, "Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me truth?"

The Buddha kept silence.

The philosopher bowed and thanked the Buddha saying, "With your loving-kindness, I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path."

After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked the Buddha what he had attained.

The Buddha replied, "A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip."



What does it mean?



Please share your favorite koans.

Thank you.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

The thought of truth can motivate just as well as the truth itself.

My favorite koan: have you stopped beating your wife yet?

 

[Runewolf1973]

A philosopher asked Buddha, "Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me truth?"

The Buddha kept silence.

The philosopher bowed and thanked the Buddha saying, "With your loving-kindness, I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path."

After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked the Buddha what he had attained.

The Buddha replied, "A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip."



What does it mean?

It's not supposed to mean anything. The questions are posed in such a way as to make a person think. That is exactly what you are not supposed to do and that is why the Buddha kept silent. He did not let his mind stray out of stillness and into the realm of thoughts. He did not think about the question, he remained "still". By replying with another koan..."A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip." was the Buddha's way of saying without saying. No-thing, stillness.

 

[Straw Dog]

My favorite koan: have you stopped beating your wife yet?

Your wife just finished beating eggs with a stop sign.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Your wife just finished beating eggs with a stop sign.

No soup for you!

 

[Straw Dog]

No soup for you!

That's understandable. I don't it.

I think I'm dumb, or maybe just happy.

 

[Ablaze]

A philosopher asked Buddha, "Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me truth?"

The Buddha kept silence.

The philosopher bowed and thanked the Buddha saying, "With your loving-kindness, I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path."

After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked the Buddha what he had attained.

The Buddha replied, "A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip."



What does it mean?

Please share your favorite koans.

Thank you.

Mumonkan: Case 5

The priest Hsiang-yen said, "It is as though you were up in
a tree, hanging from a branch with your teeth. Your hands
and feet can't touch any branch. Someone appears beneath
the tree and asked, `What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's
coming from the West?' If you do not answer, you evade your
responsibility. If you do answer, you lose your life. What
do you do?"

Wu-men's comment:

Even if your eloquence flows like a river, it is all in
vain. Even if you can expound cogently upon the whole body
of Buddhist literature, that too is useless. If you can
respond to this dilemma properly, you give life to those who
have been dead and kill those who have been alive. If you
can't respond, you must wait and ask Maitreya about it.

Wu-men's verse:

Hsiang-yen is just blabbing nonsense;
his poisonous intentions are without limit.
He stops up everyone's mouths,
making his whole body the eye of a demon.

:namaste

 

[Banjankri]

A philosopher asked Buddha, "Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me truth?"

The Buddha kept silence.

The philosopher bowed and thanked the Buddha saying, "With your loving-kindness, I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path."

After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked the Buddha what he had attained.

The Buddha replied, "A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip."



What does it mean?



Please share your favorite koans.

Thank you.

If you know that your understanding is faulty, there is no need to tell you that. You yourself will know that those need to be addressed, and you will keep on working on them.