Buddhist Koans

[Ben Dhyan]

When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing real, nothing imagined.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in illusion,
you are neither holy or wise, just
an ordinary fellow who has completed his work.

- Pang-yun (740-808CE)

 

[zenzero]

Friend ben,
Or maybe:

Just a body
The work is complete.

Love & rgds

 

[Luminous]

Or maybe anything. Sidharta Gautama was Agnostic.

 

[Little Joe Gould]

Or maybe anything. Sidharta Gautama was Agnostic.

I'm sure this has been debated on here before, but with regards to a personal deity I think the Buddha was an atheist. I remember reading a passage in what I think was the Dhammapada about a men running to their temples of their gods in fear. There was something else I've read also regarding the matter but I can't seem to remember what it was.

 

[Luminous]

Gautama was a strong/weak agostic.
Buddha Father of Buddhism, claimed that we, as finite and and conditioned beings, have no way of knowing anything about infinite, unconditioned beings.

 

[Ben Dhyan]

Forms don't hinder spirit; spirit is the tissue of form.
Spirit isn't destruction of form; form is the flesh of spirit.
Inside the Dharma gates where form and spirit are not two,
a lame turtle with painted eyebrows stands in the evening breeze.

 

[Freelancer7]

"If you haven't wept deeply, you haven't begun to meditate. "

Like It!!

Reminds me when I was a kid looking at the state of the World.

 

[emptyness]

A master was asked the question, "What is the Way?" by a curious monk.
"It is right before your eyes," said the master.
"Why do I not see it for myself?"
"Because you are thinking of yourself."
"What about you: do you see it?"
"So long as you see double, saying 'I don't,' and 'you do,' and so on, your eyes are clouded," said the master.
"When there is neither 'I' nor 'you,' can one see it?"
"When there is neither 'I' nor 'you,' who is the one that wants to see it?"



"See the truth, and you will see me."

 

[zenzero]

Friends,
Hers another.

Getsuan said to this students: `Keichu, the first wheel-maker of China, made two wheels of fifty spokes each. Now, suppose you removed the nave uniting the spokes. What would become of the wheel? And had Keichu done this could he be called the master wheel-maker?'

 

[GURSIKH]

[SIZE=+1]कबीर रोड़ा होइ रहु बाट का तजि मन का अभिमानु ॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Kabeer, let yourself be a pebble on the path; abandon your egotistical pride.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+1]ऐसा कोई दासु होइ ताहि मिलै भगवानु ॥१४६॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Such a humble slave shall meet the Lord God. ||146||[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+1]कबीर रोड़ा हूआ त किआ भइआ पंथी कउ दुखु देइ ॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Kabeer, what good would it be, to be a pebble? It would only hurt the traveller on the path.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+1]ऐसा तेरा दासु है जिउ धरनी महि खेह ॥१४७॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Your slave, O Lord, is like the dust of the earth. ||147||[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+1]कबीर खेह हूई तउ किआ भइआ जउ उडि लागै अंग ॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Kabeer, what then, if one could become dust? It is blown up by the wind, and sticks to the body.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+1]हरि जनु ऐसा चाहीऐ जिउ पानी सरबंग ॥१४८॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]The humble servant of the Lord should be like water, which cleans everything. ||148||[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+1]कबीर पानी हूआ त किआ भइआ सीरा ताता होइ ॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]Kabeer, what then, if one could become water? It becomes cold, then hot.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=+1]हरि जनु ऐसा चाहीऐ जैसा हरि ही होइ ॥१४९॥[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+1]I can't compare your beloved with anything ,The humble servant of the Lord should be just like the LORD . ||149||

love
[/SIZE]

 

[koan]

Two monks visiting the city from a monestary, an Old monk and a novice. Whilst in the city, It had been rainging and the streets were muddy. The old monk notice a women in all her finery wanting to cross the street , but obvioulsly not wanting to get mud on her clothes. The old monk went over to the lady, picked her up and carried her across the street.
On their way back to the monestry, the old monk noticed that the novice was looking upset. "What's wrong?" Asked the old monk. The novice replied," You touched a women, that's forbidden in our rules." The old monk replied, "I merely picked her up and put her down, You though, are still carrying her."

 

[zenzero]

Friend koan,
The other version of the same is like this:
A monk and a priest were on their way to and had to cross a stream where they see a lady unable to cross it. The monk picks her up and drops her on the other side and starts walking.
The priest could not resist asking as to how being a monk he could carry a women forget seeing or touching one.
The monk replied: I left her long back; but you still are carrying the women.

Love & rgds

 

[Ben Dhyan]

The novice inquires of the Master, "How many Zen Buddhists does it take to change a light bulb?"
The Master replies, "Three - one to change it, one to not-change it, and one to both change and not change it."

 

[Luminous]

The Reason
A sergeant was asking a group of recruits why walnut was used for the butt of a rifle.
"Because it is harder than other wood," said one man.
"Wrong," said the sergeant.
"Because it is more elastic."
"Wrong again."
"Because it has a better shine."
"You boys certainly have a lot to learn. Walnut is used for the simple reason that it is laid down in the Regulations!"

 

[Luminous]

To know that you do not know is the best.
To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.
~Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu

 

[zenzero]

Few sayings of LAo Tsu.

An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.

Great acts are made up of small deeds.

He who accounts all things easy will have many difficulties.

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.

He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much.

Love & rgds