KOANS

A master and student were sitting on the mountaintop

Suddenly the student asked:

"What is the meaning of Zen"?

Instantly the master arose and jumped off the cliff.

Whereupon the student said: "Wow! I just wanted to know for this crossword puzzle I'm doing"!

what is the emperor's secret?

ancestors sleeping peacefully in harmony

awaiting tea in the palace of white tiger

calm in the sea of life

cool valley, cool bones, mountain air

peach flowers in autumn rain

A student went to the master with a dream:

I was firewalking in the Buddha Field. I could feel the heat yet I was not burned. There were Buddhas floating through the air like bubbles.

What is the meaning of this?

The master said have you eaten? Then go wash your rice bowl.

He did as he was told, hoping to receive visions - perhaps walking in fire is the wheel of samsara, not being burned is freedom from delusion, bubbles are thoughts passing through the mind...

But as he looked into the rice bowl it was empty.

He returned and that saw the master also was empty...empty of content and meaning...empty and clear like the blue sky above Mt. Fuji...empty like vast space that has no limit. The temple was empty...the student also became empty. And there was peace.


				*--------------* *KOANS*



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