Explore — Taoverse

Kyogen said, 'It is like a man up in a tree hanging from a branch with his mouth. His hands grasp no branch, his feet rest on no limb. Someone appears beneath the tree and asks, "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West?" If he does not answer, he fails. If he does answer, he falls and loses his life. What should he do?'

Mumonkan, Case 5

inquiry paradox present-moment no-self

A monk asked Seijo, 'I understand that a Buddha who lived before recorded history sat in meditation for ten cycles of existence and could not realize the highest truth. Why was this so?' Seijo said, 'Your question is quite self-explanatory.' The monk asked, 'Since the Buddha was meditating, why could he not realize the truth?' Seijo said, 'He was not a Buddha.'

Mumonkan, Case 9

buddha-nature inquiry seeing no-self

Every day Zuigan would call to himself, 'Master!' and answer, 'Yes!' Then he would say, 'Be wide awake!' and answer, 'Yes! Yes!' 'Do not be deceived by others!' 'No! No!'

Mumonkan, Case 12

mind inquiry teaching present-moment

Joshu asked Nansen, 'What is the Way?' Nansen answered, 'Everyday mind is the Way.' Joshu asked, 'Should I try to direct myself toward it?' Nansen said, 'If you try, you miss it.' Joshu asked, 'If I don't try, how can I know it is the Way?' Nansen replied, 'The Way does not belong to knowing or not knowing. Knowing is illusion, not knowing is blankness. If you truly reach the genuine Way, you will find it as vast and boundless as outer space. How can this be discussed at the level of affirmation and negation?'

Mumonkan, Case 19

emptiness mind inquiry everyday-life

Shogen asked, 'Why is it that a man of great strength does not lift his legs?' And again, 'It is not the tongue he speaks with.'

Mumonkan, Case 20

beyond-words no-self zen-koan

The Sixth Patriarch was pursued by monk Myo. The Patriarch asked, 'Not thinking of good, not thinking of evil, at this very moment, what is your original face?'

Mumonkan, Case 23

beyond-thought present-moment no-self zen-koan

A monk asked Fuketsu, 'Both speech and silence are about essence and manifestation. How can we transcend both?' Fuketsu said, 'I always remember the spring in Konan, where the partridges sing. How fragrant the countless flowers!'

Mumonkan, Case 24

silence inquiry beyond-words no-self

Two monks were arguing about a flag. One said, 'The flag is moving.' The other said, 'The wind is moving.' The Sixth Patriarch said, 'Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving.'

Mumonkan, Case 29

mind seeing no-self zen-koan

Daibai asked Baso, 'What is Buddha?' Baso said, 'This mind is Buddha.'

Mumonkan, Case 30

buddha-nature mind seeing present-moment

Goso said, 'Seijo and her soul were separated. Which was the real Seijo?'

Mumonkan, Case 35

inquiry no-self sudden-insight zen-koan

Eka said to Bodhidharma, 'My mind is not at peace. Please pacify my mind.' Bodhidharma said, 'Bring me your mind and I will pacify it.' Eka said, 'I have searched for my mind, but I cannot find it.' Bodhidharma said, 'There, I have pacified your mind.'

Traditional Zen

mind seeing no-self direct-experience

Hakuin would say to his students, 'In clapping both hands a sound is heard. What is the sound of one hand?'

Traditional Zen

silence perception present-moment no-self

Firewood becomes ash, and it does not become firewood again. Yet do not suppose that the ash is future and the firewood past.

Shobogenzo

present-moment no-self life zen-koan

Yantou asked his brother monks, 'Every sutra teaches that all things return to the One. Where does the One return to?' Dongshan said, 'When I was in Qingzhou, I made a robe that weighed seven pounds.'

Blue Cliff Record, Case 1

inquiry no-self zen-koan

A monk asked, 'Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?' Zhaozhou said, 'The cypress tree in the courtyard.'

Blue Cliff Record

seeing present-moment no-self direct-experience

Linji said, 'There is a true person of no rank constantly going in and out through the gates of your face. Those who have not yet proved it, look! Look!'

Linji Yulu

seeing beyond-words present-moment no-self

A monk asked Baling, 'What is the Blown Hair Sword?' Baling said, 'Each branch of coral holds up the moon.'

Blue Cliff Record, Case 13

everyday-life beyond-words present-moment no-self

A monk asked Longya, 'The physical body decays. What is the indestructible body of reality?' Longya said, 'The mountain flowers bloom like brocade, the valley streams are brimming blue.'

Traditional Zen

seeing no-self death nature

A monk asked Dizang, 'Where can I find the place to enter?' Dizang said, 'Can you hear the sound of the valley stream?' The monk said, 'Yes, I can hear it.' Dizang said, 'Enter there.'

Traditional Zen

perception present-moment no-self direct-experience

Fayan said, 'When there's a hair's breadth of difference, it is like the distance between heaven and earth.'

Traditional Zen

emptiness seeing beyond-thought no-self

We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.

Alan Watts

no-self self mind consciousness

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

Alan Watts

consciousness unity nature no-self

What I am really saying is that you don't need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all.

Alan Watts

no-self nature acceptance wu-wei

How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god.

Alan Watts

consciousness nature wonder unity

Like too much alcohol, self-consciousness makes us see ourselves double, and we make the double image for two selves – mental and material, controlling and controlled, reflective and spontaneous. Thus instead of suffering we suffer about suffering, and suffer about suffering about suffering.

Alan Watts

no-self self consciousness suffering

What happens if you know that there is nothing you can do to be better? It's kind of a relief, isn't it? You say 'Well, now what do I do?' When you are freed from being out to improve yourself, your own nature will begin to take over.

Alan Watts

acceptance wu-wei naturalness practice

The word 'person' comes from the latin word 'persona' which referred to the masks worn by actors in which sound would come through. The 'person' is the mask — the role you're playing. And all of your friends and relations and teachers are busy telling you who you are and what your role in life is.

Alan Watts

no-self self identity wisdom

Everyone has love, but it can only come out when he is convinced of the impossibility and the frustration of trying to love himself. This conviction will not come through condemnations, through hating oneself, through calling self love bad names in the universe. It comes only in the awareness that one has no self to love.

Alan Watts

love no-self wisdom acceptance

We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.

Thich Nhat Hanh

unity non-duality thich-nhat-hanh no-self

The Wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water.

Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

no-self non-duality thich-nhat-hanh impermanence

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

action no-self shunryu-suzuki practice

Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.

Shunryu Suzuki

enlightenment action shunryu-suzuki no-self

To study the self is to forget the self.

Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

no-self practice shunryu-suzuki inquiry

Cold Mountain is a house Without beams or walls. The six doors left and right are open, The hall is blue sky.

Han Shan, Cold Mountain Poems

emptiness nature han-shan freedom

Today I sat before the cliff, Sat a long time till mist and clouds arose. Mist and clouds — a moment of affairs. This old man — what have they to do with me?

Han Shan, Cold Mountain Poems

stillness nature han-shan impermanence

Before thinking good and evil, what is your original face?

Blue Cliff Record — Huineng

zen-koan blue-cliff-record no-self inquiry

A monk asked Zhaozhou, 'Does a dog have Buddha nature?' Zhaozhou said, 'Mu.'

Book of Serenity, Case 18 — Zhaozhou's Dog

zen-koan book-of-serenity inquiry emptiness

The whole world is medicine. What am I?

Blue Cliff Record, Case 87 — Yunmen's Medicine and Sickness

zen-koan blue-cliff-record inquiry unity

Our original nature is, in highest truth, devoid of any atom of objectivity. It is void, omnipresent, silent, pure; it is glorious and mysterious peaceful joy — and that is all.

Huang Po, The Zen Teaching of Huang Po, tr. John Blofeld

emptiness no-self huang-po stillness

Beginners in Zen are afraid of the void. They run away from it and do not realize that the void is themselves.

Huang Po

emptiness no-self huang-po inquiry

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