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.There are many Koans about Zen Masters waving about their staffs. Three of those Koans happen to illuminate the very same point … I – Shuzan held out his short staff and said, “If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore…

Master Zhaozhou (Jap.: Joshu) has this story … Zhaozhou went to a hermit’s cottage and asked, “Is the master in? Is the master in?” The hermit raised his fist. Zhaozhou said, “The water is too shallow to anchor here,” and he went away. Coming to another hermit’s cottage, he asked again, “Is the master in?…

Master Dongshan (Jap.: Tozan) had this exchange with Master Yunyen (Ungan). It involves a Hossu, the horsehair fly swatter or whisk, one of the traditional implements of a Zen Teacher … Dongshan asked, “What sort of person is able to hear the Dharma expounded by insentient beings?” Yunyen said, “Insentient beings are able to hear…

From a talk on Fukanzazengi by Taitaku Pat Phelan (Chapel Hill Zen Center) . “A mallet” refers to the first case of the Shoyoroku, or Book of Equanimity, which is a Soto Zen koan collection. One day the World Honored One ascended the seat or teaching platform. When Buddha took his place on the raised…
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