Dharma Talks on the Mumonkan
Teisho on Mu, Spring Sesshin, 2026
On the very cliff edge of birth and death you find the great freedom.... ...
Mumonkan, Case 40, Isan Kicks Over the Water Bottle
Tossing bamboo baskets and ladles away, he swept all impediments before him; Hyakujo’s severe barrier cannot interrupt his rush; innumerable Buddhas come forth from his toes. ...
Mumonkan, Case 35, Chien and her Soul are Separated, Part 2
Ten thousand things, ten thousand blessings! Is this one? Is this two? ...
Mumonkan, Case 35, Chien and her Soul are Separated, Part 1
Chien and her soul were separated; which is the real Chien? Based on an old Chinese folk tale ...
The Sixth Chinese Ancestor, Daikan Enô, from the Thirty-third Case of the Denkôroku, Compiled by Keizan Zenji
The sound of the mortar is high outside the empty emerald-blue (sky). The white moon is tossed in the winnow of the clouds – deep and pure is the night. ...
Case 29, Enô’s “Not the Wind; Not the Flag”
“Gentlemen! It is not the wind that moves; it is not the flag that moves; it is your mind that moves.” ...
Mumonkan, Case #1, Joshu’s Mu
The Mumonkan, in contrast with the poetically lofty Hekiganroku and Shoyoroku, was written in a style more direct and down to earth, and featured the fearsomely direct "Mu" as its first koan, ...
Mumonkan, Case #2, Hyakujô and the Fox
CASE Once when Hyakujô gave a series of talks, a certain old man was always there listening together with the monks. When they left, he would leave too. One day, however, he ...
Mumonkan, Case #6, The World-Honoured One Twirls a Flower
CASE Once, in ancient times, when the World-Honored One was at Mount Grdhrakūta to give a talk, he twirled a flower before his assembled disciples. All were silent. Only Mahakashyapa broke into ...