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The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20041009183526/http://www.ciolek.com:80/WWWVLPages/ZenPages/KoanStudy.html

The World-Wide Web Virtual Library

Zen Buddhism Koan Study Pages

Edited byDr T.Matthew Ciolek

[Est.: 2 Oct 1995. Last updated: 22 Sep 2003.]

The purpose of this document, which is a part of theBuddhist Studies WWWVirtual Library and of theZen Buddhism WWW VirtualLibrary, is to provide comprehensive and factual information about thekoans (J.) [kung-ans (C.), kong-ans (C.), cong-an(Viet.), hua-t'ou (C.), hwadu (K.), wato (J.)] as used in the Zentraining. Any updated information, corrections or comments will beappreciated. Please send email to Dr T.Matthew Ciolektmciolek@ciolek.com

A Work in Progress - tmc

Koan Study Pages - Table of Contents

A Register of Known Koan Collections

Classical koans

Wu-Men Kuan (J.Mumonkan, E. Gateless Gate) - 48 cases + 1 case by An-wan (see Sekida 1977)
Pi-yen-lu (J.Hegiganroku, E. Blue Cliff Record) - 100 cases (see Sekida 1977)
Tsung-jung-lu (J. Shoyoroku, E. Book of Serenity) - 100 cases (see Cleary 1990a)
An Appendix to P'ang chu-shih yu-lu (J. Ho koji goroku, E. The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang) - 2 cases (see Sasaki et al. 1971:89-91)
Yunmen kuangzhen chanshi quanglu (J. Ummon koroku, E. The Record of Yunmen) - 285 cases (see Apps 1994)
Wu Keng Chuan (J. Go-i, E. Five Degrees of Tung-shan Liang-chieh (J.Tozan Ryokai), Five Degrees of Tozan, Five Ranks of Tozan, Five Situations of Tozan) - 5 cases (Cleary 1995:212)
[Chinese title to be provided] (J. Katto-shu, E. Mingling Vines of Ivy and Visteria) - ? cases (see Hasegawa 1975:136)
[Chinese title to be provided] (E. A Selection From The Five Books of The Ch'an Masters' Sayings) - 57 cases (see Holstein 1993)
[Chinese title to be provided] (E. The Light of The Ch'an Sayings Recorded in the Year of Developing Virtue (AD 1004) - 24 cases (see Holstein 1993)
[Chinese title to be provided] (E. The Ch'an Sayings Recorded During the Moonlit Meditation) - 10 cases (see Holstein 1993)
[Chinese title to be provided] (E. An Anthology of The Ch'an Sayings) - 9 cases (see Holstein 1993)
The Kahawai Koans (an anthology of Chinese and Japanese materials in which women were leading characters) - 24 cases (see Hopkinson and Murcott 1986:30-35)
- further data to be added here -

Medieval koans

Sanbyakusoku (J.) (E. Three Hundred Koans) by Dogen Kigen - 300 cases (see App 1994:242)
The Sixteen Bodhisattva Precepts - 16 cases (see Aitken 1991)
Denkoroku (J.) (E. Transmission of Light [Lamp]) - 53 cases (see Cleary 1990b)
Shonankattoroku (J.) (E. Record of Kamakura Koans) - 100 cases (see Leggett 1985)
Khoa Hu (Viet.) (E. Lessons in Emptiness) - 43 cases (see Nhat Hanh 1995:163-199)
- further data to be added here -

20th Century koans

33 Fingers: A Collection of Modern American Koans - 33 cases (see Wenger 1994)
(see URL http://www.sfzc.com/Pages/Library/33finger.html)
Coyote Roshi Goroku - 40 cases (see Aitken 1999)
Koans of the Way of Reality - 108 cases (see Loori 1994:341)
Potential Koans from Western Sources - 18 cases (see Shimano 1988:83-87)
Seung Sahn's Ten Gates- 10 cases
(see URL http://www.kwanumzen.com/misc/10gates.html)
The Whole World is a Single Flower - 365 cases (see Seung Sahn 1992)
- further data to be added here -

Koan Matrices

[Buddhists texts containing seminal sections, passages or verses suitable for the use in the koan study]

Cheng-tao-ko [Zhengdaoge], (J. Shodoka, E. Song of Enlightenment) - 64 versesattributed to Yung-chia Hsuan-chueh[Yongjia Xuanjue], aka Yoka Genkaku (J.) (665-713)
(see URL http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/ZenPages/Daily-Zen-Sutras.html#SHODO)
Lin-chi-lu (J. Rinzairoku, E. The Record of Rinzai) - 87 sections (see Schloegl 1976); - 69 sections (see Watson 1993). Seealso Omori Sogen (1988).
The Ten Oxherding Pictures - 10 sections (see App 1996)
P'ang chu-shih yu-lu (J. Ho koji goroku, E. The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang) - ?? sections (see Sasaki et al. 1971)
Prajna Paramita Sutra (J. Hannya Sutra, E. Heart Sutra) - 28 versified lines (see Hasegawa 1975, Obora 1988)
(see URL http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/ZenPages/Daily-Zen-Sutras.html#HEART)
Hsin hsing ming (J. Shin jin mei, E. Verses on the Faith in Mind) - 146 verses (see Merzel 1991, Blyth (in Sohl and Carr 1976:25-74)
- further data to be added here -

References

Aitken, Robert. 1991.'On Zen Teaching'. Diamond Sangha Newsletter, July 1991.
[Available online from URL
ftp://coombs.anu.edu.au/coombspapers/otherarchives/electronic-buddhist-archives/
buddhism-zen/teachings/aitken-robert/aitken-koan-syllabus.txt]
Aitken, Robert. 1999. Coyote Roshi Goroku - The Record of Zen Master Canis Lantrans. Anunpublished manuscript by R.Aitken supplied to editors of 'Moon Mind Circle - The Journal of Sydney Zen Centre', SZC, 251 Young Street, Annandale, Sydney, Australia.
App, Urs. 1994.MasterYunmen: From the Record of the Chan Master 'Gate of the Clouds'. New York and Tokyo: Kodansha International.
App, Urs. 1996. Introduction to the Ten Oxherding Pictures. In:The Ten Oxherding Pictures[The pictures of this series are of Japanese origin (1689),The poems are by the Chinese Zen master Kuoan (jap. Kakuan).The English translation of the poems is (c) by Urs App (1996)]
[Available online from http://www.iijnet.or.jp/iriz/irizhtml/zenart/10ox.htm]
Cleary, Thomas. 1990a. Transmission of Light [Denkoroku] - Zen in the Art of Enlightment by Zen Master Keizan.San Francisco: North Point Press.
Cleary, Thomas. 1990b. Book of Serenity. Hudson, NY: Lindisfarne Press.
Cleary, Thomas. 1995. Rational Zen - The Mind of Dogen Zenji. Boston and London: Shambhala.
Schloegl, Irmgard. 1976. The Zen teachings of Rinzai [The Record of Rinzai]. Berkeley: Shambhala.
Hasegawa, Seikan. 1975. The Cave of Poison Grass - Essays on theHannya Sutra. Arlington, Virginia: Great Ocean Publishers.
Holstein, Alexander. 1993. Pointing at the Moon - One Hundred Zen Koans from Chinese Masters. Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle.
Hopkinson, Deborah and Murcott, Susan. 1986. 'The Kahawai Koans', in Hopkinson, Deborah et al. (Eds.). Not Mixing UpBuddhism. pp. 30-35. Fredonia, New York: White Pine Press.
Leggett, Trevor. 1985. The Warrior Koans - Early Zen in Japan. London and Boston: Arkana.
Loori, John Daido. 1994.Two Arrows Meeting in Mid-Air : The Zen Koan. Boston, Rutland, Vt. and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
[Sections of the book are available online from http://www.bookzone.com/bookzone/10000734.peek.html ]
Merzel, Dennis Genpo. 1991. The Eye Never Sleeps - Striking to the Heart of Zen. Boston and London: Shambhala.
Nhat Hanh, Thich. 1995. Zen Keys. New York and London: Doubleday.
Obora, Abbot. 1988. 'On the Heart Sutra.' pp. 13-125. In: Leggett, Trevor. 1988. A second Zen reader: The Tiger's Cave & Translations of Other Zen Writings. Boston, Rutland, Vt. and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
Omori Sogen. 1988. 'From a Commentary on Rinzai-Roku.' pp. 183-192. In: Leggett, Trevor. 1988. A second Zen reader: The Tiger's Cave & Translations of Other Zen Writings. Boston, Rutland, Vt. and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
Sasaki, Ruth Fuller, Irya Yoshitaka and Fraser, Dana R. 1971. The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang - a Ninth Century Classic. New York and Tokyo: Weatherhill.
Sekida, Katsuki. 1977. Two Zen Classics: Mumonkan and Hekiganroku, with Commentaries. New York: Weatherhill.
Watson, Burton. 1993.The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-chi. Boston and London. Shambhala.
Seung Sahn. 1992. The Whole World is a Single Flower - 365 Kong-ans for Everyday Life. Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle.
Shimano, Eido T. 1988. 'Zen Koans', inKraft, Kenneth (Ed.).Zen: Tradition and Transition - An Overview of Zen in theModern World. pp. 70-87. London and Melbourne: Rider.
Sohl, Robert and Audrey Carr. (eds.). 1976. Games Zen Masters Play: Writings of R.H. Blyth. New York: Mentor Book.
Wenger, Michael. 1974. 33 Fingers: A Collection of Modern American Koans. Clear Glass Publishing: San Francisco.

Back to Table of Contents

Koans - Some Definitions

"A koan is a Zen presentation in the form of a Zen challenge" (DeMartino 1983)

"...stories and verses that present fundamental perspectives on lifeand no-life, the nature of the self, the relationship of the self tothe earth - and how these interweave. Such stories and verses arecalled koans, and their study is the process of realising theirtruths." (Aitken 1990:xiii)

"Koan, J. Universal/Particular. A presentation of the harmony of theUniversal and the Particular; a theme of Zazen to be made clear. Aclassic Mondo, or a Zen story." (Aitken 1993:212-213)

"Koans are the folk stories of Zen Buddhism, metaphorical narrativesthat particularize essential nature. Each koan is a window that showthe whole truth but just from a single vantage. It is limited inperspective.One hundred koans give one hundred vantages. When they areenriched with insightful comments and poems, then you have tenthousand vantages. There is no end to this process of enrichment."(Aitken 1990b:ix)

"...the [Korean - tmc] termhwadu usually refers to theparticular question itself as well as the state of mind to becultivated through concentrating upon the question. [...] the termhwadu is also used as a virtual synonym for the Japanese termkoan (K. kong an). Technically speaking, though, these terms differ inmeaning. A koan - literally " a public case" - is a description of anentire situation, usually of a dialogue between a Zen master and hisdisciple; thehwadu is only the central point of the exchangewhich is then singled out as a topic for meditation." (Batchelor1985:53)

"The koans do not represent the private opinion of a single man, butrather the highest principle ... [that - tmc ]accords with the spiritual source, tallies with the mysteriousmeaning, destroys birth-and-death, and transcends the passions. Itcannot be understood by logic; it cannot be transmitted in words; itcannot be explained in writing; it cannot be measured by reason. It islike [...] a great fire that consumes all who come near it."(Chung-feng Ming-pen [1263-1323] quoted in Miura and Sasaki 1966:5)

"These stories and sayings contain patterns, like blueprints, forvarious inner exercises in attention, mental posture, and higherperception, summarized in extremely brief vignettes enabling theindividual to hold entire universes of thought in mind all at once,without running through doctrinal discourses or disrupting ordinaryconsciousness of everyday affairs." (Cleary 1994:xv)

"A koan is simply the time and place where Truth is manifest. Fromthe fundamental point of view, there is no time or place where Truthis not revealed: every place, every day, every event, every thought,every deed, and every person is a koan. In that senses, koans areneither obscure nor enigmatic. Howvere, a koan is more commonlyunderstood as a tool for teaching true insight." (Shimano 1988:70)

"It is exactly the no-way-out situation in which the human being findsitself - that fundamental and unbridgeable inner cleavage of thatbeing which is conscious of itself - that is said to be theway....[Zen Master Shin'ichi - tmc] Hisamatsu put this into a moregeneral form: 'Doshitemo ikanakereba do suru ka?': 'Nothingwill do. What do you do?' He called this the 'fundamental koan' -i.e., the koan that is the common denominator of the thousands ofextant koans." (App 1994:52-53)

"In the past, kong-an practicing meant checking someone'senlightenment.Now we use kong-ans to make our lives correct... Youmust use kong-ans to take away your opinions. When you take away youropinions, your mind is clear like space, which means from moment tomoment you can reflect any situation and respond correctly andmeticulously." (Seung Sahn 1992:236)

"In Zen, practitioners use kung-an as subjects for meditation untiltheir mind come to awakening. There is a big difference between akung-an and a math problem - the solution of the math problem isincluded in the problem itself, while the response to the kung-an liesin the life of the practitioner. The kung-an is a useful instrument inthe work of awakening, just as a pick is a useful instrument inworking on the ground. What is accomplished from working on the grounddepends on the person doing the work and not just on the pick. Thekung-an is not an enigma to resolve; this is why we cannot say that itis a theme or subject of meditation." (Nhat Hanh 1995:57)

"There are all told about 1,700 koans, of which present-day JapaneseZen masters use only 500 to 600, since many are repetitious or are not sovaluable for training purposes." (Schuhmacher and Woerner 1986:182)

Sources of the above definitions

Aitken, Robert. 1990a.The Gateless Barrier - The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan). San Francisco: North Point Press.
Aitken Robert. 1990b. 'Foreword', in Cleary, Thomas. 1990. Book ofSerenity. pp.ix-x. Hudson, NY: Lindisfarne Press.
Aitken, Robert. 1993.Encouraging Words : Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students. New York and San Francisco: Pantheon Books.
App, Urs. 1994.MasterYunmen: From the Record of the Chan Master 'Gate of the Clouds'. pp. 53-79. New York and Tokyo: KodanshaInternational.
Batchelor, Stephen. 1985. 'Introduction to the Korean Zen Tradition', in Kusan Sunim, The Way of Korean Zen. pp. 3-56. New York & Tokyo: Weatherhill.
Cleary, Thomas. 1994. Instant Zen - Waking Up in the Present. Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books.
DeMartino, Richard. 1983. 'On Zen Communication'. Communication 8(1). Cited in:App, Urs. 1994.MasterYunmen: From the Record of the Chan Master 'Gate of the Clouds'. pp. 53. New York and Tokyo: Kodansha International.
Miura, Isshu and Sasaki, Ruth Fuller. 1966. Zen dust - the history of the koan and koan study in Rinzai (Lin-chi) Zen. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.
Nhat Hanh, Thich. 1995. Zen Keys. New York and London: Doubleday.
Seung Sahn. 1992. The Whole World is a Single Flower - 365 Kong-ans for Everyday Life. Rutland, Vt.: Tuttle.
Shimano, Eido T. 1988. 'Zen Koans', in Kraft, Kenneth (Ed.).Zen:Tradition and Transition - An Overview of Zen in the Modern World. pp.70-87. London and Melbourne: Rider.
Schuhmacher, Stephan and Gert Woerner (Eds.). 1986. The RiderEncyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism,Taoism, Zen. London and Melbourne: Rider Books.

Back to Table of Contents

Updates, additions and corrections to this page have been kindly provided by:

[1] Mr Lawrie Conole who brought to my attention a book by Nhat Hanh (1995) onthe Khoa Hu (Viet.) (E.Lessons in Emptiness) koans.
[2] Allan Matthews

Maintainer: Dr T.Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek@ciolek.com)

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