What Is a Koan, Really? How Zen's Strangest Stories Became Koans.

How did a monk's simple question to his teacher become a Zen kōan? This talk traces the history of Zen koans, from the encounter dialogues of the early Chinese masters to the great kōan collections: the Blue Cliff Record, the Book of Serenity, the Gateless Gate and Dōgen's Shinji Shōbōgenzō. Along the way we meet Zhaozhou's famous "No", Nanquan cutting the cat, Dahui's practice of the critical phrase, Hongzhi's silent illumination, Hakuin's "sound of one hand", and the journey of kōan practice from Song China to Japan and then to the West through D.T. Suzuki and the Sanbō Kyōdan teachers. The aim is to look past the popular idea of the "Zen riddle" and see the many different ways these old cases have been read, practised and brought to life. This talk introduces our new series. Over the coming months, Flowing Mountains Zen will work through the great kōan collections case by case, with new English translations made directly from the Chinese and original commentary on each case. We begin with the Gateless Gate (Wumenguan / Mumonkan) and will go on to the Blue Cliff Record, the Book of Serenity and Dōgen's 300 cases. New cases are released regularly. Subscribe to follow the series and build a complete collection you can return to and practise with. ▶️ Introduction to the Gateless Barrier:    • The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan): An Introduct...   ▶️ Gateless Barrier koan Playlist :    • The Gateless Barrier. (無門關, Wúménguān)   0:00 Does a dog have Buddha-nature? 1:38 Early Chan and the public case 6:52 Xuedou, Yuanwu and the Blue Cliff Record 12:15 The 1220s: Serenity, Wumen and Dōgen 17:09 Dōgen and Nanquan's cat 21:30 Japan and Hakuin 26:02 Zen comes West 32:03 What is a kōan, really?