TEN ZEN KOANS
Starter Kit
Koans are an ancient artform of Zen. They function as an invitation into the mind of awakening. And as your koan practice develops, they work as a bridge between the spacious world and the world we inhabit every day.
When you decide to work with a koan it’s helpful to meet regularly with one of our teachers, in person or via Zoom, to learn about the koan process as we practice it here at CityZen. You can find the contact #’s for our teachers on that page.
When you take up a koan, let it follow you around in your meditation and during your daily activities. There’s no need to try work it out with your mind. Let it show you what it has to offer.
If an image, phrase, or song arises, stay with that for a time, then return your attention to whatever is in front of you — the play of light across the floor, the feel of the sponge in your hand wiping down the kitchen counter, or the buzz of the dryer finishing its cycle.
1) This is the stone drenched with rain that points the way.
2) Just go straight on a narrow winding mountain road.
3) Stop the dogs barking at night.
4) Hide in a pillar.
5) You find yourself in a locked stone grave. How will you get out?
6) The moon sets at midnight. I walk alone through the town.
7) When the tree withers and the leaves fall, what’s up with that? Why, that’s the golden
wind revealing itself.
8) A woman raised a goose in a bottle. When the goose was grown, she wanted to get it out.
How will you get it out without breaking the bottle?
9) Each branch of coral holds up the moon.
10) All the buddhas and the buddha’s teachings arise from this sutra. What is that sutra?
PDF: TEN ZEN KOANS - Starter Kit
