Zen Koan #19: “Everyday Life Is the Path”
Zen Koan #19: “Everyday Life Is the Path”
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Context: This is the famous statement of Dongshan (Tozan) Liangjie (807–869, co-founder of the Caodong/Sōtō school). A monk asked, “What is the Way?” Dongshan replied, “Everyday life is the Way.” The monk asked, “How do I live it?” Dongshan said, “If you try to direct yourself toward it, you will go away from it.”
The monk pressed, “But if I don’t try, how can I know it’s the Way?” Dongshan answered, “The Way does not belong to knowing or not-knowing. Knowing is delusion; not-knowing is blankness. If you truly realize the Way of no doubt, it is like the great void, so vast and boundless.
How can it be discussed at the level of affirmation and negation?” Upon hearing this, the monk awakeneden.wikisource.orgen.wikisource.org.
Commentary: This exchange mirrors Nansen’s “ordinary mind is Tao” (#7 above) – in fact, Dongshan’s teacher was Nanquan (Nansen). It emphasizes the immanence of the Path: one need not retreat or attain some special state; the enlightened Way is right in daily activities.
The monk’s questions show our common confusion: How do I practice this ordinary mind? If you effortfully strive (“try to direct yourself”), you create a separation – a “you” trying to reach a “Way.” But the Way is not separate – it’s like telling water to go to water.
Conversely, if you lazily do nothing, you won’t see it either. Master Dongshan describes the Way as beyond intellection (knowing) and beyond ignorance (not-knowing) – it’s a living reality, not a concept. When you really realize it, it’s just “no-doubt,” a certainty as natural as open space. It cannot be grasped or described in dualistic terms like right/wrong (affirmation/negation).
These words triggered the monk’s enlightenment much like Nansen’s did for Joshu. This koan encourages us to stop searching “out there” and instead to trust and live in the present fully. The monk’s mistake was thinking the Path is something other than living his ordinary life – hence he wanted to “know” it as an object or to practice it specially. Dongshan dissolves that by saying any attempt to control the experience misses it, and any complete passivity also misses it.
One must live spontaneously. In Zen, this is often phrased as “not too tight, not too loose.” You engage wholeheartedly in daily life (chop wood, carry water, work, eat, talk) but without graspy intention to become enlightened, and without apathetic drift either. That balanced, natural attunement is the Way. In practice, how do we cultivate that? Through meditation and mindful presence, we train to neither chase nor run away from phenomena. Over time, every moment becomes practice – whether washing dishes or driving or emailing, one is on the Path.
Even confusion or mistakes are part of it – one learns from them without self-judgment. The koan also foreshadows Zen’s teaching of Great Doubt: “not-knowing” in Zen is praised as an attitude (beginner’s mind), but here Dongshan clarifies that clinging to ignorance is as bad as clinging to knowledge.
One must transcend both – which the monk did, reaching “no doubt.” The “great void” (empty, boundless awareness) opened for him. Then daily life truly is the Buddha’s life.
This koan has been a guiding star especially in the Sōtō Zen tradition, where just sitting (shikantaza) and just living is enlightenment in action. It cuts off the erroneous view of a special holy state separate from mundane chores. As layman Pang (Case 42) celebrated, “My miraculous power is carrying water and chopping wood.”
The Platform Sutra similarly says, “No-mind is the Way; straightforward mind is the place of practice.” In summary, stop looking elsewhere – whatever you are doing, that very doing completely is the Zen path. When you fully realize this, every step, every breath, every bowl you wash is the Way at play.
Zen Koans: The Gateless Gate to Insight
Zen koans are short, paradoxical anecdotes or questions used in Zen Buddhism to provoke deep reflection and awaken insight beyond logical reasoning. A classic koan often features an encounter between a student and a master where the master’s response is unexpected or seemingly nonsensical. Koans are not riddles with trick answers; instead, each koan is a “Gateless Gate” – a barrier that the logical mind cannot pass. Only by dropping analytical thinking and engaging one’s whole being can one penetrate a koan and experience a shift in consciousness. As 18th-century master Hakuin Ekaku described, “From the very beginning all beings are Buddha... It is like water and ice... Stop the movement to grasp or reject and behold: the water flows clear and freely” – a poetic summary of the koan spirit of letting go and directly seeing reality.
Koans emerged within the Chán/Zen tradition of China during the Tang and Song dynasties (7th–13th centuries) and were later transmitted to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Koan practice involves contemplating these stories during meditation or daily activities, often under guidance of a teacher. The seemingly illogical responses of the masters are designed to frustrate the discursive mind and force the student to turn inward, smashing conventional dualistic thinking. The great Zen teacher Wumen (Mumon) said one must “pass through the barrier of the ancients” to realize enlightenmentsacred-texts.com. In koan practice, great doubt and great faith work together – as the student’s habitual thinking gets tied in knots, a breakthrough becomes possible.
Classic Collections of Koans
Over generations, Zen teachers compiled koan collections with commentary to aid students. Three of the most famous are The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), The Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku), and The Book of Equanimity (Shōyōroku):
The Gateless Gate – compiled in 1228 by Chinese master Wumen Huikai (Mumon Ekai). It contains 48 koans (plus one added later), each with Wumen’s commentary and verse. The title “Gateless Gate” indicates that the only barriers to enlightenment are our own attachments. Wumen’s cases include famous dialogues like “Joshu’s Dog”, “Mu”, and “Nansen Cuts the Cat”. Wumen’s brief commentaries are often wry or poetic, designed to jolt the reader’s mind into a new perspective.
The Blue Cliff Record – a 12th-century collection of 100 koans, expanded from earlier compilations by master Yuanwu Keqin. The Blue Cliff Record includes extensive commentary and verse for each casebluecliffrecord.ca. These koans are drawn from the golden age of Zen in Tang/Song China and feature many renowned masters. The Blue Cliff is known for its literary elegance and subtle, layered analysis – in fact, it was once suppressed for fear monks would intellectualize its poetry instead of directly realize the truth. Nevertheless, it remains a treasure trove of Zen wisdom, including koans like “Every Day Is a Good Day”, “The Highest Meaning of the Holy Truths” (Bodhidharma’s encounter with Emperor Wu), and Layman Pang’s stories.
The Book of Equanimity – also known as the Book of Serenity, compiled by Wansong Xingxiu in the 12th century. It contains 100 koans (with some overlap with the Blue Cliff) and emphasizes balanced, peaceful reflection – hence “equanimity.” Each case is accompanied by verses by earlier master Hongzhi. The Book of Equanimity includes cases such as “The World Honored One (Buddha) Points to the Ground”, “Jizo’s Most Intimate”, and “Rinzai’s True Person”. It is valued in the Sōtō Zen school for its gentle yet profound approach.
Each of these collections became a classic, studied by monks and lay practitioners alike. In the Rinzai Zen tradition (especially in Japan), a teacher might assign koans sequentially to trainees – starting with a “first barrier” koan like Mu or “What is the sound of one hand?”, then moving through dozens or even hundreds of koans over years of training. In Sōtō Zen, koans are not assigned in the same way, but they still inform teachings and are reflected upon during zazen (sitting meditation) or in daily life stories.
Koans are “alive” – not mere texts to be parsed, but encounters to be experienced anew by each practitioner. There is a saying that “a koan is not answered, it answers you.” In working with koans, one isn’t solving a puzzle so much as allowing the koan to work on one’s own tightly held perspectives. A genuine response to a koan comes not from the intellect but from one’s whole being, often spontaneously. It could manifest as a word, a gesture, a deep bow – or simply a fundamental shift in understanding. The commentaries and verses provided by the classic koan collections are there not to explain the koan’s “solution” (indeed, any such explanation could spoil it), but to point towards the state of mind of the masters and to inspire the adept. They often use allusions, poetry, or humor to hint at the deeper meaning.
Below, we explore 100 traditional Zen koans drawn from the Mumonkan, Blue Cliff Record, Book of Equanimity, and other classic Zen lore. For each koan, we present the original story or exchange (in English translation), give a bit of historical/spiritual context about the teachers or setting, and offer a brief commentary or interpretation to illuminate the key insight or paradox. These koans are not meant to be “understood” in a conventional way – rather, let their images and words resonate beyond reason. As Wumen said in his preface to The Gateless Gate, “If you do not pass the barrier and do not shatter your illusions, you will remain a ghost clinging to bushes and grasses.” But if you step through the gateless gate, even the most ordinary moment – hearing the rain drip, seeing a flower bloom, washing your bowl – can reveal ultimate truth.
One Hundred Zen Koans (with Context and Commentary)
Below is a curated list of 100 classic Zen koans. They span the early Chinese masters (6th–10th century), the golden age of Zen (Tang/Song dynasties), and a few later and modern anecdotes that have entered Zen teaching. Each koan is titled by a distinguishing phrase or subject. The context notes the protagonist master (and era, if known) or source, and the commentary highlights the paradox or insight. Many of these koans appear in the aforementioned collections, indicated in parentheses for reference (GG = Gateless Gate, BCR = Blue Cliff Record, EQ = Book of Equanimity). Whether a koan is encountered in formal practice or casual reading, it can serve as a “finger pointing at the moon” – do not fixate on the finger (the words), but look to the moon (your own direct experience)!
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