Zen Koan #23: Layman Pang’s Snowflakes (Each in Its Right Place)
Zen Koan #23: Layman Pang’s Snowflakes (Each in Its Right Place)
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Context: Layman Pangyun (740–808) was a famous Zen lay practitioner. One winter day, Pang was taking leave of Zen master Yaoshan.
Yaoshan ordered ten monks to see him off at the temple gate. Snow was falling. Pang looked up and remarked, “How beautiful! The snowflakes fall nowhere else.”
A monk named Shen couldn’t resist asking, “Where do they fall?” Pang immediately slapped Shen. Shen protested, “Layman, that’s too harsh!” Pang retorted, “If you call yourself a Zen student, you must not fail to perceive the truth here!”
Shen started to argue further; Pang slapped him again and said, “You look, but you’re like a blind man; you speak, but you’re like a mute.” (Blue Cliff Record Case 42patheos.compatheos.com.)
Commentary: Layman Pang is celebrated for expressing profound Zen insight in everyday language. His line about snowflakes – “Good snowflakes; they don’t fall on any other place”goodreads.com – is a poetic way of saying everything lands exactly where it belongs; each unique occurrence is thus, completely itself and in accord with the universe. It’s an image of total perfection in the ordinary (snow falling).
The clueless monk Shen, instead of smiling at the obvious truth, intellectualizes: “Where do they fall then?” – missing Pang’s point entirely. Pang’s slap is an attempt to jolt Shen out of his head. When Shen objects to the slap as “harsh,” Pang chides him for wearing the name of Zen student but not seeing the reality (truth) that Pang pointed to with his statement. Shen still doesn’t get it and likely starts overthinking or complaining – Pang slaps him again, saying he has eyes but doesn’t see, a tongue but doesn’t speak truth. This is a rather combative koan, but typical of Pang’s eccentric Zen style.
The main teaching: Thusness – the snow falls exactly where it falls. In other words, each moment is complete. There is nowhere else it should be. Each snowflake falls in its appropriate place. This is sometimes quoted in Zen commentary to illustrate Tathatā (suchness) or Dharma positions (each thing fulfilling its Dharma perfectly).
Pang’s marveling at snow is a model of mindful presence and acceptance – he’s delighted that reality is exactly as it is and not otherwise. “Nowhere else” could also imply now-here – fully present. Shen’s response shows the analytical mind that always asks “why?” “explain!” or tries to pin down meaning, thereby losing the direct experience.
That’s why Pang bops him. Interestingly, this was Pang’s farewell as he departed – a final teaching to the monks: “Open your eyes! Don’t think – see the suchness.” The case’s resolution has Pang performing the superior understanding and poor Shen missing it despite being a “Zen student.” It warns all Zen aspirants not to be like Shen – chasing conceptual rabbits while snow falls silently all around.
After Pang left, Yaoshan commented, “Good snowflakes indeed!” appreciating Pang’s wisdom. Wumen’s verse on this case says, “The flake falls – see them all over the universe; / each one in the whole of time, each exactly so. / If one still doubts this, they haunt old Pang’s words in vain.” The verse celebrates that when one sees truth like Pang did, each particular (snowflake) contains the whole and is at the right place/time.
The interplay between Pang and Shen also underscores that saying a Zen truth plainly isn’t enough; the listener must have ears to hear. Pang’s truth is simple – but Shen’s mind complicated it. Sometimes a physical intervention (slap) might be more effective than elegant words, because it might stop the analytic mind. Possibly after the second slap, poor Shen got the message (it’s not recorded, but one would hope he had some insight or at least learned to shut up).
For us, Layman Pang’s exclamation is a wonderful mindfulness pointer: “Good snowflakes – they fall nowhere else!” can serve as a mantra to remind us that this moment is as it should be. Instead of mentally escaping or questioning it, fully inhabit it.
Realize that it truly falls now-here, and nowhere else – meaning this is the only reality happening. To live like that is to be in harmony with the Way. Zen practice fosters that recognition so that eventually, like Pang, you might smile at the falling snow (or rain, or leaves, or circumstances of your life) and think, “Good ____ – it lands just where it lands.” That is profound equanimity and joy in thusness.
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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