Zen Koan #25: The Sound of Raindrops
Zen Koan #25: The Sound of Raindrops
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Context: One evening, Zen master Qingyuan (Seiryō) asked a monk, “What is that sound outside?” The monk said, “Raindrops.” Qingyuan said, “All is the sound of raindrops.” Upon hearing this, the monk had great enlightenment.
Commentary: This gentle koan is reminiscent of Layman Pang’s snow koan. The master’s question draws the student’s attention to the immediate environment – listen!
The monk identifies it: rain. The master’s reply – “All is the sound of raindrops” – is a poetic expression of unity or complete immersion. In that moment of deep listening, everything (“all”) is just that sound.
There is no separation between listener and rain, between myriad forms – it’s all one reality, manifesting as the sound of rain. This triggered the monk’s enlightenment experience: he realized One Taste – the truth that each phenomenon is complete and all-pervading when experienced with total presence. It might also imply “Everything returns to the One” (all things dissolve into the sound), and the One expresses as all things (the rain sound pervades everything).
Many Zen stories involve a sudden awakening upon a sound – a pebble hitting bamboo, a tile breaking, etc. Here, the master skillfully used a natural sound combined with a pointer phrase to guide the monk to realization.
“All is the sound of raindrops” is simple yet profound: it invites the student to lose the boundaries – to let the rain’s patter fill his consciousness until there is nothing else.
In that moment, the mind is undivided: just hearing. The koan is essentially about suchness and oneness. The monk’s initial answer “raindrops” shows conceptual knowing – he labels the sound correctly. But perhaps he still feels a self listening to rain over there.
The master’s follow-up dissolves that duality by saying, in effect, that is everything right now. This could also be seen as saying the Dharma is omnipresent – it’s pouring down in the sound of rain.
The monk awakened, meaning he probably had a direct experience of non-dual awareness where indeed everything was just thus. After enlightenment, any sound is the sound of rain, any sight is Buddha’s face, etc. This koan encourages us to similarly open our senses completely.
In practice, next time it rains, one might recall: “All is the sound of raindrops.” Let the mind be saturated by the sound. Or if in city noise, “All is the sound of traffic.” It’s a method of total mindfulness that leads to an insight of unity.
One Zen poem goes: “In heaven and earth I alone am honored – / hearing the rain, I am thoroughly wet.” The first part is a line from the Buddha, the second part is the Zen twist: when self disappears, one is intimately one with the rain. The “thoroughly wet” is like saying “all is raindrops.” Similarly, after
Layman Pang’s enlightenment, he wrote: “Miraculous, wonder – I chop wood, carry water… when tired I stretch out in my lazy body; the stream flows, the wind blows, and I am at peace.” Pang’s “the stream flows” is analogous to “all is raindrops” – meaning he’s at one with the flowing current of life. This gentle koan is easier to appreciate than some of the harsher ones. It invites us directly into samadhi (oneness).
Yet, as always, we must be careful not to cling to the concept “All is X” as a philosophy. It’s about an experience. Wumen comments: “If you can fully immerse in ‘all is sound of rain’, you realize the truth. If not, you still have sense of self around.”
The verse might say: “When fully absorbed, nothing stands outside the rain; / awakened by a singular sound, one comprehends the Whole.” Another interesting aspect: Qingyuan (Seiryō) is known in Zen history for his later saying, “Before I studied Zen, mountains were mountains, rivers were rivers. While deeply studying Zen, mountains were not mountains, rivers not rivers.
After enlightenment, mountains are just mountains, rivers just rivers.” His statement “All is the sound of raindrops” could be seen as that middle stage (things lost their independent form into oneness). But the monk’s later enlightenment let him eventually see “rain is just rain” again – which is actually the same thing but now appreciated without any conceptual fuss. In summary, this koan’s teaching is: merge with reality intimately and realize the One Taste.
Doing so, you realize that in each particular all universals are present – each raindrop rings with the sound of truth, making the whole universe ring. When you hear that, you yourself become the Dharma. Nothing remains but the gentle patter of enlightenment falling everywhere.
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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