The koan is designed to make the aspiring student of Rinzai Zen ponder a problem, sometimes for years. The student may go to a teacher to discuss the koan and receive advice, but like all good things, the answer usually comes from deep inside oneself.
Below are some well known koans:
• ”Has a dog Buddha-Nature?”
• ”What is the sound of one hand clapping?”
• “What was your face before your parents were born?”
• “After passing away, what will you need?”
• “Where has all of yesterday’s commotion gone?”
• “Clearly knowing the unborn nature of life, why are we stayed by life?”
• “The buddhas of past present and future do not know it is: cats and cows know it is.”
• “When someone who has undergone the great death then returns to life, how is it?”
• “Do people these days need enlightenment or not?”
• “When not a single thing is brought, then what?”
• “The golden fish that’s passed through the net—what does it use for food?”
• “How is it when a crane stands on a withered pine?”
• “When not producing a single thought, is there any fault or not?”
• “If you have a staff, I will give you one. If you have no staff, I will take it
away from you.”
• “Why is it that a man of great strength cannot lift up his own legs?”
