(Zen
) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen
Hui-k'ai (無門慧開)(1183–1260) (Japanese: Mumon Ekai). Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen. A classic edition includes a 49th case composed by Anwan (pen name for Cheng Ch'ing-Chih) in 1246.
A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip.
Has a dog Buddha-nature? This is the most serious question of all. If you say yes or no, You lose your own Buddha-nature.
To understand clearly one has to have just one eye.
When you can give the right answer, even though your past road was one of death, you open up a new road of life.
Keichu, the first wheel-maker of China, made two wheels of fifty spokes each. Now, suppose you removed the nave uniting the spokes. What would become of the wheel? And had Keichu done this, could he be called the master wheel-maker?
The path does not belong to the perception world, neither does it belong to the nonperception world. Cognition is a delusion and noncognition is senseless. If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself in the same freedom as sky. You name it neither good nor not-good.
However profound the complicated knowledge of the world, compared to this enlightenment it is like one drop of water to the great ocean.
When the question is sand in a bowl of boiled rice, the answer is a stick in the soft mud.