Collections include The Blue Cliff Record, The Gateless Gate, and The Book of Equanimity.
Collections include The Blue Cliff Record, The Gateless Gate, and The Book of Equanimity. According to T. Griffith Foulk, its name derives from a magistrate's bench, that came, via metaphor, to describe legal precedents. In the 18th century, Soto priests compiled and annotated a collection of them known as The Iron Flute. The Rinzai and Sanbo Kyudan sects are also famous for their use. They often include seemingly-nonsense replies like 'dried dung', 'three pounds of flax', and 'Mt. Sumeru', and the purpose is to open the mind and reach a way of thinking similar to the master's. One famous example is 'If you meet the Buddha, kill him'. Said to reflect an enlightened or awakened state, FTP, name these puzzling anecdotes of Zen Buddhism, most famously including various versions of 'What is the sound of one hand clapping'.
Collections include The Blue Cliff Record, The Gateless Gate, and The Book of Equanimity.
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