David Given Schwarm

There was an old woman on the way to Taizan. Whenever a monk asked her how to get to Taizan, she would answer, “Go straight on.” After the monk had gone a few steps, she would say, “This good and naïve fellow goes off that way, too.” Later a monk told Jôshû about this. Jôshû…

Once the monks of the eastern and western Zen halls in Nansen’s temple were quarrelling about a cat. As he saw this, Nansen held up the cat and said, “You monks! If one of you can say a word, I will not slay the cat.” No one could answer. Nansen cut the cat in two.…