Zen BuddhismIntuition,

not Thought

Riddles

A question or statement intentionally phrased so as to require ingenuity in ascertaining its answer or meaning.

Voiceless it cries,Wingless it flutters,

Toothless bites,Mouthless mutters.

1.

A boxwithout hinges, key, or lid,

Yet golden treasureinside is hid.

2.

You must keep itafter giving it.

3.

As light as a feather,but you can’t hold it for ten

minutes.

4.

Has a mouthbut does not speak,

Has a bedbut never sleeps.

5.

You break itwhen you name it.

6.

Though I dance at a ball,I am nothing at all.

7.

I am always hungry,I must always be fed,

The finger I lickWill soon turn red.

8.

My life can bemeasured in hours,

I serve by being devoured.Thin, I am quick,

Fat, I am slowWind is my foe.

9.

The root tops the trunkOn this backward thing

That grows in the winterAnd dies in the spring.

10.

I have legs, but walk notA strong back, but work not

Two good arms, but reach notA seat, but sit not.

11.

He who makes itneeds it not

He who buys itwants it not

He who uses itknows it not.

12.

Riddle Answers:

1. The wind.2. An egg.

3. Your word.4. Your breath.

5. A river.6. Silence.

7. A shadow.8. Fire.

9. A candle.10. An icicle.11. A chair.12. A coffin.

1. What kind of thought process did you use to try to solve the riddles?

2. Imagine a thought process that is the opposite of the one you used. Would that process have helped you to solve the riddles more effectively?

3. How would you characterize the answers in relation to the riddles? Do they make sense? Are they logical or illogical?

Koans

Zen koans are a fascinating aspect of Zen practice. Koans may be described as puzzles or riddles designed to frustrate, or move the thinker beyond, the logical mind. In this way koans are unlike riddles, for which logical connections can be made. The answer to a koan lies in one’s intuitive response to it.

Master Gettan said to amonk: “Keichu made a cartwhose wheels had a hundredspokes. Take both front andrear parts away and removethe axle: then what will it be?”

The monks gathered in the hallto hear the [Zen master] Hogen ofSeiryo give teisho [commentary]before the midday meal. Hogenpointed to the bamboo blinds. Atthis two monks went to the blindsand rolled them up alike. Hogensaid, “One has it; the other has not.”

The wind was flapping a templeflag. Two monks were arguing about it.One said the flag was moving; the othersaid the wind was moving. Arguing backand forth they could come to no agreement.The Sixth Patriarch said, “It is neither thewind nor the flag that is moving. It is yourmind that is moving.” The two monkswere struck with awe.

Goso said, “If youmeet a man of Tao on theway, greet him neither withwords nor with silence. Now tell me, how will yougreet him?”

Goso said, “To give anexample, it is like a buffalo passingthrough a window. Its head,horns, and four legs have passedthrough. Why is it that its tailcannot?”

Master Shuzan held up his staff,and showing it to the assembleddisciples said, “You monks, if you callthis a staff, you are committed to thename. If you call it not-a-staff, younegate the fact. Tell me, you monks,what do you call it?”

The Haiku of Basho

Matsuo Basho was born in 1644 near Kyoto, Japan. As a boy he was already interested in poetry, and in his twenties he studied extensively with notable teachers of literature in Kyoto. He was acknowledged as a master of haiku by the time he was about thirty years old. During the last ten years of his life, Basho traveled a great deal, making pilgrimages alone or with companions. On these trips he visited famous places of Japan and met with other poets. He died during one of these pilgrimages, at the age of fifty. The following is a small sampling of Basho’s haiku, reprinted from A Zen Wave: Basho’s Haiku and Zen, translated into English by Robert Aitken.

The old pond;A frog jumps in—

The sound of the water.

In plum-flower scent

Pop! the sun appears—

The mountain path.

When worn outAnd seeking an inn:Wisteria flowers!

In the morning dew

Dirtied, cool,A muddy melon.

A day when FujiIs obscured by misty

rain!That’s interesting.

A flash of lightning;Through the darkness

goesThe scream of a night

heron.

How many, many things

They bring to mind—

Cherry blossoms!

Drinking his morning teaThe priest is peaceful—Chrysanthemum flowers.

How to write a HaikuA haiku is an unrhymed three-line poem. It is based on a traditional Japanese poetic form. Though there are different ways to write haiku, the traditional pattern in English is to write the first and last lines with five syllables each, and the middle line with seven syllables. In other words, the pattern of syllables looks like this:

Line 1: 5 syllablesLine 2: 7 syllablesLine 3: 5 syllables

Most often, haiku poems are about seasons or nature.

The third line of a haiku usually makes an observation.It points out something about the subject you arewriting about.