Twelve Zen Stories Essay Questions

1. Pick any one of the twelve Zen stories. Explain what you think we are supposed to learn from reflecting on it. Explain why, if anything, that lesson has to do with traditional Buddhist or Taoist ideas.

2. In the Zen story “A Cup of Tea,” what do you think Nan-in means he says that the professor must “empty [his] cup” of his own “speculations and opinions” before he, Nan-in, can “show [him] Zen”? Do you think Nan-in is correct that we must “empty our cup” in that way before we can understand Zen? Why or why not?

3. In the Zen story “Muddy Road,” what does the Zen monk Tanzan mean when he tells Ekido, “I left the girl there [at the intersection]. Are you still carrying her?” What does this suggest about the rule that Buddhist monks should not “go near women”?

4. In the Zen story “Is That So?”, the Zen master Hakuin takes in and then gives up a baby that was not his, saying only “Is that so?” on each occasion. How might this story be interpreted as reflecting Taoist ideas about wu-wei?