The Essence of Chan

Text

A student asked Xutang, "What is the essence of Chan?" Xutang said, "The cypress tree withers, the stone bridge flows." The student said, "I don't grasp your meaning." Xutang said, "The autumn wind has no fixed direction."

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Xutang Zhiyu

Lineage: Yangqi line

By Xutang Zhiyu

• The Barrier of Wordssaying

From Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues

• My Mind Is Not at Peace
• Thinking of Not-Thinking
• Not Knowing Is Most Intimate
• The Boat Monk's Transmission
• The Sound of Bamboo
• Vast Emptiness, Nothing Holy
• Ordinary Mind Is the Way
• Nanquan Kills the Cat
• Wash Your Bowl
• The Oak Tree in the Garden

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Xutang Heshang Yulu, encounter dialogues

  Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues: The Essence of Chan