Buffalo through the Window (GG38)
KOAN:
Goso said, “When a buffalo goes out of its enclosure to the edge of the abyss, the horns and head and hoofs all pass through, but why can’t the tail also pass?”
– Gateless Gate, Case 38
A student asked Jiashan, “What is Jiashan’s state of mind?”
Jiashan answered, “Monkeys, clasping their young to their breasts, return beyond the green peaks: a bird with a flower in its beak alights before the blue cliff.”
—Entangling Vines, Case 99
KOAN:
Goso said, “When a buffalo goes out of its enclosure to the edge of the abyss, the horns and head and hoofs all pass through, but why can’t the tail also pass?”
– Gateless Gate, Case 38