Your Original Face before Your Parents Were Born

There was a teacher called Luopu, a Chinese teacher, and he said this interesting thing. He said, “You have to directly realize the source outside of the teachings.” That’s the whole thing about it. That’s Bodhidharma’s thing, the direct realization outside of scriptures. The scriptures are nice and the teachings are nice, but really, the direct understanding—the direct meeting with life—the direct meeting with awakening is the thing.

Class 5 Bright Gates. John Tarrant: Winter Proper – These are often the first koans people work with and throw themselves into. 
While they are often used as initial koans, they are not inquiry koans.