The 100 Cases of the Blue Cliff Record

The 100 Cases of the Blue Cliff Record

"Linji descended from the meditation seat, grabbed Elder Ding, slapped him and shoved him away." © Dave Needham, 2019
“Linji descended from the meditation seat, grabbed Elder Ding, slapped him and shoved him away.” © Dave Needham, 2019

The Blue Cliff Record is one of the heart scriptures of Zen Buddhism. It is a thousand-year-old collection of stories, commentaries, and poetry from the classical age of Zen in China. Although it is a massive tome, at its core are one hundred brief dialogues or cases (often known in English as koans). In these stories, we meet the ancient masters as they struggle with the paradox at the heart of Zen: how to teach spiritual awakening when spiritual awakening is nothing that can be taught.

The Blue Cliff Record is as vital to Zen Buddhism today as it was in 1128 when it was first published. Eminent teachers like Mumon Roshi, Seung Sahn Sunim, Yangil Sunim, Suzuki Roshi, and Yamada Koun have all delivered sermons on The Record.

Below is a directory of published commentaries and online commentaries by Zen teachers and academic researchers.

A Directory of Commentaries for Each Case