In 1961, at age 15, I read three books that greatly influenced my thinking: The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, Why I am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell, and Zen Flesh and Zen Bones by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki. I read books from the Bandini Branch (two blocks from my home) of the County of Los Angeles Public Library, and from the old ELA Library Branch of CoLAPL near my Catholic elementary school, and later from the City of Commerce Public Library.
I still own copies of Zen Flesh and Zen Bones compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki. It is the first Koan Collection I ever read. I have studied many other "brief" spiritual stories/tests/sermons/koans collections for many decades since 1961.
Zen Flesh and Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings. Translated and compiled by By Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki. Tuttle Publishing, Flaps edition, 1998. First published in 1957. 211 pages. The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan) was transcribed by Nyogen Senzaki (1876–1958) and Paul Reps (1895–1990) in 1934, and appeared in in "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, 1958" pp. 109-161. VSCL, hardbound and paperback. 101 Stories/Koans.
There are numerous published collections of brief Buddhist and Taoist stories, conversations, meetings, student and teacher exchanges, sermons, lessons, instructions, questions, tests and problems, confrontations, spiritual insights, biographies of Buddhist Saints and Heroes, enlightenment experiences, etc. I call some of these "Koan Collections."
I decided I would first use a simple Excel spreadsheet to create a Subject Index to Koan Collections. Then, I converted to using Microsoft Access Database for the Koan Database Project.
The first book (Koan Collection) I indexed was:
GB The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans. Translated with commentary by Koun Yamada Roshi. 2004. 48 Koan Cases compiled around 1250 CE.
Subject Index to Cases in the Gateless Barrier (GB). [48 Koans, Compiled around 1250 CE]
Alphabetical List of English Titles of the Gateless Gate (GB) Koans
List of Case in Numerical Order of the Gateless Gate (GB) Koans
Indexing by Michael P. Garofalo. First Draft on March 25, 2023.
Subject Index to Cases in Koan Collections. Indexed by Michael P. Garofalo.
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