Keichu's Wheel
Getsuan said to this students: `Keichu, the first wheel-maker of
China, made two wheels of fifty spokes each. Now, suppose you removed
the nave uniting the spokes. What would become of the wheel? And had
Keichu done this, could he be called the master wheel-maker?'
Mumon's Comment: If anyone can answer this question instantly,
his eyes will be like a comet and his mind like a flash of lightning.
When the hubless wheel turns,
Master or no master can stop it.
It turns above heaven and below earth,
South, north, east and west.
A Zen koan from the classic collection The Gateless Gate.
Original transcription by Ben Walter and Adam Fuller of iBiblio.