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Zenkei Shibayama, The Gateless Barrier:
Zen Comments on the Mumonkan (Shambhala, 2000)
Yamada Koun, Gateless Gate (Wisdom
Publications, 2004)
Robert Aitken, The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (North
Point Press, 1990)
All three are translations of the Chinese collection
Wumenguan (Japanese Mumonkan);
they include contemporary commentaries on each koan, which make them
a good place to begin exploring the tradition
Thomas Cleary and J.C. Cleary, The Blue
Cliff Record (Shambhala, 1992)
The Chinese Biyan Lu (Hekigan Roku),
associated with the Linji (Rinzai) school. It was compiled in the 11th
century by Xuedou, who added his own verses and remarks. In the 12th
century, Yuanwu added introductions and commentaries. Dense, poetic,
and sometimes perplexing, it's considered by many to be the richest
and most challenging koan collection

Thomas Cleary, Book of Serenity: One Hundred
Zen Dialogues (Shambhala, 1998)
The Chinese Congrong
Lu (Japanese Shoyo
Roku), associated with the Caodong (Soto) school, compiled in the
12th century and including introductions, commentaries, and verses for
each koan from that time
Gerry Shishin Wick, The Book
of Equanimity: Illuminating Classic Zen Koans (Wisdom Publications,
2005)
Versions of the koans based on Maezumi Taizan's translations,
with commentaries by Gerry Shishin Wick

Thomas Yuho Kirchner, Entangling Vines: Zen Koans of the
Shumon Kattoshu (Tenryu-ji Institute for Philosophy
and Religion, 2004)
A rich collection of 282 koans, many not found elsewhere,
with the original Chinese and extensive scholarly notes
Yoel Hoffmann, Every End
Exposed: The 100 Koans of Master Kido (Autumn
Press, 1977)
A translation of this Rinzai classic by the Chinese teacher Xutang
(Kido), with comments by the Japanese teacher Hakuin. Perhaps more than
any other collection, this one says: Here is an instance of freedom,
and here is another one, and another
Francis H. Cook, The Record of Transmitting
the Light (Center Publications, 1991)
A translation of the Japanese Denko Roku,
written by Keizan Jokin in the early 14th century; it presents a legendary
Zen lineage from Shakyamuni through Dogen, telling the enlightenment
story of each ancestor in the form of a koan, with added biographical
material and commentary
Trevor Leggett, Samurai Zen: The Warrior
Koans (Routledge, 2003)
A collection of Japanese koans from the Kamakura
era (13th century), including traditional poems and checking questions;
one of the best sources for koans involving women
Victor Sogen Hori, Zen Sand: The Book of
Capping Phrases for Koan Practice (University of Hawai'i
Press, 2003)
The most extensive collection of capping phrases,
brief original writings or quotes linked to a koan by a commentator or
someone doing koan study; includes a detailed description of contemporary
koan practice in Japan
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