How to achieve enlightenment with just one word? And thanks to silence? To gain insight into wisdom, you don’t need complex techniques - you just need to calm your heart, clear your mind and... find yourself next to a worthy mentor. This is precisely the essence of the famous eastern teaching of Zen (Chan). The book is a collection of the best medieval parables and stories about the Chinese masters of Chan Buddhism, included in many classic works: “The Gateless Outpost”, “Records of the Transfer of the Lamp”, “Sayings from the Azure Cliff”, “The Throne Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch”. The publication also includes a story about the history of the formation of the genre of Chan sayings "yulu" and "paradoxical dialogues" - koans (gun'an), about ways of training the consciousness of Zen monks.