To learn about Zen you can't just pick up a book and read it and go "aha!". Zen is about personal enlightenment and someone can go many years without really un

To learn about Zen you can't just pick up a book and read it and go "aha!". Zen is about personal enlightenment and someone can go many years without really understanding Zen. I would suggest reading 公案 (kouan) as a means to understanding. Two references I would suggest are The Gateless Gate (http://www.ibiblio.org/zen/cgi-bin/koan-index.pl http://www.ibiblio.org/zen/cgi-bin/koan-index.pl) and Book of Serenity (http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/eric.boix/Koan/Shoyoroku/index.html http://perso.ens-lyon.fr/eric.boix/Koan/Shoyoroku/index.html).