10/3/2023 0 Comments Best zen koans![]() While Heine admits that some koans are simply mind games designed to break our brains and force us into new ways of seeing, others are rooted in ancient traditions that are hidden to most modern readers. You will die from my pitchfork even if you do not explain it. What kinds of demons made you become a Buddhist priest? What kind of devil forced you to take up this pilgrimage? You will die from my pitchfork even if you explain it. It can take years to "solve" and the solution, as determined by the master, will vary according to what the individual student needs to learn. ![]() "Joshu's Dog" is one of the first koans presented to students of Zen Buddhism. Instead of simply saying, "Yes, every living thing has the Buddha nature," Joshu wants us to meditate night and day on the concept of "nothing" in order to think beyond "yes and no," "Buddha or no Buddha" and connect with something universally true. The koan is a way of "completely uproot all the normal workings of one's mind," wrote Mumon. Indeed your ego-shell suddenly is crushed, you can shake heaven and earth. As a fruit ripening in season, your internality and externality spontaneously become one. Then, all the useless knowledge you have diligently learned until now is thrown away. ![]() It is neither nothingness, nor its relative "not" of "is" and "is not." It must be like gulping a hot iron ball that you can neither swallow nor spit out. into this question of what "Mu" is day and night, without ceasing, hold it before you. Would you like to pass through this barrier? Then concentrate your whole body. This is why it is called the Gateless Gate of Zen. The story is a means to an end."įor the pursuit of Zen, you must pass through the barriers (gates) set up by the Zen masters. "The koan is an instrument to get you from un-enlightenment to enlightenment," says Heine, "But it's more about the interaction you have with your teacher than the story itself. That's why koans often seem contradictory, paradoxical and downright random. Zen masters use koans to startle and disarm their students, and shake them from their spiritual slumber. While every wisdom tradition uses stories to teach moral and spiritual truths (Jesus, for example, taught using parables), there's something different about a koan. "Two or more individuals have a brief exchange - which can include words, gestures, even silence - and through that encounter, some kind of ignorance is exposed and understanding is revealed." "A koan is basically an encounter dialogue," says Heine. There are hundreds and hundreds of koans, but each one tells the story of a brief interaction - usually between a student and a teacher, but sometimes two teachers, or a teacher and a rival - that results in a sudden flash of insight. Zen teaching draws from numerous sources of Mahāyāna thought, especially Yogachara, the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and the Huayan school, with their emphasis on Buddha-nature, totality, and the Bodhisattva-ideal.The Prajñāpāramitā literature as well as Madhyamaka thought have also been influential in the shaping of the apophatic and sometimes iconoclastic nature of Zen rhetoric.The best tool for peeling back those layers is the koan. As such, it de-emphasizes knowledge alone of sutras and doctrine, and favors direct understanding through spiritual practice and interaction with an accomplished teacher or Master. kensho, “perceiving the true nature”) and nature of things (without arrogance or egotism), and the personal expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others. Zen emphasizes rigorous self-restraint, meditation-practice, insight into the nature of mind (見性, Ch. The term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (chánnà), which is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit word dhyāna (“meditation”). From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and became Vietnamese Thiền, northeast to Korea to become Seon Buddhism, and east to Japan, becoming Japanese Zen. Zen (Chinese: 禪) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (Chánzong 禪宗), and later developed into various sub-schools and branches.
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