KOAN   INDICATIONS 1

 

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What is a koan?

A zen koan is a short story or sentence that initially seems paradoxical in nature.
It is a learning tool intended to alter our perception of reality.
There are some zen poems that are not necessarily koans - the  are more famous ones are alled ' haiku'.


 

 

P A R A D O X

 

A paradox is something that does not make sense.

In the case of a koan, it is how we think that does not make sense.

Once our mind is capable of seeing things more simply, there ceases to be a paradox.

The paradox existed only between reality and our thought.

 

 

Why study a koan?

To understand tai chi it is necessary to change our perception of reality.
Tai chi is drawn from a taoist culture.
Without understanding tao, how can we hope to understand its offspring?

 

Koans

Your understanding of a koan will change as you change.
Here are some example koans:

 

 

What is your original face before your mother and father were born?




A monk asked Kegon, "How does an enlightened one return to the ordinary world?"

Kegon replied, "A broken mirror never reflects again; fallen flowers never go back to the old branches."

Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind.
One said, "The flag moves."
The other said, "The wind moves."
They argued back and forth but could not agree.

Hui-neng, the sixth patriarch, said: "Gentlemen! It is not the flag that moves. It is not the wind that moves. It is your mind that moves."

The two monks were struck with awe.


 

Shuzan held out his short staff and said, "If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact. Now what do you wish to call this?"




When you can do nothing, what can you do?

A monk asked master Haryo, "What is the way?"
Haryo said, "An open-eyed man falling into the well."




Zen Master Unmon said: "The world is vast and wide. Why do you put on your robes at the sound of a bell?"




Elder Ting asked Lin-chi,
"Master, what is the great meaning of Buddha's teachings?"
Lin-chi came down from his seat, slapped Ting and pushed him away.
Ting was stunned and stood motionless.
A monk nearby said, "Ting, why do you not bow?"
At that moment Ting attained great enlightenment.




When the many are reduced to one, to what is the one reduced?




One day Banzan was walking through a market. He overheard a customer say to the butcher, "Give me the best piece of meat you have."

"Everything in my shop is the best," replied the butcher. "You can not find any piece of meat that is not the best."

At these words, Banzan was enlightened.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?