ZEN KOANS

What is a koan?

A: Koan reads: in Chinese and Japanese as a symbol. The characters literally

mean "public case". They are sometimes referred to as "Zen riddles". They
are short "problems" assigned by a Zen master to a student. The student
meditates on it to break thorough their reliance on conventional logic.

Background
Early Zen masters in China used unconventional methods of training. Yelling,
striking students, apparently illogical conversations and behaviour and
preventing students from taking notes. One of these was koan. Most koan
are situations and related questions from famous Masters. They cannot be
answered logically, but through the student's insight into heir true nature.
Accordingly the correct answer is not the same from one student to another.
A teacher may give a student a particular koan according tot heir analysis of
the student's needs and abilities. The student goes away and in future
meeting with the teacher, discusses their progress on the problem.

Many koan were complied by students about 1,000 years ago into several,
now famous books. Some of the best known are the Blue Cliff Record and
The Gateless Gate, but Master Hui Neng's Platform Sutra contains a really
good one. To paraphrase:

Master Hui Neng meets Hui Ming, a monk that was a four star General in his
previous, lay life. He was rough and hot tempered. Such people are often
great monks because their need is great. Hui Ming asks the Master for
instruction.

The Master instructs him to refrain from thinking and blank his mind. After a
considerable time the Master asked him "When you are thinking of neither
good, nor evil, what is at that particular moment, Venerable Sir, your
original face?"

Hui Ming was suddenly enlightened.

Eventually koan became a thing of the Lin chi (Rinzai) Zen school. Other
schools are not against koan, but have their own methods. The process of
recording the koan created new problems. Scholastic types could tread all
the histories and imitate the "illogical" responses to the Master's questions
or pretend to be a Master themselves. People like this still exist so always be
careful who you trust with your mind. Fooling a master is more difficult.

An attempt to do so once became a koan itself. A couple of monks arrived at

a temple, and were interviewed by the head monk, as was the custom. The
first question illicite a brilliant answer, but the head monk suspected it was
born of cleverness rather than insight, so he asked the same question again.
He got the same answer, so he threw the monks out of the temple for
pretending to be enlightened. The Head monk knew that the second time
you ask a question, it becomes a different question. It would only be the
same if it existed independent of the previous question. All things are
dependant.

Understanding koan by reading them is a bit like teaching an alien to have a

sense of humour by telling jokes and then explaining them. It is far better to
tell the joke and attempt to help them to get the joke.

Here are some koans.

A monk asked "What is the living meaning of Zen Buddhism?"

Master Zhao Zhao replied "The cypress tree in the yard"

When Yunyan was sweeping, Douwu said "Too busy"

Yunyan said "You should know when there's one who isn't busy"

Douwu said "If so, there's a second moon"

Yunyan held up the broom and said "Which moon is this?"

A monk asked Joshu "Does a new born infant still have six
consciousnesses?"

Joshu replied "A ball tossed into rushing water"

The monk asked "What is the meaning of "A ball tossed into rushing
water"?"

Joshu replied "Moment to moment non-stop flow."

One day as Manjusri stood outside the gate, the Buddha called to
him, "Manjusri, Manjusri, why do you not enter?"
Manjusri replied, "I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?"

Overflowing Cup of Tea

The Zen Master poured his visitor's teacup full, and then kept pouring.
The visitor watched until he could no longer restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will
go in!"
"Like this cup," the Zen Master said, "you are full of your own opinions and
assumptions. How can you learn truth until you first empty your cup?"

The Moon Cannot Be Stolen

A thief entered the little hut of a Zen Master, but discovered there was nothing to steal.
The Zen Master discovered the thief. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told
the prowler, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a
gift."
The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and slunk away.
The Zen Master sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, "I wish I could
have given him this beautiful moon."

The Sweetest Strawberry

A man was chased by a tiger. Coming to a cliff, he grabbed the root of a vine and hung
over the edge. The tiger looked at him from above.
The man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting.
Two mice began to gnaw at the vine.
The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he
plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

What is the Sound of One Hand Clapping?

The True Path is the path on which there is no coming and no going.

Time to Die
A Zen teacher had a rare and priceless teacup. One day, his precocious student
accidentally broke the cup.
Hearing the footsteps of his teacher, the student held the pieces of the cup behind his
back. When the master appeared, he asked: "Why do people have to die?"
"This is natural," explained the teacher. "Everything has to die and has just so long to
live."
The student showed the shattered cup, saying, "It was time for your cup to die."