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."