...is used as a meditative mechanism for seeing through cognitive illusions to the truth that underlies them. Most adults are highly conditioned to see the world in a particular way, as filtered through imagination. Koans are one way to penetrate the filter and see what is prior to conditioning and imagination. All koans have concrete answers that, seen in retrospect, are recognized to be obvious. A simple example:
A father and son were involved in a terrible automobile wreck. Both were picked up by an ambulance and rushed toward a hospital. Along the way the father died of his injuries. At the hospital the boy was wheeled into an operating room, and doctors were called. A neurosurgeon arrived, took one look at the boy, and said, "I can't operate on this boy; he's my son!" Who was the neurosurgeon?
It is amazing how many people cannot answer this question. Children can answer it more easily than adults because they are not yet as strongly conditioned as adults. The answer is as clear as a bell to anyone who sees-through the issue. There is only one correct answer and, once seen, the correctness is blatantly obvious.
Another example:
What was your original face before your mother and father were born?
This is a much more difficult question because the conditioning underlying the issue is so much stronger. This question, like the "mu" koan, is sometimes given to people who are interested in becoming enlightened. People who meditate on this question often have big breakthroughs in understanding.
Another example:
Some people say that Jesus was a pacifist. Other people say that he was an activist. One day he walked into the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers. Was this the act of a pacifist or an activist?
If you answer "pacifist" or "activist," your answer will be rejected because you are blind to the truth of the matter.
Breakthroughs do not occur as a result of mental exhaustion. They occur because something deeper than the intellect suddenly sees the truth underlying cognitive illusions.
Zen folks strive to become free of all illusions, not just the illusion of personal selfhood, and koans are a unique methodology for helping people do that. Secondly, koans can be used by teachers to check their students' understanding. And thirdly, they are a form of playful existential combat in which masters test each other's realization and freedom from words and thoughts. One last example:
Who are you, REALLY?
You either know or you don't know. If you know, then what can you say or do that will make the questioner know that you know? And, just for fun, can you answer the question correctly, and, AT THE SAME TIME, use the answer to attack the questioner's understanding? This is how Zen Masters play.
A father and son were involved in a terrible automobile wreck. Both were picked up by an ambulance and rushed toward a hospital. Along the way the father died of his injuries. At the hospital the boy was wheeled into an operating room, and doctors were called. A neurosurgeon arrived, took one look at the boy, and said, "I can't operate on this boy; he's my son!" Who was the neurosurgeon?
It is amazing how many people cannot answer this question. Children can answer it more easily than adults because they are not yet as strongly conditioned as adults. The answer is as clear as a bell to anyone who sees-through the issue. There is only one correct answer and, once seen, the correctness is blatantly obvious.
Another example:
What was your original face before your mother and father were born?
This is a much more difficult question because the conditioning underlying the issue is so much stronger. This question, like the "mu" koan, is sometimes given to people who are interested in becoming enlightened. People who meditate on this question often have big breakthroughs in understanding.
Another example:
Some people say that Jesus was a pacifist. Other people say that he was an activist. One day he walked into the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers. Was this the act of a pacifist or an activist?
If you answer "pacifist" or "activist," your answer will be rejected because you are blind to the truth of the matter.
Breakthroughs do not occur as a result of mental exhaustion. They occur because something deeper than the intellect suddenly sees the truth underlying cognitive illusions.
Zen folks strive to become free of all illusions, not just the illusion of personal selfhood, and koans are a unique methodology for helping people do that. Secondly, koans can be used by teachers to check their students' understanding. And thirdly, they are a form of playful existential combat in which masters test each other's realization and freedom from words and thoughts. One last example:
Who are you, REALLY?
You either know or you don't know. If you know, then what can you say or do that will make the questioner know that you know? And, just for fun, can you answer the question correctly, and, AT THE SAME TIME, use the answer to attack the questioner's understanding? This is how Zen Masters play.
