The reason that people work on koans 1:1 is that the answers to formal koans are not made public (so as not to ruin other people's fun). Finding the answer to a koan for yourself is much more powerful than someone telling you the answer.
A koan can be answered verbally, or with a physical action, or with silence. Most koans are answered with a physical action. Some koans are very easy to answer, and some require a lot of contemplation. Koans contain a "mind hook"--something that hooks the intellect and stimulates thinking, but the answer to all koans comes from something deeper than mind. Thinking is therefore useless for answering koans. You have to perceive the answer instantly and respond appropriately. Here are some koans:
1. If you should meet an enlightened woman on the road, how can you greet her with neither words nor silence?
2. (Holding out a bell) What is this?
3. What is a glass of water, existentially?
4. Answer yes or no. Have you stopped beating your spouse?
5. If you believe in the Buddha, you can pray to the Buddha, but if you have killed the Buddha and realized oneness and fundamental emptiness, to whom can you pray?
In my Pouring Concrete book I describe some Zen 1:1 interviews which I think you'll enjoy reading about.
Koans help cut through our usual verbiage to the concrete reality of "what is."
A koan can be answered verbally, or with a physical action, or with silence. Most koans are answered with a physical action. Some koans are very easy to answer, and some require a lot of contemplation. Koans contain a "mind hook"--something that hooks the intellect and stimulates thinking, but the answer to all koans comes from something deeper than mind. Thinking is therefore useless for answering koans. You have to perceive the answer instantly and respond appropriately. Here are some koans:
1. If you should meet an enlightened woman on the road, how can you greet her with neither words nor silence?
2. (Holding out a bell) What is this?
3. What is a glass of water, existentially?
4. Answer yes or no. Have you stopped beating your spouse?
5. If you believe in the Buddha, you can pray to the Buddha, but if you have killed the Buddha and realized oneness and fundamental emptiness, to whom can you pray?
In my Pouring Concrete book I describe some Zen 1:1 interviews which I think you'll enjoy reading about.
Koans help cut through our usual verbiage to the concrete reality of "what is."
