There tons of what Zen would call "formal" koans, such as:
1. What is the sound of one hand clapping?
2. What was your original face before your mother and father were born?
3. What is mu? (you have to understand the story to appreciate this koan)
but the most important koans, IMO, are the existential questions that matter to you.
After many years of contemplation, going on silent retreats, and taking solo hikes in the mountains, I knew with 100% intellectual certainty that selfhood was an illusion, but I continued to feel vaguely discontented. I was still a seeker even though all of my original existential questions had been answered. I got to a point where I only had one remaining question. I had had many experiences of unity consciousness, samadhi, cosmic consciousness, etc, but I always seemed to come back to a "me in here" looking at "a world out there." I wanted to if it was possible to remain in a unity consciousness state of mind all the time. What I was really asking is, "How can I become enlightened and remain enlightened permanently?" I knew what it felt like to be in an enlightened state of mind with no sense of selfhood, and I also knew what it was like to come back to "normal." So, that was my last big koan.
When I suddenly saw the answer to that question on the afternoon of Aug 17, 1999, I had a big laugh. I suddenly saw that the one who was trying to get enlightened had never existed and there was only THIS. The body/mind had THOUGHT that there was a person who was sometimes having experiences of unity consciousness and sometimes coming back to normal, but there wasn't. Who I had thought I was was a thought, only. Seeing through the illusion on that day ended my spiritual search, because I then realized who and what the searcher is---THIS. No separate person had ever existed. Ha ha. It was a very funny realization, but that ended all discontentment and led to a feeling of total freedom.
The answer to every question that a body/mind can imagine is already standing in front of our eyes, but the answer is usually obscured by thoughts. This is why I suggest shifting attention away from thoughts to what can be seen, heard, felt, etc, again and again, until THIS is no longer obscured by thoughts.
1. What is the sound of one hand clapping?
2. What was your original face before your mother and father were born?
3. What is mu? (you have to understand the story to appreciate this koan)
but the most important koans, IMO, are the existential questions that matter to you.
After many years of contemplation, going on silent retreats, and taking solo hikes in the mountains, I knew with 100% intellectual certainty that selfhood was an illusion, but I continued to feel vaguely discontented. I was still a seeker even though all of my original existential questions had been answered. I got to a point where I only had one remaining question. I had had many experiences of unity consciousness, samadhi, cosmic consciousness, etc, but I always seemed to come back to a "me in here" looking at "a world out there." I wanted to if it was possible to remain in a unity consciousness state of mind all the time. What I was really asking is, "How can I become enlightened and remain enlightened permanently?" I knew what it felt like to be in an enlightened state of mind with no sense of selfhood, and I also knew what it was like to come back to "normal." So, that was my last big koan.
When I suddenly saw the answer to that question on the afternoon of Aug 17, 1999, I had a big laugh. I suddenly saw that the one who was trying to get enlightened had never existed and there was only THIS. The body/mind had THOUGHT that there was a person who was sometimes having experiences of unity consciousness and sometimes coming back to normal, but there wasn't. Who I had thought I was was a thought, only. Seeing through the illusion on that day ended my spiritual search, because I then realized who and what the searcher is---THIS. No separate person had ever existed. Ha ha. It was a very funny realization, but that ended all discontentment and led to a feeling of total freedom.
The answer to every question that a body/mind can imagine is already standing in front of our eyes, but the answer is usually obscured by thoughts. This is why I suggest shifting attention away from thoughts to what can be seen, heard, felt, etc, again and again, until THIS is no longer obscured by thoughts.
