Zen Masters in the Rinzai Zen tradition use koans to test their students' existential understanding. All koans have simple answers that can be found by contemplation. Some koans are answered with words and some are answered by a physical action, but thinking is not necessary for finding an answer. In fact, thinking almost always prevents answers from being seen. There are about 2000 formal koans, but tens of thousands of informal koans. here is a typical koan:
If you meet an enlightened woman on the path, how can you greet her with neither words nor silence?
This used to be a formal koan (which could not be discussed in public), but is has become so well known that now it is used to illustrate how koans work. This particular koan contains two mind-hooks--words or phrases which are designed to hook the mind and engage thought. If you see through the koan, the answer is obvious and easy to respond to.
In an interview setting a teacher might hold up a fist and ask, "What is this?" If a student responds, "It;s a fist," the teacher will say, "YOu are attached to form." If the student then says, "Okay, it;s not a fist," the teacher will say, "Now you are attached to emptiness." What kind of answer is 100% and does not require any thought? In answering, the student must show the teacher that s/he understands the issue.
Koans are existential riddles that help people get out of their heads and into their bodies. Here are a few more to play with:
1. Why do you have two eyes?
2. Why is the sky blue?
3. What is the sound of one hand clapping?
4. Where did you come from?
5. Where are you going?
6. What was your original face before your mother and father were born?
7. If you don't believe in God, Buddha, or any other deities, to whom can you pray?
8. Some people say that Jesus was a pacifist because he said to turn the other cheek, but some people say that he was an activist. One day he walked to the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers. Was this the act of a pacifist or an activist?
9. What does this shout---Aieeeeeee!----weigh?
10. Who are you, really?
11. A father and son were involved in a bad auto accident. On the way to the hospital the father died of his injuries. The son was rushed to an operating room upon arrival and doctors were called. A neurosurgeon arrived, took one look at the boy and said, "I can't operate on this boy; it's my son." Who was the neurosurgeon?
12. The whole world is on fire. Through what kind of samadhi can you escape?
13. Why can't a strong man lift his own leg?
14. What is the true nature of a dog?
The answer to any existential question is already understood by the body because the body is one-with reality. The problem is that most people live in their heads, so they can't access what the body knows (gnossis). Contemplation takes us out of our heads, and helps us discover what the body already knows.
As an informal experiment, I asked various people from age 6 to age 66 a list of simple koans. Children could see through many koans whereas older folks could see through none. I later asked different aged groups of people the father/son koan, above. The youngest groups of people could easily see the answer. The ability to see the answer dropped in direct proportion to age. The oldest people could never see through it without considerable contemplation.
Who was the neurosurgeon? The boy's mother.
How can you greet an enlightened woman with neither words nor silence? Silently wave, hug, shake hands, bow, etc.
The answers to all koans are this simple, direct, and concrete if the intellect doesn't get involved.
If you meet an enlightened woman on the path, how can you greet her with neither words nor silence?
This used to be a formal koan (which could not be discussed in public), but is has become so well known that now it is used to illustrate how koans work. This particular koan contains two mind-hooks--words or phrases which are designed to hook the mind and engage thought. If you see through the koan, the answer is obvious and easy to respond to.
In an interview setting a teacher might hold up a fist and ask, "What is this?" If a student responds, "It;s a fist," the teacher will say, "YOu are attached to form." If the student then says, "Okay, it;s not a fist," the teacher will say, "Now you are attached to emptiness." What kind of answer is 100% and does not require any thought? In answering, the student must show the teacher that s/he understands the issue.
Koans are existential riddles that help people get out of their heads and into their bodies. Here are a few more to play with:
1. Why do you have two eyes?
2. Why is the sky blue?
3. What is the sound of one hand clapping?
4. Where did you come from?
5. Where are you going?
6. What was your original face before your mother and father were born?
7. If you don't believe in God, Buddha, or any other deities, to whom can you pray?
8. Some people say that Jesus was a pacifist because he said to turn the other cheek, but some people say that he was an activist. One day he walked to the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers. Was this the act of a pacifist or an activist?
9. What does this shout---Aieeeeeee!----weigh?
10. Who are you, really?
11. A father and son were involved in a bad auto accident. On the way to the hospital the father died of his injuries. The son was rushed to an operating room upon arrival and doctors were called. A neurosurgeon arrived, took one look at the boy and said, "I can't operate on this boy; it's my son." Who was the neurosurgeon?
12. The whole world is on fire. Through what kind of samadhi can you escape?
13. Why can't a strong man lift his own leg?
14. What is the true nature of a dog?
The answer to any existential question is already understood by the body because the body is one-with reality. The problem is that most people live in their heads, so they can't access what the body knows (gnossis). Contemplation takes us out of our heads, and helps us discover what the body already knows.
As an informal experiment, I asked various people from age 6 to age 66 a list of simple koans. Children could see through many koans whereas older folks could see through none. I later asked different aged groups of people the father/son koan, above. The youngest groups of people could easily see the answer. The ability to see the answer dropped in direct proportion to age. The oldest people could never see through it without considerable contemplation.
Who was the neurosurgeon? The boy's mother.
How can you greet an enlightened woman with neither words nor silence? Silently wave, hug, shake hands, bow, etc.
The answers to all koans are this simple, direct, and concrete if the intellect doesn't get involved.
