![]() ![]() There are a few popular kōans that can help you get your feet wet: With 1700 kōans available, it would take a lifetime to consider them all and even longer to decide where to begin. Learn more about the Most Prolific Zen Masters > It is achieved by going down into one’s own inner, secret place, and asking there for a direct encounter with the world, independent of convention (3).” ![]() He wrote that the kōans are not about asking impressive questions, but rather about guiding the student toward self-discovery: “.not by looking out of the corner of your eye to see if everybody else is getting the same results as you or by trying to find out what others have already discovered. The British-American philosopher Alan Watts helped bring these brain enigmas to a wider audience through his Zen-haiku-kōan infused beat poetry. “The role of the kōan is not to lead us to satori (enlightenment), but, on the contrary, to make us lose our way and drive us to despair (3).” Alan Watts Meditating on a kōan could keep a student sitting for hours, weeks, or months in contemplation. Zen Master Philip Kapleau shares that the period of despair is usually not short. It can be helpful to turn to Zen masters, authors, and contemporaries who’ve sat with kōans to hear their perspectives on what the puzzles are intended to do and the effects they’ve had on those trying to solve them.Īuthor Don Dianda of See for Yourself: Zen Mindfulness for the Next Generation, offers his perspective: “The kōan serves as a surgical tool used to cut into and then break through the mind of the practitioner… Kōans aren’t just puzzles that your mind figures out suddenly and proclaims, “Aha! the answer is three!” They wait for you to open enough to allow the space necessary for them to enter into your depths-the inner regions beyond knowing (2).” Kōans themselves are meant to break the thinking mind and explanations of them can sound equally mind-boggling. It’s in the practice of simply sitting and contemplating, that Zen monks believe they will learn bigger truths about themselves and the world (2). Instead of focusing on right and wrong or black and white, kōans helped monks avoid clinging to answers or outcomes-because they lack them. They also serve to help achieve a central tenet of Buddhism: letting go of binary thinking. In this way, kōans serve to help monks live with ambiguity and paradox. Monks essentially engage in extended periods of contemplation, sitting and pondering these unsolvable puzzles. They posit that there’s value in questions themselves without any answers, which runs counter to our logical way of thinking. Used primarily in the Soto tradition of Zen Buddhism, they’re seen as a meditative technique to be used during zazen, Zen’s seated practice (3).įor our thinking minds designed to solve, kōans can be tough to wrap our heads around. Short statements (or questions) that are often a paradox, Zen kōans came about for the purpose of fostering contemplation. This question gave rise to the birth of Zen kōans. They essentially asked: What if we didn’t need an explanation for everything? A group of Chinese priests back in the 13th century decided to take this question a step further. How do we explain the unexplainable? Throughout the ages, this question has persisted, inspiring legends, myths, and religious traditions across the world. Send us feedback about these examples.Zen Kōans: Learning to Live with Ambiguity and Paradox These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'koan.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. 2021 The answer is a Zen koan: wide enough to accommodate all the passengers that flow through at peak times. George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 July 2022 To me, Ritual’s products sounded like one hand clapping: a cocktail koan. 2022 No, that’s not a Zen Buddhist koan designed to perplex music fans and philosophers alike. 2011 Paula has this great exercise that’s almost like a Zen koan: write a play that’s impossible to stage. 2022 The whole essay reads like a Zen koan to me. 2022 Is this a Zen koan? - Anna Pulley,, 8 Mar. 2023 The morbidly funny moment suggests that the assassin doesn’t believe a single koan he’s been dropping and actually takes immense pleasure in his work. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. Recent Examples on the Web Most of those vibes emanate from the company’s affable, Zen-minded CEO, Phil Knight, a wearer of track suits and spouter of Buddhist koans played by Affleck himself as the risk-averse yin to Sonny’s reckless yang. ![]()
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