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Answer:
A koan is a puzzle-like question or story that's designed to help one obtain enlightenment when worked on in meditation when assigned a koan by one's teacher. A classic example is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
Answer:
A Koan is used to help the student circumvent his dependance on logic to arrive at answers. It promotes the instantaneous appreciation of the whole.
"Standard" answers are available for many Koans (Q: Does a dog have a Buddha nature? A: Mu) but the answers are as much Koans as the questions. In this case Mu (not thinking) may apply to the dog implying it is not a sapient being, that a dog achieves the Buddha nature because he is one with the flow of life without thinking, that the question/answer is without value, or that you don't even have to think about the answer.
Answer:
Koan means public record. Koans became teaching tools collected and recorded in Sung Dynasty China. The encounters happened earlier usually in Tang Dynasty China between teacher and student, usually resulting in the student having an insight (satori).
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoAnswer: A Koan is a question in Zen practice that is used to help the student circumvent his dependance on logic to arrive at answers. It promotes the instantaneous appreciation of the whole.
"Standard" answers are available for many Koans (Q: Does a dog have a Buddha nature? A: Mu) but the answers are as much Koans as the questions. In this case Mu (not thinking) may apply to the dog implying it is not a sapient being and outside of the concern of having Buddha nature, that a dog achieves the Buddha nature because he is one with the flow of life without thinking, that the question/answer is without value, or that you don't even have to think about the answer.
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What is a zen riddle?
koan
What is a 4 letter word for zen riddle?
koan
In Zen Buddhism what is the teaching that has never been taught?
Great koan.
Where can one learn more about what a Zen koan is?
A Zen Koan can refer to short stories, small statements, and parables. One can learn more about these by visiting their local library and checking out books pertaining to Buddhism.
What is is a five letter word for 'zen riddle'?
Ah, clever, clever grasshopper you have posed a precocious koan, have you not? For if koans have only four letters, unless of course, there are more than one koan which makes then koan a five letter word, yet a koan is a koan and only four letter in a koan and as much as we wonder what the sound of one hand clapping might be or if a dog has Buddha nature or not, now we must wonder what is a five letter for Zen riddles. Very clever indeed, grasshopper.
How does Hakuin's famous koan relate to zen Buddhism?
Zen Master Hauin's koan about the sound of one hand makes no conceptual sense. Like all koans, it's an attempt to stimulate thoughtless awareness, which is one way to understand nirvana. .
What has the author Nyogen Senzaki written?
Nyogen Senzaki has written: 'Eloquent silence' -- subject(s): Koan, Rinzai (Sect), Zen Buddhism 'Buddhism and Zen' 'Buddhism and Zen' -- subject(s): Accessible book, Lending library, Zen, Zen Buddhism
What qualifies a zen priest to lead koan study?
A zen priest must be certified to become a teacher and lead koan study by a properly qualified teacher. Typically, it takes many years of study and practice to become ordained as a priest and many priests are never sanctioned to teach. .
What are the Zen rules?
A principle feature of Zen is its training in the instantaneous appreciation of and appropriate reaction to events without formal logical analysis. As a consequence it would be impossible to formulate "Zen Rules" without negating the purpose of the training. "What are the Zen rules?" would make a good koan.
What does koan have to do with Hiroshima?
Koan is A puzzling, often paradoxical statement or story, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening. In Zen Buddhism, a brief paradoxical statement or question used as a discipline in meditation. The effort to solve a koan is designed to exhaust the analytic intellect and the will, leaving the mind open for response on an intuitive level. There are about 1,700 traditional koans, which are based on anecdotes from ancient Zen masters. They include the well-known example "When both hands are clapped a sound is produced; listen to the sound of one hand clapping."
How was koan used in Hiroshima?
Koan is A puzzling, often paradoxical statement or story, used in Zen Buddhism as an aid to meditation and a means of gaining spiritual awakening. In Zen Buddhism, a brief paradoxical statement or question used as a discipline in meditation. The effort to solve a koan is designed to exhaust the analytic intellect and the will, leaving the mind open for response on an intuitive level. There are about 1,700 traditional koans, which are based on anecdotes from ancient Zen masters. They include the well-known example "When both hands are clapped a sound is produced; listen to the sound of one hand clapping."
Define koan and describe its purpose in zen discipline?
koan literally means public record. An encounter between master and student in Tang dynasty China would produce an insight for the student into the nature of reality. These encounters were recorded during Song dynasty China and began to be used as teaching tools especially in the Linji (China) or Rinzai (Japan) schools of Zen Buddhism.
