Koan

The origins of koans go back to the tales of the ancient teachers of Chan Buddhism, starting with Bodhidharma ; they usually describe cases of enlightenment by these people.

Coan Action

An attempt to understand coan logically inevitably leads to a contradiction. This contradiction plays an important role in comprehending one's true nature ( Buddha nature ). The student, who received the koan from the master, tries to solve the koan in all possible ways and “connects” more and more forces to solve a logically insoluble problem. As a result, when all five senses are “turned off”, the student is at the stage that is called dharana in yoga . In this state, the koan and student remain face to face (plus some wandering mind). If the student’s mind is “mature” enough, then once the wanderings of the mind subside and only the koan remains. At this moment, the koan and student are whole, the student experiences a glimpse of reality , known as enlightenment or satori .

Result Value

The “decision of the koan”, “the answer to the koan” is the experience of satori , one of the primary and concomitant goals of most Zen Buddhist practices ( chan ). Satori's value as a result is determined by three main factors:

• Firstly, according to the provisions of Zen Buddhism - the experience of satori changes the psyche of the practitioner in such a way that he becomes directly accessible (or more intuitively understood) to meditative states, the path to which they can be achieved without using this experience, using traditional Buddhist practices (such as gradual accumulation of merit) can be very long. Whereas, even a single, short-term satori can serve as an instant impulse directly to stable samadhi ("every second Zen", nirvana ), which is the ultimate goal of practicing any kind of Buddhism.
• Secondly, even if, due to this specific experience of satori , the practitioner has not reached complete and final enlightenment, yet each of these experiences increases its likelihood, since satori is a moment of samadhi and accumulates like any experience. Thus, a person becomes more and more predisposed to the knowledge of meditative states.
• In addition, thirdly, this experience is a kind of guiding sign and reward: a sign that the practitioner is doing everything right, and rewards, because the moment of enlightenment is followed by euphoria , like a natural actuation of the so-called " Incentive system ", which enhances its (experience) value for the psyche of the practitioner. That is why the decision of even one single koan can radically change a person.

Obviously, in the above properties, there is some similarity with the experience of catharsis .

It is also necessary to note that due to the above accompanying euphoria , there is always a danger of confusion and the practice of Zen turning into “getting” a false satori , that is, satori - for the sake of euphoria, which many masters warned their students against. So the widespread stereotype “satori is the goal of the practice of Zen” is fundamentally wrong, although satori is indeed an attribute (visiting card) of this teaching.

Ending phrase

If the master is satisfied with how the student decided the koan, then he can instruct the student to pick up the “final phrase” ( jakugo ) for him - a quote from secular or spiritual literature that matches the meaning of the koan.

One-handed cotton

“You can hear the clap of two palms when they hit each other,” Mokurai said. “Now show me the clap of one palm.”

Toyo bowed and went to his room to consider this problem.

From the window he heard the music of geishas. “Ah, I get it!” He exclaimed.

The next evening, when the teacher asked him to show the clap of one palm, Toyo began playing geisha music.

“No, no,” said Mokurai, “it will not work.” It is not the clap of one palm. You did not understand him at all. ”

Thinking that music would interfere, Toyo went to a more peaceful place. He again plunged into meditation. “What could be the clap of one palm?” He heard water dripping.

I get it, Toyo thought.

Facing the teacher the next time, Toyo began to drip with water.

"What is it? Asked Mokurai. “It is the sound of dripping water, but not the sound of a palm.” Try once more".

In vain Toyo meditated to hear the clap of one palm. He heard the sound of the wind, but even that sound was rejected. He heard the scream of an owl, but even that sound was rejected.

More than ten times Toyo came to Mokurai with various sounds, everything was wrong.

For almost a year he thought about what could be the clap of one palm. Finally, little Toyo attained genuine meditation and transcended the limits of sound. “I could no longer collect them,” he explained later, “so I reached a soundless sound.”

Toyo envisioned the clap of one palm.

• Final phrase (jakugo)
• Mondo (Buddhism)
• Mu (denial)
• Original face

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• "Zen Anthology," Ed. Arkaim, 2004