Some interesting koans ...
Last week I came across a (by now a bit tatty) piece of paper that was given to me years ago, at a meditation retreat. When we arrived, we each found one propped up, on our pillow. On each person's piece of paper were printed a different set of questions. This bit of paper has travelled around with me quite a bit: it has lived on my bathroom mirror, propped up in my car, on the inside of a cupboard door, pinned up in my office, and most recently it has lived as a bookmark.
Even though not a traditional koan, each question is a koan to me because they provoke doubt - and often raise more questions than provide answers. Besides, the point of a koan is not to provide the answer, but rather to stir up the mind, see beyond duality and tap into or reflect our personal experiential knowledge. I find these questions continue to do just that.
The definition of a koan:
(kōan (公案) (/ˈkoʊ.ɑːn/; Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn, [kʊ́ŋ ân]; Korean: 공안 kong'an; Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement, which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and test a student's progress in Zen practice.
The questions are:
"Why has thought invented marvellous things and also created wars, and destroyed human beings?"
"Why has thought made god and the image of god?"
"Who is the observer who is observing the nature of thinking?"
"Can the fact be observed without the ideal of it? Is the fact of being violent different from me, my nature, my way of looking?"
"Can this thing called fear be ended immediately?"
"is enquiry argument, opinion or is it observation without analysis?"
"To meditate is to observe yourself for you are totally responsible for your body, mind, thought."
... I would love to hear from you if you have thoughts or comments.
