Kōan

A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen.

Etymology

The Japanese term is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word (). The term is a compound word, consisting of the characters "public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable" and "table; desk; (law) case; record; file; plan; proposal."

According to the Yuan dynasty Zen master Zhongfeng Mingben ( 1263–1323), originated as an abbreviation of (, Japanese —literally the "official correspondence; documents; files" of a "government post"), which referred to a "public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang dynasty China. / thus serves as a metaphor for principles of reality beyond the private opinion of one person, and a teacher may test the student's ability to recognize and understand that principle.

Commentaries in collections bear some similarity to judicial decisions that cite and sometimes modify precedents. An article by T. Griffith Foulk claims

was itself originally a metonym—an article of furniture involved in setting legal precedents came to stand for such precedents. For example, () is the original title of ''Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee'', the famous Chinese detective novel based on a historical Tang dynasty judge. Similarly, Zen collections are public records of the notable sayings and actions of Zen masters and disciples attempting to pass on their teachings.

Origins and development

China

Commenting on old cases

developed during the Tang dynasty (618–907) from the recorded sayings collections of Chán masters, which quoted many stories of "a famous past Chán figure's encounter with disciples or other interlocutors and then offering his own comment on it". Those stories and the accompanying comments were used to educate students, and broaden their insight into the Buddhist teachings.

Those stories came to be known as , "public cases". Such a story was only considered a gongan when it was commented upon by another Chán master. This practice of commenting on the words and deeds of past masters confirmed the master's position as an awakened master in a lineage of awakened masters of the past.

Literary practice

practice developed from a literary practice, styling snippets of encounter-dialogue into well-edited stories. It arose in interaction with "educated literati". There were dangers involved in such a literary approach, such as ascribing specific meanings to the cases. Dahui Zonggao is even said to have burned the woodblocks of the ''Blue Cliff Record'', for the hindrance it had become to study of Chán by his students. literature was also influenced by the pre-Zen Chinese tradition of the "literary game"—a competition involving improvised poetry.

The style of writing of Zen texts has been influenced by "a variety of east Asian literary games":

Observing the phrase

During the Song dynasty (960–1297) the use of took a decisive turn. Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163); Japanese: introduced the use of , "observing the phrase". In this practice students were to observe () or concentrate on a single word or phrase (), such as the famous of the .

In the 11th century this practice had become common. A new literary genre developed from this tradition as well. Collections of such commented cases were compiled which consisted of the case itself, accompanied by verse or prose commentary.

Dahui's invention was aimed at balancing the insight developed by reflection on the teachings with developing samatha, calmness of mind. Ironically, this development became in effect ''silent illumination'', a " e-absorbingof -study into the "silence" of meditation ()". It led to a rejection of Buddhist learning:

This development left Chinese Chán vulnerable to criticisms by neo-Confucianism, which developed after the Sung Dynasty. Its anti-intellectual rhetoric was no match for the intellectual discourse of the neo-Confucianists.

Interaction

The recorded encounter dialogues, and the collections which derived from this genre, mark a shift from solitary practice to interaction between master and student:

This mutual enquiry of the meaning of the encounters of masters and students of the past gave students a role model:

training requires a qualified teacher who has the ability to judge a disciple's depth of attainment. In the Rinzai Zen school, which uses s extensively, the teacher certification process includes an appraisal of proficiency in using that school's extensive curriculum.

Contemporary use

In China and Korea, "observing the phrase" is still the sole form of practice, though Seung Sahn used the Rinzai-style of practice in his Kwan Um School of Zen.

Japan

Japanese Zen, both Rinzai and Sōtō, took over the use of study and commenting. In Sōtō-Zen, commentary was not linked to seated meditation.

manuals

When the Chán tradition was introduced in Japan, Japanese monks had to master the Chinese language and specific expressions used in the training. The desired "spontaneity" expressed by enlightened masters required a thorough study of Chinese language and poetry. Japanese Zen imitated the Chinese "syntax and stereotyped norms".

In the officially recognized monasteries belonging to the (Five Mountain System) the Chinese system was fully continued. Senior monks were supposed to compose Chinese verse in a complex style of matched counterpoints known as . It took a lot of literary and intellectual skills for a monk to succeed in this system.

The Rinka monasteries, the provincial temples with less control of the state, laid less stress on the correct command of the Chinese cultural idiom. These monasteries developed "more accessible methods of instruction". It had three features:
#A standardized curriculum;
#A standardized set of answers based on stereotypes Chinese sayings;
#A standardized method of secretly guiding students through the curriculum of and answers.

By standardizing the curriculum every generation of students proceeded to the same series of s. Students had to memorize a set number of stereotyped sayings, , "appended words". The proper series of responses for each were taught by the master in private instruction sessions to selected individual students who would inherit the dharma lineage.

and , "Records of secret instruction" have been preserved for various Rinzai lineages. They contain both the curricula and the standardized answers. In Sōtō-Zen they are called , an abbreviation of , "secret instructions of the lineage". The follow a standard question-and-answer format. A series of questions is given, to be asked by the master. The answers are also given by the master, to be memorized by the student.

Contemporary curricula

In the 18th century the Rinzai school became dominated by the legacy of Hakuin, who laid a strong emphasis on study as a means to gain and develop insight. There are two curricula used in Rinzai, both derived from the principal heirs of Rinzai: the Takuju curriculum, and the Inzan curriculum. According to AMA Samy, "the s and their standard answers are fixed."

Suppression in the Sōtō school

During the late 18th and 19th century the tradition of commentary became suppressed in the Sōtō school, due to a reform movement that sought to standardise the procedures for dharma transmission. One reason for suppressing the tradition in the Sōtō school may have been to highlight the differences with the Rinzai school, and create a clear identity. This movement also started to venerate Dogen as the founding teacher of the Sōtō school. His teachings became the standard for the Sōtō teachings, neglecting the fact that Dogen himself made extensive use of commentary.

Doctrinal background

The popular western understanding sees ''kōan'' as referring to an unanswerable question or a meaningless or absurd statement. However, in Zen practice, a kōan is not meaningless, and not a riddle or a puzzle. Teachers do expect students to present an appropriate response when asked about a kōan.

Koans are also understood as pointers to an unmediated "Pure Consciousness", devoid of cognitive activity. Victor Hori criticizes this understanding:

According to Hori, a central theme of many koans is the 'identity of opposites':

Comparable statements are: "Look at the flower and the flower also looks"; "Guest and host interchange".

Koan-practice

Study of kōan literature is common to all schools of Zen, though with varying emphases and curricula. The Rinzai-school uses extensive koan-curricula, checking questions, and ''jakogo'' ("capping phrases", quotations from Chinese poetry) in its use of koans. The Sanbo Kyodan, and its western derivates of Taizan Maezumi and the White Plum Asanga, also use koan-curricula, but have omitted the use of capping phrases. In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, the emphasis is on Hua Tou, the study of one koan throughout one's lifetime. In Japanese Sōtō Zen, the use of koans has been abandoned since the late eighteenth and nineteenth century.

Hua-tou or breakthrough-koan

In the Rinzai-school, the Sanbo Kyodan, and the White Plum Asanga, koan practice starts with the assignment of a ''hosshi'' or "break-through koan", usually the mu-koan or "the sound of one hand clapping". In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, various koan can be used for the hua-tou practice.

Students are instructed to concentrate on the "word-head", like the phrase "mu". In the Wumenguan (Mumonkan), public case No. 1 ("Zhaozhou's Dog"), Wumen (Mumon) wrote:

Arousing this great inquiry or "Great Doubt" is an essential element of kōan practice. It builds up "strong internal pressure (''gidan''), never stopping knocking from within at the door of hemind, demanding to be resolved". To illustrate the enormous concentration required in kōan meditation, Zen Master Wumen commented,

Analysing the koan for its literal meaning won't lead to insight, though understanding the context from which koans emerged can make them more intelligible. For example, when a monk asked Zhaozhou (Joshu) "does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?", the monk was referring to the understanding of the teachings on Buddha-nature, which were understood in the Chinese context of absolute and relative reality.

Insight

The continuous pondering of the break-through koan (''shokan'') or Hua Tou, "word head", leads to kensho, an initial insight into "seeing the (Buddha-)nature.

The aim of the break-through koan is to see the "nonduality of subject and object":

Various accounts can be found which describe this "becoming one" and the resulting breakthrough:

But the use of the mu-koan has also been criticised. According to AMA Samy, the main aim is merely to "'become one' with the koan". Showing to have 'become one' with the first koan is enough to pass the first koan. According to Samy, this is not equal to prajna:

Testing insight – or learning responses

Sassho – Checking questions

Teachers may probe students about their kōan practice using ''sassho'', "checking questions" to validate their satori (understanding) or kensho (seeing the nature). For the ''mu-koan'' and the ''clapping hand-koan'' there are twenty to a hundred checking questions, depending on the teaching lineage. The checking questions serve to deepen the insight or '' kyōgai'' of the student, but also to test his or her understanding.

Those checking questions, and their answers, are part of a standardised set of questions and answers. Students are learning a "ritual performance", learning how to behave and respond in specific ways, learning "clever repartees, ritualized language and gestures and be submissive to the master’s diktat and arbitration."

Jakugo – Capping phrases

In the Rinzai-school, passing a koan and the checking questions has to be supplemented by '' jakugo'', "capping phrases", citations of Chinese poetry to demonstrate the insight. Students can use collections of those citations, instead of composing poetry themselves.

Post-satori practice

After the initial insight further practice is necessary, to deepen the insight and learn to express it in daily life. In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, this further practice consists of further pondering of the same Hua Tou. In Rinzai-Zen, this further practice is undertaken by further koan-study, for which elaborate curricula exist. In Sōtō-Zen, Shikantaza is the main practice for deepening insight.

Varieties in koan-practice

Chinese Chán and Korean Seon

In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, the primary form of Koan-study is ''kanhua'', "reflection on the koan", also called Hua Tou, "word head". In this practice, a fragment of the koan, such as "''mu''", or a "what is"-question is used by focusing on this fragment and repeating it over and over again:Dharmanet, ''Huatou''
/ref>

The student is assigned only one hua-tou for a lifetime. In contrast to the similar-sounding "who am I?" question of Ramana Maharshi, hua-tou involves raising "great doubt":Nonduality Magazine (2010), ''Interview with Stuart Lachs''
/ref>

Japanese Rinzai

Kōan practice is particularly important among Japanese practitioners of the Rinzai sect.

Importance of koan-study

This importance is reflected in writings in the Rinzai-school on the koan-genre. Zhongfeng Mingben (1263–1323), a Chinese Chán-master who lived at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, revitalized the Rinzai-tradition, and put a strong emphasis on the use of koans. He saw the kung-ans as "work of literature hatshould be used as objective, universal standards to test the insight of monks who aspired to be recognized as Ch'an masters":

Musō Soseki (1275–1351), a Japanese contemporary of Zhongfeng Mingben, relativized the use of koans. The study of koans had become popular in Japan, due to the influence of Chinese masters such as Zhongfeng Mingben. Despite belonging to the Rinzai-school, Musō Soseki also made extensive use of ''richi'' (teaching), explaining the sutras, instead of ''kikan'' (koan). According to Musō Soseki, both are ''upaya'', "skillful means" meant to educate students. Musō Soseki called both ''shōkogyu'', "little jewels", tools to help the student to attain satori.

Koan curricula

In Rinzai a gradual succession of koans is studied. There are two general branches of curricula used within Rinzai, derived from the principal heirs of Rinzai: the Takuju curriculum, and the Inzan curriculum. However, there are a number of sub-branches of these, and additional variations of curriculum often exist between individual teaching lines which can reflect the recorded experiences of a particular lineage's members. Koan curricula are, in fact, subject to continued accretion and evolution over time, and thus are best considered living traditions of practice rather than set programs of study.

Koan practice starts with the ''shokan'', or "first barrier", usually the mu-koan or the koan "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" After having attained ''kensho'', students continue their practice investigating subsequent koans. In the Takuju-school, after breakthrough students work through the ''Gateless Gate'' (Mumonkan), the ''Blue Cliff Record'' (Hekigan-roku), the ''Entangling Vines'' (Shumon Kattoshu), and the ''Collection of Wings of the Blackbird'' (, ''Chin'u shū''). The Inzan-school uses its own internally generated list of koans.

Hakuin's descendants developed a fivefold classification system:
#''Hosshin'', dharma-body koans, are used to awaken the first insight into sunyata. They reveal the dharmakaya, or Fundamental. They introduce "the undifferentitated and the unconditional".
#''Kikan'', dynamic action koans, help to understand the phenomenal world as seen from the awakened point of view; Where ''hosshin'' koans represent ''tai'', substance, ''kikan'' koans represent ''yu'', function.
#''Gonsen'', explication of word koans, aid to the understanding of the recorded sayings of the old masters. They show how the Fundamental, though not depending on words, is nevertheless expressed in words, without getting stuck to words.
#''Hachi Nanto'', eight "difficult to pass" koans. There are various explanations for this category, one being that these koans cut off clinging to the previous attainment. They create another Great Doubt, which shatters the self attained through ''satori''. It is uncertain which are exactly those eight koans. Hori gives various sources, which altogether give ten ''hachi nanto'' koans:
#*Miura and Sasaki:
#**Nansen's Flower (Hekigan-roku Case 40)
#**A Buffalo Passes the Window (Mumonkan Case 38)
#**Sōzan's Memorial Tower (Kattō-shō Case 140)
#**Suigan's Eyebrows (Hekigan-roku Case 8)
#**Enkan's Rhinoceros Fan (Hekigan-roku Case 91)
#*Shimano:
#**The Old Woman Burns the Hut (Kattō-shō Case 162)
#*Asahina Sōgen:
#**Goso Hōen's "Hakuun Said 'Not Yet'" (Kattō-shō Case 269)
#**Shuzan's Main Cable (Kattō-shō Case 280).
#*Akizuki:
#**Nansen Has Died (Kattō-shō Case 282)
#**Kenpō’s Three Illnesses (Kattō-shō Case 17).
#''Goi jujukin'' koans, the Five Ranks of Tozan and the Ten Grave Precepts.

According to Akizuki there was an older classification-system, in which the fifth category was ''Kojo'', "Directed upwards". This category too was meant to rid the monk of any "stink of Zen". The very advanced practitioner may also receive the ''Matsugo no rokan'', "The last barrier, and ''Saigo no ikketsu'', "The final confirmation". "The last barrier" when one left the training hall, for example "Sum up all of the records of Rinzai in one word!" It is not meant to be solved immediately, but to be carried around in order to keep practising. "the final confirmation" may be another word for the same kind of koan.

Post-satori practice

Completing the koan-curriculum in the Rinzai-schools traditionally also led to a mastery of Chinese poetry and literary skills:

After completing the koan-training, ''Gogo no shugyo'', post-satori training is necessary:

Breathing practices

Hakuin Ekaku, the 17th century revitalizer of the Rinzai school, taught several practices which serve to correct physical and mental imbalances arising from, among other things, incorrect or excessive koan practice. The "soft-butter" method (''nanso no ho'') and "introspection method" (''naikan no ho'') involve cultivation of ki centered on the tanden (Chinese:dantian). These practices are described in Hakuin's works Orategama and Yasen Kanna, and are still taught in some Rinzai lineages today.

Japanese Sōtō

Though few Sōtō practitioners concentrate on kōans during meditation, the Sōtō sect has a strong historical connection with kōans, since many kōan collections were compiled by Sōtō priests.

During the 13th century, Dōgen, founder of the Sōtō sect in Japan, quoted 580 kōans in his teachings. He compiled some 300 kōans in the volumes known as the Greater Shōbōgenzō. Dōgen wrote of Genjokōan, which points out that everyday life experience is the fundamental kōan.

However, according to Michel Mohr,

Sanbo Kyodan and White Plum Asanga

The Sanbo Kyodan school and the White Plum Asanga, which originated with the Sōtō-priest Hakuun Yasutani, incorporates koan-study. The Sanbo kyodan places great emphasis on kensho, initial insight into one's true nature, as a start of real practice. It follows the so-called Harada-Yasutani koan-curriculum, which is derived from Hakuin's student Takuju. It is a shortened koan-curriculum, in which the so-called "capping phrases" are removed. The curriculum takes considerably less time to study than the Takuju-curriculum of Rinzai.

To attain kensho, most students are assigned the mu-koan. After breaking through, the student first studies twenty-two "in-house" koans, which are "unpublished and not for the general public", but are nevertheless published and commented upon.Ruben L. F. Habito (2007), ''Foreword to Flowing Bridge: The Miscellaneous Koans''
/ref> There-after, the students goes through the ''Gateless Gate'' (Mumonkan), the ''Blue Cliff Record'', the ''Book of Equanimity'', and the ''Record of Transmitting the Light''. The koan-curriculum is completed by the Five ranks of Tozan and the precepts.

Classical kōan collections

Kōans collectively form a substantial body of literature studied by Zen practitioners and scholars worldwide. Kōan collections commonly referenced in English include:
*The ''Blue Cliff Record'' (Chinese: ''Bìyán Lù''; Japanese: ''Hekiganroku''), 12th century;
*The ''Book of Equanimity'' (also known as the ''Book of Serenity''; Chinese: ''Cóngróng Lù''; Japanese: ''Shoyoroku''), 12th century;
*'' The Gateless Gate'' (also known as ''The Gateless Barrier''; Chinese: ''Wúménguān''; Japanese: ''Mumonkan'') collected during the 13th century).
In these and subsequent collections, a terse "main case" of a kōan often accompanies prefatory remarks, poems, proverbs and other phrases, and further commentary about prior emendations.

The Blue Cliff Record

The ''Blue Cliff Record'' (Chinese: Bìyán Lù; Japanese: Hekiganroku) is a collection of 100 kōans compiled in 1125 by Yuanwu Keqin ( 1063–1135).

The Book of Equanimity

The ''Book of Equanimity'' or ''Book of Serenity'' (Chinese: Cóngróng lù; Japanese: Shōyōroku) is a collection of 100 Kōans by Hongzhi Zhengjue (Chinese: ; Japanese: Wanshi Shōgaku) (1091–1157), compiled with commentaries by Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246). The full title is ''The Record of the Temple of Equanimity With the Classic Odes of Venerable Tiantong Jue and the Responsive Commentary of Old Man Wansong'' (Wansong Laoren Pingchang Tiantong Jue Heshang Songgu Congrong An Lu) (Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 48, No. 2004)

The Gateless Gate

'' The Gateless Gate'' (Chinese: Wumenguan; Japanese: Mumonkan) is a collection of 48 kōans and commentaries published in 1228 by Chinese monk Wumen () (1183–1260). The title may be more accurately rendered as ''Gateless Barrier'' or ''Gateless Checkpoint'').

Five kōans in the collection derive from the sayings and doings of Zhaozhou Congshen, (transliterated as Chao-chou in Wade-Giles and pronounced Jōshū in Japanese).

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

Dahui Zonggao (大慧宗杲) (1089–1163) the ''Zhengfayan zang'' (正法眼藏), "Treasury of the true dharma eye" (W-G.: Cheng-fa yen-tsang, (J.: Shōbōgenzō) a collection of koans and dialogues compiled between 1147 and 1150 by Dahui Zonggao . Dahui's 'Treasury' is composed of three scrolls prefaced by three short introductory pieces. The Zongmen liandeng huiyao 宗門聯燈會要 was compiled in 1183 by Huiweng Wuming 晦翁悟明 (n.d.), three generations after Dahui in the same line; the sermon is found in zh 20 (x 79: 173a).

Other kōan collections compiled and annotated by Sōtō priests include:
*''Treasury of the true dharma eye'' (Jap. ''Shobogenzo'' (正法眼蔵), compiled by Eihei Dogen (永平道元), 13th Century.
*''The Iron Flute'' (Japanese: ''Tetteki Tōsui'' 鐵笛倒吹, compiled by Genrō Ōryū 玄楼奥龍 in 1783)
*''Verses and Commentaries on One Hundred Old Cases of Tenchian'' (Japanese: ''Tenchian hyakusoku hyoju'', compiled by Tetsumon in 1771.)

Examples of traditional kōans

Does a dog have Buddha-nature

("Zhaozhou" is rendered as "Chao-chou" in Wade-Giles, and pronounced "Joshu" in Japanese. "Wu" appears as "mu" in Japanese, meaning "no", "not", "nonbeing", or "without" in English. This is a fragment of Case No. 1 of the '' Wúménguān''. However, another koan presents a longer version, in which Zhaozhou answered "yes" in response to the same question asked by a different monk: see Case No. 18 of the ''Book of Serenity''.)

The sound of one hand

Victor Hori comments:

Original face

Huìnéng asked Hui Ming, "Without thinking of good or evil, show me your original face before your mother and father were born." (This is a fragment of case No. 23 of the ''Wumenguan''.)

Killing the Buddha

Other koans

*A student asked Master Yun-Men (949 AD) "Not even a thought has arisen; is there still a sin or not?"
::Master replied, "Mount Sumeru!"
*A monk asked Dongshan Shouchu, "What is Buddha?" Dongshan said, "Three pounds of flax."
::(This is a fragment of case No. 18 of the ''Wumenguan'' as well as case No. 12 of the ''Blue Cliff Record''.)
*A monk asked Ummon, "What is the teaching that transcends the Buddha and patriarchs?"
::Ummon said, "A sesame bun."
::(From the ''Blue Cliff Record'', case no. 77)
*A monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is the meaning of the ancestral teacher's (i.e., Bodhidharma's) coming from the west?"
::Zhaozhou said, "The cypress tree in front of the hall."
::(This is a fragment of case No. 37 of the ''Wumenguan'' as well as case No. 47 of the ''Book of Serenity''.)

Cultural legacy

Gentō Sokuchū, the 18th century abbot of Dogen's Eihei-ji, aggressively sought to reform Sōtō from all things 'foreign' and associated with Rinzai, including kōans. The unorthodox Zen monk Ikkyū contemplated kōans for years while creating dolls for a merchant in Kyoto, specifically penetrating the case no. 15 from '' The Gateless Gate'' and thereafter earning his dharma name ''Ikkyū''.

Facing criticism by Buddhists such as Philip Kapleau and D. T. Suzuki for misunderstanding Zen, Alan Watts claimed that a kōan supported his lack of zazen practice. On the topic, Suzuki claimed: "I regret to say that Mr. Watts did not understand that story."

Douglas Hofstadter's 1979 book '' Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid'' discusses Zen kōans in relation to paradoxical questions and perceiving reality outside of one's experience.Douglas Hofstadter (1980), ''Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid'', Penguin Books wrote on the subject of the paradoxical elements of his ''Dune'' series:

The 1989 South Korean film ''Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East?'' bases much of its narrative on kōans, with its title deriving from a particular kōan about the founder of Zen, Bodhidharma.

After becoming smitten with Zen (even offering to turn his own house into a zendo), filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky meditated and studied koans with the traveling monk Ejo Takata (1928-1997). After the release of '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky gave a talk at the University of Mexico on the subject of kōans. After this talk, Takata gifted Jodorowsky his keisaku, believing that the filmmaker had mastered the ability to understand kōans.

In the 1958 novel ''The Dharma Bums'', Jack Kerouac paraphrases the Yunmen ''shit-stick'' kōan as: "The Buddha is a dried piece of turd." Kerouac, Jack (1958), ''The Dharma Bums'', Viking Press, p. 173. The second volume of the manga ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima is titled 'The Gateless Barrier' and revolves around a Linji kōan (''"If you meet a Buddha, kill him."'') as the protagonist is tasked to kill a troublesome “living Buddha”.

In hacker culture, funny short stories concerning computer science developed, named hacker koans. The book Jargon File contains many kōans, including the ''AI Koans''. ''The Codeless Code'' is another book about software engineers at big businesses instead of unix hackers, deriving its title from the '' Gateless Gate''.

The song False Prophet by Bob Dylan includes the line: "I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet", a reference to a Gateless Gate kōan ("You must climb a mountain of swords with bare feet"). British musical artist Brian Eno collaborated with Intermorphic on developing a generative music software system named ''Koan''. In 2009, American composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey released his second album, ''Koan''.

The 1997 novel '' The Sound of One Hand Clapping'' by Richard Flanagan (and its 1998 film adaptation of the same name) derives its title from a kōan by Hakuin Ekaku. The episode of the 2014 first season of ''Fargo'' entitled ''Eating the Blame'' derives its episode title from a koan of the same name from the ''Shasekishū''. Cyriaque Lamar of io9 stated that the approach to technology in '' Tron: Legacy'' was reminiscent of kōans.

See also

;Buddhism
*Kirigami
*Koans mentioning Subhuti, Tanzan, and Tetsugen
* List of koans by Yunmen Wenyan
* Mu-koan
*Original face
*Wild fox koan
;Christianity
* Apophatic theology
;Other
*Hacker koans, humorous expressions of hacker culture

Notes

References

Book references

Web references

Sources

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Further reading

*Loori, John Daido. ''Sitting with Koans: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Koan Study''. Wisdom Publications, 2005.
*Steven Heine, and Dale S. Wright, eds. ''The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism.'' Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
*Hoffmann, Yoel.tr. ''The Sound of the One Hand.'' Basic Books, 1975. This book contains examples of how some Zen practitioners answer the koans "correctly". Originally published in Japan almost a century ago as a critique of fossilization of Zen, that is formalization of koan practice.

External links

Zen Buddhism Koan Study Pages

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