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Kai -kai said:beckysoup what is a koan?
beckysoup61 said:Does anybody have some good koans for me? OR a book that has some? I've recently come across them and fell in love with the idea.
Thanks!
You might enjoy Dropping Ashes on the Buddha, by Seung Sahn. It's not made up entirely of koans -- being Korean, Seung Sahn said kong-an -- but it has a few, and addresses that way of teaching. It's one of my favorites.beckysoup61 said:Does anybody have some good koans for me? OR a book that has some? I've recently come across them and fell in love with the idea.
A koan isn't always a question, and when it is, it doesn't have one definitive answer; whether the answer is appropriate or not is up to the discernment of the teacher. The point is spiritual insight, and not rational discourse.Jensa said:Do all koans have an answer? Do they only have one answer? Can the answers always be vocalized/expressed?
Depends who you talk to.Silicon Hero said:A Koan is a really hard riddle no? Am I right on that?
That's the best concise explanation I have ever read. Well done! :clap2:beckysoup61 said:Depends who you talk to.
To me (not a Buddhist, but a practioner of some aspects of Zen Buddhism), I don't think it is a riddle, to me it's more of a question that can never me answered except to the person who is answering it.
For example, my answer is my answer and I couldn't give it, because it would not be your answer.
Thanks.MidnightBlue said:That's the best concise explanation I have ever read. Well done! :clap2:
(I have no frubals to give at the moment, but I'll try to remember to come back.)