Zen Koan introspection & Catholic Lectio Divina

[Vouthon]

I was reading up a little on the practice within Zen Buddhism known as Koan instrospection. I found some (to my mind at least) intriguing possible parallels with a central practice of traditional Roman Catholic spirituality, known as Lectio Divina. It is an ancient monastic contemplative practice (which the church encourages laity to utilize as well) leading to the fullness of the mystical life. It involves:


Lectio - the slow, spiritual reading of a scripture passage

Meditatio - meditating on the passage (ie reflecting on it)

Oratio - The movement of one's whole heart or being (affective prayer), opening up to God through the words

Contemplatio - One simply rests in God without any thoughts or rational analysis, neither using imagination or the memory. It is not an act of doing but rather that of being.


Lectio Divina is an art that a Catholic monk or layperson hones over time. The aim of the process is to help the practitioner move beyond intellectual reasoning, resulting in direct realization of the reality of God above thought in which the contemplative perceives an insight without the use of sense-perception but rather intuitively. The first elements in the process nevertheless make use of discursive thought and reflection, so as to exhaust these faculties as one moves beyond them, naturally.


It was neatly summarized by the 12th century mystic and monk known as "Guigio II":

"...Reading, meditation, prayer, [and] contemplation: lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio. Reading is careful study of [Sacred] Scripture, with the soul’s [whole] attention: Meditation is the studious action of the mind to investigate hidden truth, led by one’s own reason. Prayer is the heart’s devoted attending to God, so that evil may be removed and good may be obtained. Contemplation is the mind suspended -somehow elevated above itself - in God so that it tastes the joys of everlasting sweetness. Reading accords with exercise of the outward [senses]; meditation accords with interior understanding; prayer accords with desire; contemplation is above all senses..."

- Guigo II (1140-1193), The Ladder of Monks

Now, the Zen practice of koan introspection reminds me somewhat of Lectio Divina.

A koan is a short, paradoxical and pithy saying or aphorism; which is often written in the form of a poetic puzzle. Zen Buddhists use introspection with the koan to "trip up the rational, analytical, philosophical mind, making room for satori (enlightenment)".

From what I've managed to learn Zen Buddhists sit with koans. Some lecture or speak discursively on them, perhaps they may do this first as with the Catholic meditation (reflective) stage. Afterwards however they don't think about the koan in a discursive or analytical; way nor do they try to rationally "figure out" what it means. Concentration on the koan takes the form of quiet meditation in which the person does not take recourse to analytical thoughts but rather attains a deeper, more intuitive insight from this reading. This seems similar to the oratio and contemplatio stages of the Catholic practice.

Now, I think that there is some differences regarding how koans are used among different "schools".

I would be very pleased if some Zen Buddhists could discuss with me their knowledge of the practice of koan introspection so that I can compare/contrast it with Lectio Divina.

 

[crossfire]

Actually, I see the trinity as being the Christian koan.

 

[Jainarayan]

And Advaita in Hinduism. It's a mind-bender.

 

[Vouthon]

Actually, I see the trinity as being the Christian koan.

I would agree with you there actually

But I'm speaking more of a practice in which koans are used rather than the koans themselves which I agree are more similar to the paradox of the Trinity.

Nevertheless, Catholics have also used the stages of Lectio Divina to contemplate on "life" experiences (such as one's week, to gain perspective and insight) and indeed mysteries of faith such as the Trinity, so the same logic can apply to the Trinity.

I'm looking to compare/contrast the practice of Zen introspection meditation with the practice of Lectio Divina (whether used as usual on a sacred text, or on something else, indeed even the Trinity). The actual text of the scripture verse/passage vs the koan is not really what I'm wanting to compare.

So just to clarify:

I'm talking about a practice I've read about in which the person uses koans as a meditative tool and not necessarily the nature of the koans themselves.

I hope that makes my meaning clearer

 

[crossfire]

I would agree with you there actually

But I'm speaking more of a practice in which koans are used rather than the koans themselves which I agree are more similar to the paradox of the Trinity.

Nevertheless, Catholics have also used the stages of Lectio Divina to contemplate on "life" experiences (such as one's week, to gain perspective and insight) and indeed mysteries of faith such as the Trinity, so the same logic can apply to the Trinity.

I'm looking to compare/contrast the practice of Zen introspection meditation with the practice of Lectio Divina (whether used as usual on a sacred text, or on something else, indeed even the Trinity). The actual text of the scripture verse/passage vs the koan is not really what I'm wanting to compare.

So just to clarify:

I'm talking about a practice I've read about in which the person uses koans as a meditative tool and not necessarily the nature of the koans themselves.

I hope that makes my meaning clearer

That's not how I approach a koan.

• I sit with the koan, enjoying the solitude of just me and the koan--no outside distractions.
• I'll let "monkey mind" run wild with the koan, exploring all the possibilities and having fun with it, while "quiet mind" finds joy along with "monkey mind's" joyful enthusiasm.
• When "monkey mind" gets tired out and exhausted from playing with the koan, then "quiet mind" will contemplate and concentrate on monkey mind's findings/ramblings. "Monkey mind & quiet mind share a meal."
• "Quiet discernment," or "quiet mind and monkey mind digest the meal."
• "Just sitting with it with clear and unified mind."

 

[Vouthon]

That's not how I approach a koan.

• I sit with the koan, enjoying the solitude of just me and the koan--no outside distractions.
• I'll let "monkey mind" run wild with the koan, exploring all the possibilities and having fun with it, while "quiet mind" finds joy along with "monkey mind's" joyful enthusiasm.
• When "monkey mind" gets tired out and exhausted from playing with the koan, then "quiet mind" will contemplate and concentrate on monkey mind's findings/ramblings. "Monkey mind & quiet mind share a meal."
• "Quiet discernment," or "quiet mind and monkey mind digest the meal."
• "Just sitting with it with clear and unified mind."

Excellent stuff! Thank you for giving me your personal method for using koans

Firstly your analogy to "digesting a meal" is striking (whether your own or a common analogy).

Guigo II used the analogy of digestion to explain Lectio Divina in his "Ladder of Monks":

"...Reading puts as it were whole food into your mouth; meditation chews it and breaks it down; prayer finds its savour; contemplation is the sweetness that so delights and strengthens..."

- Guigo II (1140-1193), The Ladder of Monks

Monkey mind vs quiet mind:

So "monkey mind" would be rambling thought, that is unsettled or restless? Just random? And "quiet mind" would be a slower, more concentrated focus? So its kind of like a "duality" which then becomes a "Unity"?

In the meditation (meditatio) stage of Lectio Divina we usually "ruminate" ie

One approach to Scripture that calls us to work through the text in a very intentional way is lectio divina (divine reading), an ancient form of prayer in which we ruminate on the text in order to encounter God. Cows are ruminant animals–they chew the cud, working through it again and again to get every ounce of nourishment out of it. When we ruminate on a text, we work through it over and over again in order to get everything the Lord has for us out of his Word.

And:

The second phase of Lectio Divina is the "meditatio" where we "ruminate, reflect on and digest" the word of God. With an inspired thoughtfulness we then seek to connect it to the reality of our daily lives

The idea of "no outside distractions" or solitude fits with Lectio. That is actually the first preparation for it. Conception Abbey explains on their article on the practice:

The practice of lectio divina is best done in an environment of silence, where distractions are few

And as Guigo II explains in his "Twelve Meditations":

"...Let all my world be silent in your presence, Lord, so that I may hear what the Lord God may say in my heart. Your words are so softly spoken that no one can hear them except in a deep silence. But to hear them lifts one who sits alone and in silence completely above one’s natural powers, because the one who humbles oneself will be lifted up..."

- Guigo II (1140-1193), The Twelve Meditations (No.1)

 

[Secret Chief]

Koans are associated with Rinzai Zen, but not excusively. The practice is intended to shatter the rational mind, since this is the barrier to true awakening. A rational answer is not possible or is not appropriate. It is a hint as to the window on reality, rather than delusion.

I am not a koan user.

 

[Vouthon]

Koans are associated with Rinzai Zen, but not excusively. The practice is intended to shatter the rational mind, since this is the barrier to true awakening. A rational answer is not possible or is not appropriate. It is a hint as to the window on reality, rather than delusion.

I am not a koan user.

This confirms what I had thought and read regarding Koan introspection being used to "shatter" or "trip up" (as my book said) the "rational, thinking, analytical" mind so as to attain awareness. Hence why koans are deliberately paradoxical and to the rational mind apparently intelligible.

Lectio Divina often uses scripture passages or sacred verses from spiritual sayings by the masters (ie Church Fathers, Desert Fathers & Mothers, medieval mystics), which are variable in meaning from the (seemingly) plain to the abstruse and paradoxical (as with Meister Eckhart). However even with plain texts it seeks first to look beyond the surface, literal meaning to find "hidden wisdom" and then to simply rest in a wordless communion with the reality signified by the words/meaning and move beyond the rational mind and senses, to a more deeper, intuitive insight that does not use reasoning thought at all.

I therefore think that the "end" is quite similar, even if the "mode" (the actual text used) is variable.

 

[Secret Chief]

Whenever I see stuff like this, I think of Thomas Merton. Have you checked out his writings? Not only was he a Christian interested in interfaith, particularly zen, he appreciated a good beer.

What's not to like!!???

 

[Vouthon]

Whenever I see stuff like this, I think of Thomas Merton. Have you checked out his writings? Not only was he a Christian interested in interfaith, particularly zen, he appreciated a good beer.

What's not to like!!???

lol :bow: I like a Budweiser myself (I actually had a nice cold one earlier on in the afternoon. I was given a crate by a neighbour for looking after their cats. Awfully kind. I have a little "tipple" when the heat gets to me. Nothing better than a nice cold drink when there's a heatwave on )

I've read some works by Merton. What I have read - such as his biography the Seven-Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, Asian Journal and a few of his letters - did impress me.

There's a remarkable statement of his on sunyata:

[At Polonnaruwa] I am able to approach the Buddhas barefoot and undisturbed, my feet in wet grass, wet sand. Then the silence of the extraordinary faces. The great smiles. Huge and yet subtle. Filled with every possibility, questioning nothing, knowing everything, rejecting nothing, the peace not of emotional resignation but of sunyata, that has seen through every question without trying to discredit anyone or anything - without refutation – without establishing some argument. For the doctrinaire, the mind that needs well established positions, such peace, such silence, can be frightening.

I was knocked over with a rush of relief and thankfulness at the obvious clarity of the figures, the clarity and fluidity of shape and line, the design of the monumental bodies composed into the rock shape and landscape, figure rock and tree. And the sweep of bare rock slopping away on the other side of the hollow, where you can go back and see different aspects of the figures. Looking at these figures I was suddenly, almost forcibly, jerked clean out of the habitual, half-tied vision of things, and an inner clearness, clarity, as if exploding from the rocks themselves, became evident and obvious. The queer evidence of the reclining figure, the smile, the sad smile of Ananda standing with arms folded (much more “imperative” than Da Vinci's Mona Lisa because completely simple and straightforward).

The thing about all this is that there is no puzzle, no problem and really no “mystery.” All problems are resolved and everything is clear, simply because what matters is clear. The rock, all matter, all life is charged with dharmakaya... everything is emptiness and everything is compassion. I don't know when in my life I have ever had such a sense of beauty and spiritual validity running together in one aesthetic illumination. ... I mean, I know and have seen what I was obscurely looking for. I don't know what else remains, but I have now seen and have pierced through the surface and have got beyond the shadow and the disguise. ...

It says everything, it needs nothing. And because it needs nothing it can afford to be silent, unnoticed, undiscovered. It does not need to be discovered. It is we who need to discover it.

From: The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton

Undoubtedly, to my mind, he was a remarkable Trappist monk. Very committed to his Catholic monastic heritage but also universalistic.

In the last year of his life, he wrote in his journal while traveling through Asia:

Last night I dreamed I was, temporarily, back at Gethsemani. I was dressed in a Buddhist monk’s habit, but with more black and red and gold, a "Zen habit," in color more Tibetan than Zen . . . I met some women in the corridor, visitors and students of Asian religion, to whom I was explaining I was a kind of Zen monk and Gelugpa together, when I woke up. (Asian Journal, 107)

 

[crossfire]

Like dark chocolate, I really enjoy gnoshing on a good koan. (And it is possible to overdose on both!)

My way of approaching a koan is my own style, and the analogies I used are my own, so I wouldn't count it as being "authentic zen" or anything like that.

 

[Secret Chief]

Merton writes beautifully.

 

[Vouthon]

Like dark chocolate, I really enjoy gnoshing on a good koan. (And it is possible to overdose on both!)

My way of approaching a koan is my own style, and the analogies I used are my own, so I wouldn't count it as being "authentic zen" or anything like that.

Tat.

I kinda guessed that the food analogy was your own unique style, however it was a good one with a parallel in my own tradition, so I sure appreciated it

I think we all approach meditative/contemplative practices in our own way, to an extent. Lectio Divina certainly has many "variants" within the general schema.

 

[Twilight Hue]

A way of approaching a koan is to equate it as a searing red hot ball of iron lodged in the throat that cannot ever be removed or dislodged in any matter. Just there as it is.

Not sure if Lectio Divina*is approached in the same manner as in solving a Zen koan. I would surmise it's more in line with insight meditation.

 

[Vouthon]

A way of approaching a koan is to equate it as a searing red hot ball of iron lodged in the throat that cannot ever be removed or dislodged in any matter. Just there as it is.

Not sure if Lectio Divina*is approached in the same manner as in solving a Zen koan. I would surmise it's more in line with insight meditation.

Dear Nowhere

Thank you for the post.

Wow, that is some strong imagery my friend. A searing hot iron in the throat :run:

Interesting the allusion to insight meditation. I once read a book comparing St. John of the Cross' mysticism with insight meditation. Fascinating reading.

 

[Windwalker]

I have heard those that compare the parables of Jesus with the koans.

 

[Vouthon]

I have heard those that compare the parables of Jesus with the koans.

You know, that comparison has never really occurred to me before

The Gospels are one of the main texts that Catholics use for Lectio Divina and out of them the parables are often the most used.

Jesus did admit that he spoke cryptically in his parables:

"...And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables..."

- Mark 4:11

I am reminded also of the prologue to the Gospel of Thomas:

These are the hidden sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.

(1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death."

(2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."

 

[Windwalker]

You know, that comparison has never really occurred to me before

The Gospels are one of the main texts that Catholics use for Lectio Divina and out of them the parables are often the most used.

I had to look up where I recalled that from. It was in the book The Wisdom Jesus by Cynthia Bourgeault. She says on page 27 in reference to the teachings of Jesus in Luke where he begins with the contrasting statements, 'love your enemies' (Luke 6:27-36),

"We can see the razor edge of his brilliance as he takes the familiar world of mashal far beyond the safety zone of conventional morality into a world of radical reversal and paradox. He is transforming proverbs into parables - and a parable, incidentally, is not the same thing as an aphorism or a moral lesson. It's closest cousin is really the Buddhist koan, a deliberately subversive paradox aimed at turning our usual mind upside down. My colleague Lynn Bauman refers to parables as "spiritual hand grenades"; their job is not to confirm but to uproot. You can imagine the effect that had on his audience! Throughout the gospels we hear people saying again and again, 'What is this he's teaching? No one has ever said anything like this before. Where did he get this? Where did he come from?'"​

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

Koans are sayings of Zen masters used to halt discursive, logical thinking. There's no real 'answer' to a koan. It's not meant to be answered, but to be realized internally. One of the points of a koan is to create doubt; as a Zen master said, "little doubt, little enlightenment; big doubt, big enlightenment." One can focus on a koan during sitting meditation (zazen), but one carries it with them throughout the day, keeping one's focus on the koan. Let it sit and digest. Eventually, you can let the koan carry your mind to the place before thought.