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Current events A kan (?) (/ko.n/; Chinese : ; pinyin: Part of a series on
Random article gng'n; Korean : kong'an ; Vietnamese : cng Zen Buddhism
Donate to Wikipedia n) is a story , dialogue , question, or statement, which
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is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt"
Interaction and test a student's progress in Zen practice.
Magyar
7 Examples of traditional kans
Nederlands
7.1 Does a dog have Buddha-nature
7.2 The sound of one hand
Norsk bokml
7.3 Original Face
Polski
Portugus 7.4 Killing the Buddha
7.5 Other koans
Sicilianu 8 See also
Simple English 9 Notes
Slovenina 10 References
Slovenina 10.1 Book references
/ srpski 10.2 Web references
Srpskohrvatski /
11 Sources
Suomi 12 Further reading
Svenska 13 External links
Trke
Ting Vit Etymology [ edit ]
Edit links The Japanese term kan is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word gong'an (Chinese : ;
pinyin: gng'n; WadeGiles: kung-an ; literally: "public case"). 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 ( 12631323), gng'n
originated as an abbreviation of gngf zh nd (, Japanese kfu no antokuliterally the
andu "official correspondence; documents; files" of a gongfu "government post"), which referred to a
"public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang-dynasty China. [1][2][note 1]
Kan/gong'an 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 kan collections bear some similarity to judicial decisions that cite and sometimes
modify precedents. An article by T. Griffith Foulk claims
...Its literal meaning is the 'table' or 'bench' an of a 'magistrate' or 'judge' kung .[4]
Gong'an was itself originally a metaphoran article of furniture that came to denote legal precedents.
For example, Di Gong'an () is the original title of Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee , the famous
Chinese detective novel
based on a historical Tang dynasty judge. Similarly, Zen kan collections are
public records of the notable sayings and actions of Zen
disciples and masters attempting to pass on their
teachings.
China [ edit ]
Those stories came to be known as gongan, "public cases". [6] Such a story was only considered a gongan
when it was commented upon by another Chn-master.[6]
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
The style of writing of Zen texts has been influenced by "a variety of east Asian literary games":[11]
1. The extensive use of allusions , which create a feeling of disconnection with the
main theme;
2. Indirect references, such as titling a poem with one topic and composing a verse
that seems on the surface to be totally unrelated;
3. Inventive wordplay based on the fact that kanji (Chinese characters)
are
homophonic and convey multiple, often complementary or contradictory meanings;
4. Linking the verses in a sustained string based on hidden points of connection or
continuity, such as seasonal imagery or references to myths and legends.[11]
During the Song dynasty (9601297) the use of gongans took a decisive turn. Dahui Zonggao (1089
1163)[note 2] introduced the use of kanhua , "observing the phrase". In this practice students were to
observe (kan ) or concentrate on a single word or phrase (huatou ), such as the famous mu of the mu-
koan.[12]
Dahui's invention was aimed at balancing the insight developed by reflection on the teachings with
developing samatha , calmness of mind.[14] Ironically, this development became in effect silent
illumination,[15] a "[re-absorbing] of koan-study into the "silence" of meditation (ch'an )".[16] It led to a
rejection of Buddhist learning:
Some extent of Buddhist learning could easily have been recognized as a precondition for
sudden awakening
in Chan. Sung masters, however, tended to take the rejection literally
and nondialectically. In effect, what they instituted was a form of Zen fundamentalism: the
tradition came to be increasingly anti-intellectual in orientation and, in the process, reduced
its complex heritage to simple formulae for which literal interpretations were thought
adequate.[17]
This development left Chinese Chan 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.[18]
Interaction [ edit ]
The recorded encounter dialogues, and the koan collections which derived from this genre, mark a shift
from solitary practice to interaction between master and student:
The essence of enlightenment came to be identified with the interaction between masters
This mutual enquiry of the meaning of the encounters of masters and students of the past gave students a
role model:
Kan training requires a qualified teacher who has the ability to judge a disciple's depth of attainment. In
the Rinzai Zen school ,
which uses kans extensively, the teacher certification process includes an
appraisal of proficiency in using that school's extensive kan curriculum.
In China and Korea, "observing the phrase" is still the sole form of koan-practice, though Seung Sahn
used the Rinzai-style of koan-practice in his Kwan Um School of Zen .[21]
Japan [ edit ]
Japanese Zen, both Rinzai and Soto , took over the use of koan-study and -commenting. In Soto-Zen,
koan commentary was not linked to seated meditation.[22]
When the Chn-tradition was introduced in Japan, Japanese monks had to master the Chinese language
and specific expressions used in the koan-training. The desired "spontaneity" expressed by enlightened
masters required a thorough study of Chinese language and poetry.[23] Japanese Zen imitated the Chinese
"syntax and stereotyped norms".[24]
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 koan
instruction".[25] It had three features: [25]
1. A standardized koan-curriculum;
2. A standardized set of answers based on stereotypes Chinese sayings;
3. A standardized method of secretly guiding students through the curriculum of koan and answers.
By standardizing the koan-curriculum every generation of students proceeded to the same series of
koans.[25] Students had to memorize a set number of stereotyped sayings, agy, "appended words".[26]
The proper series of responses for each koan were taught by the master in private instruction-sessions to
selected individual students who would inherit the dharma lineage.[27]
Missanroku and missanch, "Records of secret instruction" have been preserved for various Rinzai-
lineages. They contain both the koan-curricula and the standardized answers.[28][note 4] In Soto-Zen they
are called monsan , an abbreviation of monto hissan , "secret instructions of the lineage".[28] The monsan
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.[31]
In the eighteenth century the Rinzai school became dominated by the legacy of Hakuin , who laid a strong
emphasis on koan study as a means to gain kensho and develop insight. [22]
There are two curricula used
in Rinzai, both derived from the principal
heirs of Rinzai: the Takuju curriculum, and the Inzan
curriculum.[32] According to AMA Samy , "the koans and their standard answers are fixed."[33]
During the late eighteenth and nineteenth century the tradition of koan-commentary became suppressed in
the Soto-school, due to a reform movement that sought to standardise the procedures for dharma
transmission.[22]
One reason for suppressing the koan-tradition in the Soto-school may have been to
highlight the differences with the Rinzai-school, and create a clear identity.[22] This movement also
started to venerate Dogen
as the founding teacher of the Soto-school. His teachings became the standard
for the Soto-teachings, neglecting the fact that Dogen himself made extensive use of koan-
commentary.[22]
The popular western understanding sees kan as referring to an unanswerable question or a meaningless
statement.
However, in Zen practice, a kan is not meaningless, and not a riddle or a puzzle. Teachers do
expect students to present an appropriate response when asked about a kan.[34][35][36] [37]
Koans are also understood as pointers to an unmediated "Pure Consciousness", devoid of cognitive
activity.[38] Victor Hori criticizes this understanding:
[A] pure consciousness without concepts, if there could be such a thing, would be a
booming, buzzing confusion, a sensory field of flashes
of light, unidentifiable sounds,
ambiguous shapes, color patches without significance. This is not the consciousness of the
enlightened Zen master.[39]
[K]oan after koan explores the theme of nonduality. Hakuin's well-known koan, "Two
hands clap and there is a sound, what is the sound
of one hand?" is clearly about two and
one. The koan asks, you know what duality is, now what is nonduality? In "What is your
original face
before your mother and father were born?" the phrase "father and mother"
alludes to duality. This is obvious to someone versed in the Chinese tradition, where so
much philosophical thought is presented in the imagery of paired opposites. The phrase
"your original face" alludes
to the original nonduality.[40]
Comparable statements are: "Look at the flower and the flower also looks"; "Guest and host
interchange".[42]
Koan-practice [ edit ]
Study of kan literature is common to all schools of Zen, though with varying emphases and
curriculae.[43] The Rinzai-school uses extensive koan-curricula, checking questions, and jakogo
("capping phrases", quotations from Chinese poetry) in its use of koans.[44] 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.[43] In Chinese Chn and Korean Seon, the emphasis is on Hua Tou ,
the study of one koan throughout one's lifetime.[21] In Japanese Soto-Zen, the use of koans has been
abandoned since the late eighteenth and nineteenth century.[45]
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".[32] In Chinese Chn 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 #1 ("Zhaozhou's Dog"), Wumen (Mumon) wrote:
... concentrate yourself into this 'W' ... making your whole body one great inquiry. Day and
night work intently at it. Do not attempt nihilistic or dualistic interpretations."[46]
Arousing this great inquiry or "Great Doubt" is an essential element of kan practice. It builds up "strong
internal pressure (gidan ), never stopping knocking from within at the door of [the] mind, demanding to be
resolved".[47] To illustrate the enormous concentration required in kan meditation, Zen Master Wumen
commented,
It is like swallowing a red-hot iron ball. You try to vomit it out, but you can't.
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.[48][49][note 5]
Insight [ edit ]
The continuous pondering of the break-through koan ( shokan [50]) or Hua Tou , "word head", [51] leads to
kensho , an initial insight into "seeing the (Buddha-)nature .[52]
The aim of the break-through koan is to see the "nonduality of subject and object":[40][41]
The monk himself in his seeking is the koan. Realization of this is the insight; the response
to the koan [...] Subject and object - this is
two hands clapping. When the monk realizes that
the koan is not merely an object of consciousness but is also he himself as the activity of
seeking an answer to the koan, then subject and object are no longer separate and distinct
[...] This is one hand clapping.[53]
Various accounts can be found which describe this "becoming one" and the resulting breakthrough:
I was dead tired. That evening when I tried to settle down to sleep, the instant I laid my
head on the pillow, I saw: "Ah, this outbreath is Mu!" Then: the in-breath too is Mu!" Next
breath, too: Mu! Next breath: Mu, Mu! "Mu, a whole sequence of Mu! Croak, croak; meow,
meow - these too are Mu! The bedding, the wall, the column, the sliding-door - these too
are Mu! This, that and everything is Mu! Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha Ha! that
roshi is a rascal! He's
always tricking people with his 'Mu, Mu, Mu'!...[54][note 6]
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".[56] Showing to have 'become one' with the first koan is enough to pass the
first koan.[56] According to Samy, this is not equal to prajna :
These methods and techniques are forced efforts which can even run on auto-pilot. They
can produce experiences but not prajana wisdom. Some speak of investigating the hua-
tou, but it is rather a matter of concentration, which sometimes can provide insights, yet no
more than that.[56]
Teachers may probe students about their kan practice using sassho , "checking questions" to validate
their satori (understanding) or kensho (seeing the nature). [57] For the mu-koan and the clapping hand-
koan there are twenty to a hundred checking questions, depending on the teaching lineage.[58] The
checking questions serve to deepen the insight of the student, but also to test his or her understanding.[58]
Those checking questions, and their answers, are part of a standardised set of questions and
answers.[29][59][56] Students are learning a "ritual performance",[59] learning how to behave and response
in specific ways,[29][59][56] learning "clever repartees, ritualized language and gestures and be submissive
to the masters diktat and arbitration."[56]
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.[60][61] Students can use
collections of those citations, instead of composing poetry themselves.[60][61]
After the initial insight further practice is necessary, to deepen the insight and learn to express it in daily
life.[62] In Chinese Chn and Korean Seon, this further practice consists of further pondering of the same
Hua Tou.[web 1] In Rinzai-Zen, this further practice is undertaken by further koan-study, for which
elaborate curriculae exist.[32][63] In Soto-Zen, Shikantaza is the main practice for deepening insight.
In Chinese Chn and Korean Seon, the primary form of Koan-study is kanhua , "reflection on the
koan",[64] also called Hua Tou , "word head".[51] 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:[web 2][21]
The student is assigned only one hua-tou for a lifetime. [51] In contrast to the similar-sounding "who am
I?" question of Ramana Maharshi, hua-tou involves raising "great doubt": [web 1]
This koan becomes a touchstone of our practice: it is a place to put our doubt, to cultivate
great doubt, to allow the revelation of great faith, and to focus our great energy.[51]
Kan practice is particularly important among Japanese practitioners of the Rinzai sect.
The koans do not represent the private opinion of a single man, but rather the hundreds and
thousands of bodhisattvas of the three realms and ten directions .
This principle accords
with the spiritual source, tallies with the mysterious meaning, destroys birth-and-death, and
transcends the passions. It cannot be understood by logic; it cannot be transmitted in words;
it cannot be explained in writing; it cannot be measured by reason. It is like the poisoned
drum that kills all who hear it, or like
a great fire that consumes all who come near it. What
is called "the special transmission of the Vulture Peak" was the transmission of this; what is
called the "direct pointing of Bodhidharma at Shao-lin-ssu" is this. [67]
Mus Soseki (12751351), a Japanese contemporary of Zhongfeng Mingben, relativized the use of
koans.[68]
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, Mus Soseki also made extensive use of
richi (teaching), explaining the sutras, instead of kikan (koan). According to Mus Soseki, both are
upaya , "skillful means" meant to educate students.[68] Mus Soseki called both shkogyu, "little jewels",
tools to help the student to attain satori .[68][note 8]
Koan practice starts with the shokan , or "first barrier", usually the mu-koan or the koan "What is the
sound of one hand clapping?"[50] After having attained kensho , students continue their practice
investigating subsequent koans.[74] 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 sh).[75] The Inzan-school uses
its own internally generated list of koans.[75]
1. Hosshin, dharma-body koans, are used to awaken the first insight into sunyata .[73] They reveal
the dharmakaya , or Fundamental.[76] They introduce "the undifferentitated and the
unconditional".[77]
2. Kikan, dynamic action koans, help to understand the phenomenal world as seen from the
awakened point of view;[78] Where hosshin koans represent tai, substance, kikan koans represent
yu, function. [79]
3. Gonsen, explication of word koans, aid to the understanding of the recorded sayings of the old
masters.[80]
They show how the Fundamental, though not depending on words, is nevertheless
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".[87] The very
advanced practitioner may also receive the Matsugo no rokan, "The last barrier, and Saigo no ikketsu ,
"The final confirmation".[87] "The last barrier" when one left the training hall, for example "Sum up all of
the records of Rinzai in one word!"[87] It is not meant to be solved immediately, but to be carried around
in order to keep practising.[87] "the final confirmation" may be another word for the same kind of koan.[87]
Completing the koan-curriculum in the Rinzai-schools traditionally also led to a mastery of Chinese
poetry and literary skills:
[D]isciples today are expected to spend a dozen or more years with a master to complete a
full course of training in koan commentary. Only when a master is satisfied that a disciple
can comment appropriately on a
wide range of old cases will he recognize the latter as a
dharma heir and give him formal "proof of transmission" (J. inka shomei ). Thus, in reality,
a lot more than satori is required for one to be recognized as a master (J. shike , roshi ) in
the Rinzai school of Zen at present. The accepted proof of satori is a set of literary and
rhetorical skills that takes many years to acquire.[88]
[I]t would take 10years to solve all the kans [...] in the sd. After the student has solved
all koans, he can leave the sd and live on his own, but he is still not considered a roshi.
For this he has
to complete another ten years of training, called "go-go-no-shugy" in
Japanese. Literally, this means "practice after satori/enlightenment", but Fukushima
preferred the translation "special practice". Fukushima would explain that the student builds
up a "religious personality" during this decade.
It is a kind of period that functions to test if
the student is actually able to live in regular society and apply his koan understanding to
daily life, after he has lived in an environment that can be quite surreal and detached from
the lives of the rest of humanity. Usually, the student lives in small parish temple during
this decade, not in a formal training monastery.[web 4]
Hakuin Ekaku ,
the 17thcentury 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.
During the 13thcentury, Dgen, founder of the Soto sect in Japan, quoted 580 kans in his teachings.[90]
He compiled some 300 kans in the volumes known as the Greater Shbgenz. Dgen wrote of
Genjokan, which points out that everyday life experience is the fundamental kan.
...kan practice was largely expunged from the Soto school through the efforts of Gent
Sokuch (17291807), the eleventh abbot of Entsuji, who in 1795 was nominated abbot of
Eiheiji".[45]
The Sanbo Kyodan school and the White Plum Asanga , which originated with the Soto-priest Hakuun
Yasutani, incorporates koan-study. The Sanbo kyodan places great emphasis on kensho , initial insight
into one's true nature,[91] 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 socalled "capping phrases" are removed. The curriculum takes considerably less time to study than the
Takuju-curriculum of Rinzai.[92]
To attain kensho, most students are assigned the mu-koan. After breaking through, the student first studies
twenty-two "in-house"[75] koans, which are "unpublished and not for the general public",[75] but are
nevertheless published and commented upon.[93][web 5] 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.[75] The koan-curriculum is completed by the Five ranks of Tozan and the precepts. [94]
Kans collectively form a substantial body of literature studied by Zen practitioners and scholars
worldwide. Kan collections commonly referenced in English include:
The Blue Cliff Record (Chinese: Byn L; Japanese: Hekiganroku), 12th century;
The Book of Equanimity (also known as the Book of Serenity; Chinese: Cngrng L; Japanese:
Shoyoroku), 12th century;
The Gateless Gate (also known as The Gateless Barrier ; Chinese: Wmngun; Japanese:
Mumonkan ) collected during the 13thcentury).
In these and subsequent collections, a terse "main case" of a kan often accompanies prefatory remarks,
poems, proverbs and other phrases, and further commentary about prior emendations.
The Blue Cliff Record (Chinese: Byn L; Japanese: Hekiganroku) is a collection of 100 kans
compiled in 1125 by Yuanwu Keqin ( 10631135).
The Gateless Gate (Chinese: Wumenguan; Japanese: Mumonkan) is a collection of 48 kans and
commentaries published in 1228 by Chinese monk Wumen () (11831260). The title may be more
accurately rendered as Gateless Barrier or Gateless Checkpoint ).
Five kans in the collection derive from the sayings and doings of Zhaozhou Congshen , (transliterated as
Chao-chou in Wade-Giles and pronounced Jsh in Japanese).
The True Dharma Eye 300 (Shbgenz Sanbyakusoku) is a collection of 300 kans compiled by Eihei
Dgen.
A monk asked Zhozhu, "Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?" Zhaozhou said, " W".
Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand? (
)
Hakuin Ekaku
...in the beginning a monk first thinks a kan is an inert object upon which to focus
attention; after a long period of consecutive repetition, one realizes that the kan is also a
dynamic activity, the very activity of seeking an answer to the kan. The kan is both the
object being sought and the relentless seeking itself. In a kan, the self sees the self not
directly but under the guise of the kan ... When
one realizes ("makes real") this identity,
then two hands have become one. The practitioner becomes the kan that he or she is trying
to understand. That is the sound of one hand.[web 6]
Linji
Thinking about the Buddha as an entity or deity is delusion, not awakening. One must destroy the
preconception of the Buddha as separate and external before one can become internally as their own
Buddha. Zen master Shunryu Suzuki wrote in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind during an introduction to
Zazen ,
Kill the Buddha if the Buddha exists somewhere else. Kill the Buddha, because you should
resume your own Buddha nature.
One is only able to see a Buddha as he exists in separation from Buddha; the mind of the practitioner is
thus still holding onto apparent
duality.
A student asked Master Yun-Men (A.D. 949) "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 #18 of the Wumenguan as well as case #12 of the Blue Cliff Record.)
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 #37 of the Wumenguan as well as case #47 of the Book of Serenity.)
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
Notes [ edit ]
1. ^ Assertions that the literal meaning of kung-an is the table, desk, or bench of a magistrate appear on p
18 of Foulk 2000. See also [3]
References [ edit ]
Sources [ edit ]
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Bodiford, William M. (1993). St Zen in Medieval Japan. University of Hawaii Press.
Bodiford, William M. (2006). Koan practice. In: "Sitting with Koans". Ed. John Daido Loori. Somerville,
MA: Wisdom Publications.
Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People And Stories of Zen. Wisdom
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Foulk, T. Griffith (2000). The form and function of kan literature. A historical overview. In: Steven Heine
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McCandless (trans.).
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American Academy of Religion, 73 (2): 475496
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