He had a little protege named toyo who was only twelve years old. Try this movement again, but with one arm and hand only. Including koans that go back to the master who first brought the koan teaching method from china to japan in the eighteenth century, this book offers, in the words of the translator, editor, and zen initiate yoel hoffmann, the clearest, most detailed, and most correct picture of zen that can be found. If you fall in love with the road, you will forget the destination. The book of householder koans book santa monica public. The sound of one hand clapping a zen monk named ichhi labored his whole life in the kitchen of the great monastery at lake hakkone. Oct 31, 2015 a koan is a riddle or puzzle that zen buddhists use during meditation to help them unravel greater truths about the world and about themselves. Most people know the famous riddle, what is the sound of one hand clapping. As a teacher, he placed special emphasis on koan practice, inventing many new koans himself, including the famous what is the sound of one hand clapping. Apr 25, 2017 a koan is a problem that logic wont solve, so no one can tell you what a koan means. Koans are a great way to tap into your intuitive side. The recording is how it went down, some things might be hard to understand because there is no visual recording. Bojans wife abandons him to care for their threeyearold daughter sonja alone. Aug 07, 2014 a fiery and intensely dynamic zen teacher and artist, hakuin 16851768 is credited with almost singlehandedly revitalizing japanese zen after three hundred years of decline.
Koans are designed to be nonsensical, shocking, or humorous. Originally published in japan almost a century ago as a critique of fossilization of zen, that is formalization of koan practice. When the sound of one hand clapping came out in japan in 1916 it caused a scandal. The story of sonya and bojan buloh in the sound of one hand clapping is a story of heartbreak and despair. Koan, in zen buddhism of japan, a succinct paradoxical statement or question used as a meditation discipline for novices, particularly in the rinzai sect. The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of failure because that is dualism thinking things are separate instead of connected the sound of one hand clapping would be like the sound of you pouring your oatmeal on the floor because you cant have breakfast without 1. Toyo saw the older disciples visit the masters room each morning and evening to receive instruction in sanzen or personal guidance in which they were given koans to stop mindwandering. The zen master poured his visitors teacup full, and then kept pouring.
It is absurd there cannot be any sound of one hand clapping. Of course, this koan is much easier to be tested on due to possibilities of acting it out, such as the one answer most common that we know, where the teacher holds out their hand, and you slap your hand into theirs, signifying both are one mind and using one hand. The flowing bridge book by elaine macinnes, patrick. There is another hand out there suffering and in their own plight. In opening a mountain, steven heine shows that koans, and the questions we associate with themsuch as what is the sound of one hand clapping.
For all that, the sound of the one hand opens the door to zen like no other book. The mind will work out many solutions and all will be meaningless, and the master will send you back again and. Yet, the riddle definitely states that there is a sound and that there is clapping. Many koans can be traced back to the collections of sayings amassed by chinese priests in the 12th. For all that, the sound of one hand clapping opens the door to zen like no other book. One hand clapping by serge kahili king there is a famous zen koan philosophical riddle which asks, what is the sound of one hand clapping.
The american zen priest melissa myozen blacker wrote in the book of mu. I would encourage you to try out the actions when you hear them, specifically one hand clapping. Maybe youll pick it up for a minute and find an hour has slipped by. The question what is the sound of one hand clapping. You cannot prove gods existence any more than you can mimic the sound of one hand clapping. Zen was a secretive practice, its wisdom relayed from master to novice in strictest privacy. Learn more about koans, including many more examples, in this article. Of course, this koan is much easier to be tested on due to possibilities of acting it out, such as the one answer most common that we know, where the teacher holds out their hand, and you slap your hand into theirs, signifying both are one mind and using one hand to clap. The word anahat means exactly the same as what zen people call the sound of one hand clapping. About this episode youve probably heard about koans, those enigmatic zen dialogs that make no sense. What is the sound of one hand clapping is a well known zen buddhist koan. The question often is shortened to what is the sound of one hand clapping. Jul 11, 2011 masters of zen buddhism often give their more advanced students a koan to contemplate.
It sounds difficult because its impossible to clap just one hand, isnt it. Now, one hand cannot clap, and unless it claps there will not be any sound, so to what are you going to listen. The student of zen is supposed to meditate on this riddle until some degree of insight or enlightenment occurs. The book of householder koans waking up in the land of attachments book. It is meant to test whether you have awakened to your bodhinature or whether you are still entrenched in your worldly mortal false self ego mindconsciousness caught up in the conventional world that is samsara and still tread.
The next evening, when his teacher asked him to illustrate the sound of one hand, toyo began to play the music of the geishas. Koans like hakuins what is the sound of one hand clapping. The sound of one hand clapping tao sangha north america. Isbn 9780465080793 this book contains examples of how some zen practitioners answer the koans correctly. The master of kennin temple was mokurai, silent thunder. Jundo and kirk discuss the origin and history of koans, what they mean, how they work, and what the sound of one hand clapping really is. Yet, those who encounter koans in the traditional literature or in the context of exploring zen practice themselves can often find them utterly baffling. For instance, heres what happened when i meditated on the one hand clapping koan. For clapping, two hands are needed, apparently opposed to each other but deep down creating a single clap.
Most of us know koans through what is the sound of one hand clapping. Many are also aware that it is connected with zen buddhism, and some will even know that it is a famous koan. The book of householder koans is a collection of koans created by 21 st century zen practitioners living a lay life in the west. The sound of one hand clapping the sound of one hand. Sep 22, 2018 if you have ever heard of the puzzling question what is the sound of one hand clapping. The sound of one hand clapping, a 1998 australian film adaptation. The effort to solve a koan is intended to exhaust the analytic intellect and the egoistic will, readying the mind to entertain an a.
Zen buddhist masters use these paradoxical stories or questions to force their pupils to slough reason in favor of sudden enlightenment. The koan in question, devised by the japanese zen master hakuin 16861769, is as follows. But the truth about koans is both simplerand more complicatedthan this. He deemed himself a failed monk because he had been assigned the koan of what is the sound of one hand clapping. Koans pronounced koahns are cryptic and paradoxical questions asked by zen teachers that defy rational answers. That a handbook existed recording not only the riddling koans that are central to zen teaching but also detailing the answers to them seemed to mark zen as rote, not revelatory. Koans such as what is the sound of one hand clapping. The point of the koan is to exhaust the analytic and egoic mind in order to reveal the more intuitive nomind.
Masters of zen buddhism often give their more advanced students a koan to contemplate. It is a mistake to think of a koan as a question that has an answer. For example, one koan nearly everyone has heard of originated with master hakuin ekaku 16861769. The famous hakuin koan featuring the phrase sound of the one hand is often misquoted as the sound of one hand clapping, resulting in an absurdity that renders the koan spiritually useless. Another good question, but a strikingly western one. A fiery and intensely dynamic zen teacher and artist, hakuin 16851768 is credited with almost singlehandedly revitalizing japanese zen after three hundred years of decline. The sound of one hand clapping, a 1997 novel by richard flanagan the sound of one hand clapping, a 1998 australian film adaptation. About the book what is the sound of one hand clapping. But a koan is also a metaphor for all of your problems, all of your questions, all of your stress and tension of the focused narrow mind trying to figure out what the mystery is. Koans are questions whose answer cannot be arrived at through analytical mental processes you cant think your way to. How does hakuins famous koan relate to zen buddhism answers. Zen masters have been testing their students with these stories, questions, or phrases for centuries. The speakers who delight in offering this absurdity do it with the purpose of showing the lack of logic in language andor linear thinking.
These zen buddhist koans will open your mind huffpost. Viewed as an ideal method for attaining and transmitting an unimpeded experience of enlightenment, they became the main object of study in zen. If you meditate on koans enough, youll build it up just like a muscle. Amir mourad talks about the spirit of zen, the practice of zazen sitting meditation, and koans. Its not in any zen buddhist manuscripts, but right there in the book of psalms. There is another koan that i referred to in the first paragraph.
The book of householder koans waking up in the land of attachments by eve myonen marko and wendy egyoku nakao monkfish book publishing company. Its purpose is to get the student to transcend mere logical. For all that, the sound of the one hand opens the door to zen like no other. Zen koans, beginning some 1500 years ago, refer to stories or questions arising in encounters between monks and old chinese and japanese masters, and include commentaries designed to help the zen practitioner awaken. Koans are selfparadoxical riddles used as a meditation discipline in zen buddhism. Jan 17, 20 most people know the famous riddle, what is the sound of one hand clapping. Fight club started based off one simple saying early in the book. The true path is the path on which there is no coming and no going. That a handbook existed recording not only the riddling koans that are central to zen teaching but also detailing the answers to them seemed to mark zen as rote, not revelato. Awakening is the object of abstract kindness in all beings. If you clash two things there is a sound that is called ahat nad, a sound that comes out of conflict.
Like all koans, its an attempt to stimulate thoughtless awareness, which is one way to understand nirvana. Yes, i know, the answer to a koan is supposed to be beyond logic, but rest assured that the answer came intuitively. The title comes from a zen koan a philosophical riddle. Many are also aware that it is connected with zen buddhism, and some will even know that it is a famous koan by. If there is one koan that best characterizes the nature of the koan, it is the well known, what is the sound of one hand clapping. Sep 21, 2012 amir mourad talks about the spirit of zen, the practice of zazen sitting meditation, and koans. 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. Apr 27, 2015 a zen monk named ichhi labored his whole life in the kitchen of the great monastery at lake hakkone. Thinking that such music might interrupt, toyo moved his abode to a quiet place. A comprehensive resource for zen and buddhism practitioners.
Zen master hauins koan about the sound of one hand makes no conceptual sense. The australian booksellers association book of the year begins in 1954, in tasmania where bojan buloh brings his family to start a new life away from slovenias privations of war and refugee settlements. Why do you put on your robes at the sound of a bell. The sound of one hand clapping the sound of one hand clapping. He deemed himself a failed monk because he had been assigned the koan of what is the sound of one. Koan and the meaning of what is the sound of one hand clapping. Top 10 books on zen buddhism watkins mind body spirit.
Koan work, like zen practice meditation, is a way of developing the skills of selfunderstanding and selfmastery in lif. Oh, they can and you can enjoy know the answer, but that is not what a koan is. The sound of one hand clapping, a 1997 novel by richard flanagan. Teachers often present koans in formal talks, or students may be challenged to resolve them in their meditation practice. Not only that, but youll learn more about the world around you. May you find value in these classic zen koans and quotes about zen. Each person could have a different answer for that question as a koan is meant for selfreflection. The struggle between father and daughter created a yawning gap i just wanted to fill with the love and forgiveness that seemed but an outstretched arm away. Essential writings on zens most important koan, the natural ripening of a person on this path may be so gradual as to be unnoticed, or so sudden as to feel like an explosion. What does the koan sound of one hand clapping mean to you. Top 10 books on zen buddhism watkins mind body spirit magazine. What is the meaning behind what is the sound of one hand.
You lift both arms and clash the hands together, dont you. Zen buddhism has a reputation for being inscrutable, and much of that reputation comes from koans. I was drawn to zen in the early 1970s with one of their most famous koans, what is the sound of one hand clapping. Including koans that go back to the master who first brought the koan teaching.
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