"Whatever you do don't call it a koan"

[Stewart]

A result of recent ruminations about koans in Soto, first not to call them that as it has become something of an overused technical term. Second, they are actually the conundrums of life that roll around inside us and wear off the rough edges of ego, for example, 'How should I be a (colleague / professional / parent / child / etc ......)'. How does that sound?

Stewart
Sat today

[Jundo]

What they are called does not matter. That this wisdom is realized (experienced) and realized (made real in living life) is what matters.

"Koan" can mean any kind of conundrum which, from a Buddhist doctrinal point of view/views presents two seemingly contradictory points which are resolved in an Enlightened Eye, or Wisdom which is not our ordinary common sense take on things (for example, that there is time yet also a timeless face to the world ... that there is no "separate self" and yet there is/are ... that one cannot violate a Precept because, e.g., there is nobody to kill or be killed, and yet one can kill or be killed ... and many others). Yes, it is something to realize for oneself, not merely as words in a book.

But ...

'How should I be a (colleague / professional / parent / child / etc ......)' ...

Hmmm ... I am not sure that our ordinary way of addressing such questions would be a "Koan" unless we are addressing them from such Zen Wisdom and Compassion. For example, anyone can ponder how to be a better worker, a more socially concerned professional, a kinder parent ...

... but a "Koan" would be how do we work when there is "no work in need of doing," how do we not pollute when there is not one aspect of the universe that can ever be "stained," how do we act as a parent or child when there is "no birth and no death"?

It is not just something that rounds off the ego a bit, makes us a little nicer, but the leaping right through. Remember that "Compassion" in Zen Buddhism is not merely to lend someone a shoulder to cry or lean on, but to reveal the power of "Emptiness" ... that there is never a shoulder, nor anything to lean or break, even as we sometimes lean and our heart sometimes breaks.

Gassho, J

STLah

[aprapti]

i like very much like Sin'ichi Hisamatsu's "universal koan" : nothing will do. what do you do?




aprapti

sat

[Stewart]

".....Buddhist doctrinal point of view/views presents two seemingly contradictory points which are resolved in an Enlightened Eye, or Wisdom..."

That's interesting because the contradictions don't bother me.

Stewart
Sat

[Shonin Risa Bear]

Tip it over with your foot.

gassho
ds sat lah