![]() ![]() While every wisdom tradition uses stories to teach moral and spiritual truths (Jesus, for example, taught using parables), there's something different about a koan. ![]() "Two or more individuals have a brief exchange - which can include words, gestures, even silence - and through that encounter, some kind of ignorance is exposed and understanding is revealed." ![]() "A koan is basically an encounter dialogue," says Heine. There are hundreds and hundreds of koans, but each one tells the story of a brief interaction - usually between a student and a teacher, but sometimes two teachers, or a teacher and a rival - that results in a sudden flash of insight. In its entirety it reads: You know the sound of two hands clapping.The best tool for peeling back those layers is the koan. Take for example the koan: The Sound of One Hand clapping. Koans are sayings, or doings, of Zen masters, the patriarchs and Buddha. Out there, in here - more words and more confusion, where the truth is so simple and direct.īecause words can no more hold the truth than a net can hold water, we use koans. To believe the inside of the skull, or the inside of the chest cavity, is in some way nearer truth than out there, is still to be lost in the building blocks of words. Yet, as a moment’s meditation will show, silence itself is not out there, nor is presence. ‘Silence,’ ‘presence,’ ‘hearing,’ ‘something,’ these are all words and, as such, are part of what we call the world. We try to fit the blocks together with reason and seal them together with logic, but they fit badly, and we cannot help leaving gaps through which the vitality of a situation leaks away. Words freeze experience into solid blocks. When we use words, as I am using them now, truth slips through the cracks. Prajnâ: Arouse the Mind Without Resting It Upon Anything When you are finished reading, won't you please take a moment to rate it and write your review on the retailers website where you purchased it? Reviews help other readers like yourself make more informed purchase decisions. If you find any errors in the formatting of this book (spelling mistakes, etc), please email us at: We will provide you with a free update once the errors have been corrected. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should go to and purchase your own copy. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. One must become the sound of one hand to be able to give a real response, and in this way see for oneself that the sound of one hand is the full expression of the master’s and one’s own awakened state. Words talk about true nature and, as it were, hold it at arm’s length. A teacher of Zen would reject them out of hand, all the while demanding a real response. Explanatory words - such as “the two hands represent duality, the one hand is unity” or “the sound of one hand is the sound of the true self” - are useless. If one is to work on this koan, indeed on any koan, one must demonstrate its meaning. What is the sound of one hand clapping?” The obvious, intellectual answer is, No sound at all! But then what is this No sound? In other words, is it just silence? ![]() In its entirety it reads: “You know the sound of two hands clapping. Because words can no more hold the truth than a net can hold water, we use koans. ![]()
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