If you are interested in #koans and #KoanStudy I put up a couple notes on what this practice is about, dos and donts, and potential leads to start.

I am a #SotoZen practitioner though, so the orientation is exoteric intentionally.

This "how to" is made of quotes from teachers and scholars alike, plus notes of my own. Happy to discuss!

https://datayana.github.io/pages/study/zen/intro-to-koans/

#buddhism #ZenBuddhism

I don't know how things are on other instances, but over here Nansen snuggled the cat and posted a few pictures.

(This is gonna go over big with koan fans on Mastodon. All 3 of them!)

#zen #zenbuddhism #koanstudy #koan

But there are also comebacks. One I am fond of, for whenever the contemplation becomes too abstract and speculative, is given by an "added saying" of the case 8 of the #BookOfSerenity (equiv. to #GatelessGate case 2):

- Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?
- "Just do good, don't ask about the road ahead."

I found this #zen quip terribly funny, and humbling.

#ZenBuddhism #KoanStudy #koans #buddhism

Another quote I found inspiring as some "answer" for #GatelessGate case 2 :

- Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?
- Sakyamuni Buddha saw the morning star and was enlightened, and he said, "I, and the great earth and beings, simultaneously achieve the Way."

This one sounded relevant to me, as it highlighted how #enlightenment is not a thing that happens to an individual in particular.

#denkoroku #enlightenment #ZenBuddhism #KoanStudy #koans

For #KoanStudy and contemplation, I sometimes think about quotes that would be relevant "answers" to a given #koan question. And not necessarily from scriptures of the same tradition.

For instance, #GatelessGate case 2.

- Does an enlightened person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?
- Unshakable is the liberation of my mind. This is my last birth. Now there is no more renewed existence. [SN 56.11]

#ZenBuddhism #koans #buddhism #zen

Maybe you know about "Zhao Zhou's Dog" also known as the #mu #koan from #ZenBuddhism.

https://everydayzen.org/teachings/zhaozhous-dog-mumonkan-1-shoyoroku-18/

First time I heard it, I thought Mu (Wu) was the answer of the dog.

- Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?
- Why don't you ask a dog? You know what it would say?
- ...
- Wu(f)

And to be honest, since then I find this reading of the koan funnier, but also more inclusive in a non-specist way than usual commentaries 😁

#specism #koanstudy #MuKoan

"The coin lost in the river is found in the river."
https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-zen-koans/

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I drop a coin in the river, it is lost.
Is it though? I know where it is. It is in the river!
Nothing is ever lost, everything is in the river.

#koan #koanstudy #zen #zenbuddhism