KOAN

this, but for now, we still have obligations to fulfill, to ourselves and to others. Live without attaching needlessly to things, encourage those who do good and let it encourage you, accept those who do wrong and let it deter you. Be yourself, as there’s no one else you can be, and no one else can fill in that place, and let ‘yourself’ be good. “Be as if you were facing a noble guest,” is especially important, as it implies how you should treat yourself. One doesn’t just backtalk to a guest, especially a noble one, either in the flashy way of kings and queens, or the heartfelt way of close friends and loved ones. Treat yourself as you would treat others, specifically the best of others. The Golden Rule. In fact, many of the lines in this Koan in particular are very reminiscent of rules and sayings we all know, but don’t really think about. The Golden Rule is an obvious one, as well as ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, fitting right into the line suggesting someone might be guarding their knowledge. The fruits of one’s labor are the virtues we seek, and fruits don’t fall from the sky like rain. Another way to put it; money, (or happiness, health, anything) doesn’t grow on…

Rinzai focuses on the use of the Koan. A Koan is paradoxical statement or question used as a meditative tool. Rinzai disciples concentrate on a koan to discover their own nature and become Buddhas. Practitioners must realize himself as the answer to the koan; a koan cannot be answered by knowledge or thinking. If the practitioner focuses solely on the koan, he will forget both the passing of time and the outside world. This will allow the practitioner to unexpectedly “wake up” form their former…

The subjects in both the song “Blue” by Marina and the Diamonds and Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye are similar in that they both share feeling of insecurity and being alone. Holden’s constant urge to dial or pay for company demonstrate his reliance on others for his insecurities and alienation . His strong reliance on others is because to fully comprehend himself and to gain solutions to his moral questionings, Holden has to accept his insecurities while being isolated. In “Blue”, Marina sings…

such as Changlu Zongze. Dogen criticized Changlu Zongze for his Principles of Seated Meditation, but proceeded to emulate much of the text in his own writings for the Zen monasteries. Dogen is a legend of Buddhism that will never be forgotten, in the east as well as in the west. Kōan A Kōan is a spiritual saying, story, dialog, question, or answer that is used by Zen Buddhists as religious expression used for training and testing. They are sometimes surprising, sometimes nonsensical, and…

In the following century, Chan Buddhism underwent a ‘golden age’ in which the belief in sudden enlightenment was remembered once again. This led to the creation of Rinzai, one of the five houses of Chan Buddhism, which relies on the practice of Koan. Rinzai students spend their time studying Buddhist riddles known, as Koans. These Koans were contained in the collected sayings literature, a compilation of Zen Buddhist teachings. In order to solve a Koan, it is said that one needs to poses great…

teaches that learning through Kōans (a paradoxical anecdote or riddle) and doubting can lead to enlightenment. That it is only by using Kōans and doubting things that we look at objectively, can we find what we are truly looking for. I relate this to everyday life. It is easy to get swept up in the flow of everyday life, taking things as they are, as face value, and not questioning things when they need to be questioned. For example, throughout most of primary and secondary school, we are taught…

Hippocrates is accredited with being as the leading personality to consider that diseases were instigated naturally, not owing to superstition and gods. Moreover, Hippocrates was attributed by the followers of Pythagoras of affiliating medicine and philosophy. He segregated the field of medicine from religion, trusting and holding a debate that disease was not a chastisement imposed by the gods, but rather the result of ecological influences, intake, and lifestyle habits. Certainly there is not…

Communicating Change Like all koans, “The Stone Mind” koan can have many meanings, and is not meant to be completely solved. To me, this koan reminds us to see the moment for what it really is. When occupied in arguable semantics, opportunities can go unnoticed or just slip away. When needless bickering occurs, important projects are often delayed. Being present in the moment gives the situation respectful attention and allows for accurate decisions. In business, fixed procedures are often…

that are absolute and relative are actually one in the same. How attempting to understand these concepts intellectually is impossible because the universal activity is vastly boundless which is the reason yoga and mediation attempt to join the things that are known normally to be dualistic, as one. The understanding that separation is a mere illusion when expressing the oneness of the reality of the moment. Zen Koans are illogical anecdotes or myths that are meant to make Zen students…

does not injure others 6. Struggling to free your mind of evil 7. Controlling your feelings and thoughts 8. Practising proper forms of concentration During battle, samurais believed in fair fighting. To achieve this, they would call out to an individual enemy, make contact with them and then they would fight. Samurais would usually find someone that is suitable for them (looks like the same rank). Zen Zen, a form of Buddhism was introduced to Japan from India and China during the 12th and 13th…