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    Zen Koans: In Today's Language
    Zen Koans: In Today's Language
    Zen Koans: In Today's Language
    Ebook51 pages48 minutes

    Zen Koans: In Today's Language

    By David Tuffley

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    About this ebook

    Koans are a useful sign-post on the path to enlightenment. They reveal abstract Truth that cannot be expressed logically through presenting the reader with a paradox that can only be solved by shifting one's perspective.

    The venerable Koans of the past, those that have been handed down through the generations are expressed in archaic language. If you cannot enter into that archaic language the koan is unlikely to bring you much benefit.

    This book represents the Koans in modern language, accessible to all. It will not please the traditionalists, but it will make the wisdom contained therein accessible to a whole new generation of seeker.

    Each koan encapsulates a profound truth for reflection. Zen counsels the lessening of the ego, not the strengthening of it as consumer culture would urge. Instead of making a name for ourselves in society, we should listen to the voice of pines and cedars when no wind stirs, in other words become no-thing, entering instead the field of pure being that is behind the phenomenal world.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAltiora Publications
    Release dateOct 3, 2010
    ISBN9781452336329
    Zen Koans: In Today's Language
    Author

    David Tuffley

    David Tuffley (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & Socio-Technical Studies at Griffith University in Australia.David writes on a broad range of interests; from Comparative Religion, Anthropology, Psychology, Ancient and Modern History, Linguistics, Rhetoric, Philosophy, Architectural History, Environments and Ecosystems.

    Read more from David Tuffley

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    • 5/5
      I could not find the koans. I shall have to read them in some other book.

    Book preview

    Zen Koans - David Tuffley

    Zen Koans

    In Today’s Language

    David Tuffley

    We cannot see our reflections in running water.

    It is only in still water that we can – Zen proverb.

    Published by David Tuffley at Smashwords

    Copyright 2010, 2014 David Tuffley

    Published by Altiora Publications

    See other David Tuffley books

    Connect with David Tuffley on Facebook

    Smashwords Edition, License Notes

    This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

    Table of Contents

    Zen Koans

    Zen Koans

    The koan is an enigmatic or paradoxical question used to develop a person’s Intuition. Koans are a valuable tool in your quest for Satori, but how do they work and why use them?

    Koans work by confounding logic and forcing a person out of their normal thinking and into the realm of Intuition. In other words, the inherent meaning is inaccessible to rational understanding, but perhaps accessible to Intuition.

    This chapter presents some of the classic koans from traditional Zen, originally written hundreds of years ago in Japanese, and re-interpreted from early English translations into early 21st Century English. The underlying meaning is still there, so they will still work as a koan should, but they are expressed in language more easily understood by people in the 21st Century.

    Each koan encapsulates a profound truth for reflection. Zen counsels the lessening of the ego, not the strengthening of it as consumer culture would urge. Instead of making a name for ourselves in society, we should listen to the voice of pines and cedars when no wind stirs, in other words become no-thing, entering instead the field of pure being that is behind the phenomenal world.

    The cup of tea

    A Zen master received a visit from a university professor who wanted the master to add to his knowledge by telling him about Zen.

    The master politely offered the professor some tea. The professor accepted and the master poured the tea from the pot into the cup. When the cup was full, he kept pouring. The tea overflowed, much to the consternation of the professor who said, there is no more room in the cup, it is overfull.

    The master replied, the cup is like your mind, already full of opinions and beliefs. How can I teach you Zen unless you first empty your mind?

    Is that so?

    A Zen master lived in a village and was respected by all for his virtuous ways.

    One of his neighbours, a grocer, had a teenage daughter. One day, her parents discovered she was pregnant. They demanded angrily to know who the father was. Eventually the girl told her parents that it was master.

    The parents were furious. They confronted the master with the accusation. All the master said was, is that so? The parents went about the district, spreading blame with the intention of destroying the master’s reputation. When word of this reached the master, all he said was is that so?

    Months passed. When the child was born, the mother’s parents took the baby to the master saying he was morally obliged to care for the child. The master replied, is that so? He embraced the baby, and took good care of him.

    When the baby was a year old, the mother could stand it no longer. Tearfully she told her parents that it was the butcher’s boy who is the baby’s father, not the master.

    The baby’s grand-parents were

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