This is why Genki Roshi only assigns koans during Sesshins (long concentrated periods of meditation) where reaching Samadhi is more likely. Koans deliberately stir up the waters of the mind, and if the mind is already disturbed, koan practice will only make things worse. If your mind has not yet achieved Samadhi, don't bother with koans. Samadhi is the condition of one's mind when all the silt and ripples (ideas, thoughts, feelings, judgments) have quieted and the mind has become clear, calm, clean, naturally reflective and free-flowing in this moment. Koans should only be used after one's meditation has entered Samadhi. They are like a door-knocker, they are of no use, unless used properly as a tool to knock on the door of one's Heart/Mind. I have heard Genki Roshi (Zen master & Abbot) refer to them as a can-opener for the Heart/Mind (kokoro). To do so you must at once become the Buddha, Kasho, and the flower! Koans are an advanced tool, and have no inherent power in and of themselves, but can be very enlightening when used properly. What was transmitted when the Buddha held up a flower? Don't explain it, show me your understanding!, shouts the Zen master. It is said that all remained silent and puzzled except for his disciple Venerable Kasho who is said to have smiled in recognition. Perhaps the earliest example of a koan comes from the fable of the time the historical Buddha held up a flower before an assemblage of followers and spoke not a word. They often recount an encounter between master and disciple, where the master's response or question is said to reveal the deep nature of things as they are. It is a reference to examples that are meant to guide life or in the case of Zen, these dictates are meant to be catalysts for awakening one's true/deep/pure nature. ISBN 9780861716012.Koan is a Japanese word that comes from the Chinese, kung-an, that means public dictate. Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo. A Commentary on Zen Master Dōgen's Genjōkōan. ^ a b Weitsman, Mel Wenger, Michael Okumura, Shohaku (2012).For discussion of the possible significance of this difference, see Okumura, Shohaku (2010). ^ The fourth ideograph in this expression, as originally written by Dōgen, is not the same as that in the term kōan, which is written 公案.Shohaku Okumura says that in Genjōkōan "Dogen created a metaphor to express the reality of individuality and universality." See also Thomas Cleary states that Genjōkōan begins with an outline of Zen using a presentation of the Five Ranks claiming that Dogen used the device throughout his Shōbōgenzō. Genjōkōan begins with an explanation of Zen and then goes on to elucidate delusion and realization, wholehearted practice, and the relationship of self to realization and environment. So then, genjōkōan means that the subjective realm and the objective realm, the self and all things in the universe, are nothing but the true Buddha-dharma itself." Content Kōan is derived from the word official document, and is meant to mean the unerring absolute authority of the Buddha-dharma. Hakuun Yasutani wrote: ".oncerning the word genjōkoan, genjō is phenomena. Shohaku Okumura says that Gen means "to appear", "to show up," or "to be in the present moment" while Jo means "to become," "to complete," or "to accomplish." The combined word genjō therefore means "to manifest," "to actualize," or "to appear and become." And in this context koan does not refer to these teaching stories, but to the heart of the matter." Genjōkōan was written for a lay practitioner named Koshu Yō in 1233.Īccording to Taigen Dan Leighton "The word genjo means to fully or completely manifest, or to express or share. It is considered one of the most popular essays in Shōbōgenzō. Genjōkōan ( 現成公按 ), translated by Tanahashi as Actualizing the Fundamental Point, is an influential essay written by Dōgen, the founder of Zen Buddhism's Sōtō school in Japan.
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