Little Lotuschef is about 8 years old. With huge golden curls, and a long toga that always gets in the way when walking but somehow "behaves" when in flight!
Follow me......
These were comments in Facebook for Lotuschef at Play – 龙袍生基Dragon Robe Sheng Ji [3].
Refer also to
- Lotuschef at Play – Dragon Robe Shen Ji [5] The End.
- Lotuschef at Play – 龙袍生基Dragon Robe Sheng Ji [4]
[Peggy Leong Yes, I support Joseph point of view, Fa shi you Have too much grievances in your heart. I Have read your blog. In your blog, you always critise and point fault at your very own fellow brothers,and masters.
Fa shi why do you live in a life of misery and grievances, you should culitivate at your heart Level. Have peace in your mind and heart. This is the way to cultivate. Not always criticise peopLe. Peace to you.
May you Have peace
Francesca Poon Dear Peggy, Hahaha! Reading and Understanding are 2 different matters! I thank you for your advice to change my style of Living!
However, I also humbly suggest you go read some Zen Koans that Guru wrote with Live Subjects and other Koans by other Zen masters.
Do not only glean the Surface only. Hahaha! Amituofo!]
It seems most people think that analysis of a subject to incite Deep thoughts is consider as Talking Bad, Criticize, Pointing Fault (I don't understand this one, its from Peggy above.)
For most TBS' students, each of us had at least read One of Guru's books or watch a video of an event or attended one of Guru's event too, what is Guru doing all this time?
How many times, Guru said: I will leave it to the Saintly Students to answer this question?
Telling Jokes and stories of real live subjects but using a common name to keep the subjects' identities confidential!
Read about Zen Koan and I sincerely hope you add the category of Zen Koan to your portfolio of Nouns to use in future when you are going to make a pronouncement of Great Import!
Of course if the word ZEN frightens you at sight, then perhaps you need to work harder at Resource Path that Guru taught us to build Affinity and Neutralize Karmic Negatives!
Cheers! Om Guru Lian Sheng Siddhi Hom!
A kōan (
/ˈkoʊ.ɑːn/; Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn; Korean: 공안 (kong'an);Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement, which is used in Zen-practice to provoke the "great doubt", and test a student's progress in Zen practice.The word koan, literally "public case", comes from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters (公案).
Etymology
Kōan is a Japanese rendering of the Chinese term (公案), transliterated kung-an (Wade-Giles) or gōng'àn (Pinyin).
Chung Feng Ming Pen (中峰明本 1263–1323) wrote that kung-an is an abbreviation for kung-fu an-tu (公府之案牘, Pinyin gōngfǔ zhī àndú, pronounced in Japanese as kōfu no antoku), which referred to a "public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang-dynasty China.[1][2][a] Kōan/kung-an thus serves as a metaphor for principles of reality beyond the private opinion of one person, and a teacher may test the student's ability to recognize and understand that principle.
Commentaries in kōan collections bear some similarity to judicial decisions that cite and sometimes modify precedents. An article by T. Griffith Foulk claims
...Its literal meaning is the 'table' or 'bench' an of a 'magistrate' or 'judge' kung.[2]
Kung-an was itself originally a metaphor — an article of furniture that came to denote legal precedents. A well-known example of this legal usage is The Cases of Judge Dee (狄公案 Di Gongan in Chinese), a Ming dynasty novel based on a historical Tang dynasty judge. In the same way, Zen kōan collections are public records of the notable sayings and actions of Zen disciples and masters attempting to pass on their teachings.
Origins and development
Historical antecedents of koan-practice
Before the tradition of meditating on kōans was recorded, Huangbo Xiyun (720–814) and Yun Men (864–949) are both recorded to have said, "Yours is a clear-cut case (chien-cheng kung-an) but I spare you thirty blows," seemingly passing judgment over students' feeble expressions of enlightenment.
By the Sung Dynasty, the term kung-an had taken on roughly its present meaning. According to Foulk, Xuedou Zhongxian (雪竇重顯 980–1052) — the original compiler of the 100 cases that later served as the basis for the Blue Cliff Record — used the term kung-anjust once in that collection, in Case #64.[2]
Yuanwu (圜悟克勤 1063–1135), compiler of the Blue Cliff Record (碧巌録) in its present form, "gained some insight" by contemplating (kan) kōans.[4][5] Yuanwu may have been instructed to contemplate phrases by his teachers, Chen-ju Mu-che (dates unknown) and Wu-tzu Fa-yen (五祖法演 ?-1104).
Encounter dialogue
Kōans and their study developed in Chinawithin the context of the open questions and answers of teaching sessions conducted by the Chinese Chán masters. The recorded encounter dialogues, and the koan collections which derived from this genre, mark a shift from solitary practice to interaction between master and student:
The essence of enlightenment came to be identified with the interaction between masters and students. Whatever insight dhyana might bring, its verification was always interpersonal. In effect, enlightenment came to be understood not so much as an insight, but as a way of acting in the world with other people[6]
This mutual enquiry of the meaning of the encounters of masters and students of the past gave students a role model:
One looked at the enlightened activities of one's lineal forebears in order to understand one's own identity [...] taking the role of the participants and engaging in their dialogues instead[7][b]
Literary practice
Koan practice developed from a literary practice, styling snippets of encounter-dialogue into well-edited stories. It arose in interaction with "educated literati".[8] There were dangers involved in such a literary approach, such as fixing specific meanings to the cases.[8]Dahui Zonggao is even said to have burned the woodblocks of the Blue Cliff Record, for the hindrance it had become to study of Chán by his students[9] Kōan literature was also influenced by the pre-Zen Chinese tradition of the "literary game" — a competition involving improvised poetry.[10]
The style of writing of Zen texts has been influenced by "a variety of east Asian literary games"[11]:
The extensive use of allusions, which create a feeling of disconnection with the main theme;
Indirect references, such as titling a poem with one topic and and composing a verse that seems on the surface to be totally unrelated;
Inventive wordplay based on the fact that kanji (Chinese characters) are homophonic and convey multiple, often complementary or contradictory meanings;
Linking the verses in a sustained string based on hidden points of connection or continuity, such as seasonal imagery or references to myths and legends.[11]
Koan-practice
Study of kōan literature is common to all schools of Zen, though with varying empahsises and curriculae.[12] A kōan or part of a kōan may serve as a point of concentration during meditation and other activities, often called "kōan practice" (as distinct from "kōan study", the study of kōan literature). Kōan may consist of a perplexing element or a concise but critical word or phrase (話頭 huàtóu) extracted from the story. It may also refer to poetry and commentary added to the story by later Zen teachers.
Instructions for kōan-practice
A qualified teacher provides instruction in kōan practice in private.
In the Wumenguan (Mumonkan), public case #1 ("Zhaozhou's Dog"), Wumen (Mumon) wrote:
...concentrate yourself into this 'Wú'... making your whole body one great inquiry. Day and night work intently at it. Do not attempt nihilistic or dualistic interpretations."[13]
Arousing this great inquiry or "Great Doubt" is an essential element of kōan practice. To illustrate the enormous concentration required in kōan meditation, Zen Master Wumen commented,
It is like swallowing a red-hot iron ball. You try to vomit it out, but you can't.
Testing insight
A kōan may be used as a test of a Zen student's ability. For monks in formal training, and for some laypersons, a teacher invokes a kōan and demands some definite response from a student during private interviews. Kōans are often presented with the teacher's unique commentary. A kōan may seem to be the subject of a talk or private interview with a student. The dialog, lecture, or sermon involving the kōan may resemble a performance, ritual duty, or poetry reading.
Teachers may probe students about their kōan practice using "checking questions" to validate an experience of insight (kensho) or awakening. Responses by students have included actions or gestures, "capping phrases" (jakugo), and verses inspired by the kōan.
The meaning of a kōan can only be demonstrated in a live experience. Texts, including kōan collections and encyclopedia articles, cannot convey that meaning, though understanding the context from which koans emerged can remove some of the mystery surrounding a kōan. For example, when a monk asked Zhaozhou (Joshu) "does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?", the monk was referring to the understanding of the teachings on Buddha-nature, which were understood in the Chinese context of absolute and relative reality.[14][15][c]
Appropriate responses to a kōan vary, since different teachers may demand different responses to a given kōan, and the answers may vary by circumstance. One of the most common recorded comments by a teacher on a disciple's answer is: "Even though that is true, if you do not know it yourself, it does you no good."[who?] The master is not looking for a specific answer but for evidence that the disciple has grasped the state of mind expressed by the kōan itself.
Therefore, although there may be "traditional answers" (kenjo 見処 or kenge 見解) to many kōans, these are only preserved as exemplary answers given in the past by various masters during their own training. In practice, many answers could be correct, provided that they convey proof of personal realization. Kōan training requires a qualified teacher who has the ability to judge a disciple's depth of attainment. In the Rinzai Zen school, which uses kōans extensively, the teacher certification process includes an appraisal of proficiency in using that school's extensive kōan curriculum. In Japanese Zen, Chinese Ch'an, Korean Seon, Vietnamese Thien, and Western Zen, kōans play similar roles, although significant cultural differences exist.
Varieties in koan-practice
Chinese Chán and Korean Seon
In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, the primary form of Koan-study is hua-tou, "word head".[16] In this practice, a fragment of the koan, such as "mu", or a "what is"-question is used by focusing on this fragment and repeating it over and over again:[17][18]
Who is it who now repeats the Buddha's name?
Who is dragging this corpse about?
What is this?
What is it?
What was the original face before my father and mother were born?
Who am I?[web 1]
The student is assigned only one hua-tou for a lifetime.[16]
In contrast to the similar sounding "who am I?" question of Ramana Maharshi, hua-tou involves raising "great doubt":[web 2]
This koan becomes a touchstone of our practice: it is a place to put our doubt, to cultivate great doubt, to allow the revelation of great faith, and to focus our great energy.[16]
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dan
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