Koan Practice – The Questing Heart-Mind

Let me tell you a Zen story:

Once a monk asked Master Joshu, “What is the meaning of the First Patriarch coming to China?”

Joshu replied, “The cypress tree in front of the courtyard.”

The monk was enlightened.

Maybe it’s not a story, it is a dialogue. You will find many such puzzling dialogues in Zen. All of them involve an apparently nonsensical exchange between two people, usually seeker and master, at the end of which the questioner invariably ‘suddenly attained enlightenment’. Here is another such encounter:

A monk asked Tung-shan, “Who is the Buddha?”
Tung-shan replied, “Three pounds of flax.”
The monk was enlightened.

Puzzling as they are, these encounters are the very heart of Zen. In the Zen tradition they are called koans. Much has been written about the koan system. In the annals of Zen history there are hundreds of recorded instances of satori—glimpses of sudden enlightenment—attained by monks and lay students through koan meditation. They are stories that inspire us, show us that every one of us is capable of being enlightened in this lifetime. Let me say a few words on koans. D.T. Suzuki puts it succinctly:

“A koan, according to one authority, means ‘a public document setting up a standard of judgement’, whereby one’s Zen understanding is tested as to its correctness. A koan is generally some statement made by an old Zen master, or some answer of his given to a questioner.”

There are a couple of key ideas here that may help you. First is the assertion that koan study leads a student to ‘Zen understanding’ and second, that this understanding is ‘tested for its correctness’. ‘Zen understanding’ here implies not only satori or Awakening, but also the deepening of the Awakening in continued koan study. Satori is not the end of koan study, it is the beginning. Secondly, this understanding has to be ‘tested as to its correctness’: this refers to the master-disciple relationship that is central in koan Zen.

Traditionally, the three prerequisites of Zen have been said to be: Great Faith, Great Doubt, and Great Questioning, or Seeking and Struggle. Great Faith is Patriarchal Faith, the faith that affirms: “I am Buddha.” It is a deep faith and trust in one’s Self. This is opposed to Doctrinal Faith, which affirms: “I can become Buddha.” Patriarchal Faith arises from reverence for and trust in one’s teacher and the words of the Buddha. But our honesty leads us to doubt: “I am an ignorant sentient being. How can I then be the truly enlightened Buddha?”

The tension and dialectic between these two poles of faith and doubt, affirmation and negation are brought to sharp focus by meditating on the koan. Koan practice can bring one to a breakthrough, which in Korean Zen tradition is called kkaech’im, brokenness. What is broken through is one’s dualistic intellectual framework and attachment to ego. The koan in a sense concretizes the ultimate questions that are the heart-mind’s quest: what is the meaning of my life? Where do I go after death? What is really Real? Who am I?

In koan practice we listen to the deeper questions of the heart-mind and learn to articulate them. The koan stands in the place of all your life questions. It gives a ‘handle’ to the search and the struggle.

Think neither good nor evil. At that very moment, what is your Primal Face?

This is the famous koan that the Sixth Patriarch gave Myo, the deluded, greedy monk. It is a question that continues to be asked of students in Zen centers even today. It is a question for you. Tell me, who are you truly? Your Original Face before your parents were born. That is, your Self beyond all dualities such as good and bad, body and mind, time and eternity, and so on. Who are you truly? Are you only your history, social status and physical form or are you more than these? Are you only your relationships, loves and friends? Who are you before the world, before others, and to yourself?

Before I go further I would like to come back to a question asked very often of me by my students. Is there any ‘technique’ to working on koans? In koan practice, ‘become the koan’—realize that you are the koan. In most Zen schools, the first basic koan is Joshu’s Mu koan. Mu leads one to a complete letting go of oneself and to deep insight. However, one can enter through any ‘gate’ and the teacher usually decides what is appropriate for the student. The Zen master occupies a central place in this koan journey.

The master is there not so much to give assurances or answers: he is primarily there to help evoke, provoke and restructure your questions. He is there to authenticate your Realization. In the Zen tradition, as in most mystical or spiritual traditions, your Awakening is not valid, recognized, or complete until it has been tested and authenticated by your teacher. All of our life is a dialogue and exchange, listening and responding. The encounter with the master is also such a dialogue and exchange, but it is about ultimate reality. Such a dialogue is still only a window into the life you are called to live in the world. Life is the ‘master.’

Let me tell you a Zen story that shows the faith, trust, earnestness and determination  required of the student and how these are tested, challenged and purified. The story itself is highly stylized, but instructive nevertheless:

A student once approached Zen Master Hyang Bong and beseeched him to teach him the Dharma. Hyang Bong turned him away, saying his Dharma was too expensive. The student pulled out the few coins in his pocket, which were the sum of his worldly possessions, and offered them to the teacher. Hyang Bong still refused to teach. The student went away to practise by himself, but was back after a few months. This time, he offered the teacher his life. But all Hyang Bong would say was, “My Dharma is too expensive for that.” Off went the student, to return in a few months offering his mind. Hyang Bong said, “Your mind is a pail of garbage, and even if you offered me ten thousand minds, my Dharma would still be too expensive.” The student threw himself into his practice, and came to the understanding that the universe is ‘empty’. He went to the master and said he understood how expensive his Dharma was. How expensive, asked the master. “Katz!” shouted the student. Hyang Bong shook his head and said, “My Dharma is more expensive than that.” This time, the student was determined not to go back without a great Awakening. Finally, it happened, and the student ran excitedly to the master and shouted,  Master, now I truly understand: the sky is blue, the grass is green.” But Hyang Bong merely said “My Dharma is even more expensive than that.” This was too much for the student, and he screamed, “I don’t need your Dharma, you can take it and shove it up your ass-hole!” With that, he rushed headlong towards the door. Just as he was going out of the door, Hyang Bong called to him, “Wait a minute!” The student turned his head. “Don’t lose my Dharma,” said Hyang Bong. Upon hearing these words, the student was truly enlightened.

(adapted from the chapter “The Questing Heart-Mind” in Ama Samy’s book Zen Heart, Zen Mind)