Comment by JundoCohen on 12/01/2025 at 00:59 UTC

8 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)

View submission: A Couple of Questions Regarding Koans

As to the cat, it is unlikely that any cat was actually killed ... One of the most easily misunderstood of Koans, I feel:

Nanchuan (Nansen) saw the monks of the eastern and western halls fighting over a cat. Seizing the cat, he told the monks: “If any of you can say a word of Zen, you will save the cat.” No one answered. Nanchuan cut the cat in two.*

Here is how I take it: The "Sword of Wisdom" in Mahayana Buddhism actually makes the separate things of the world one when it "*uncuts*." It is the opposite of a worldly sword. The monks, in fighting over the cat, are the ones who had already mentally divided it.

There was unlikely to have been any literal killing celebrated by Buddhist priests who take a vow to avoid violence, not to mention all the Karmic ramifications. Instead, Nansen actually brought wholeness and the cat back to life by ending the monk's arguing and divisive thoughts, and returning to Wholeness and the Absolute. No cat was harmed, in either the relative or the absolute sense.

As to the finger: In the story about Gutei cutting the boy's finger, the original meaning of the Chinese is likely closer to "gave a sharp twist" (刀斷, as here: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E5%88%80%E4%B8%A1%E6%96%AD[1][2] and https://hanzii.net/search/word/%E5%BF%AB%E5%88%80%E6%96%AD%E4%B9%B1%E9%BA%BB?hl=en[3]), not literally cut off or do actual violence. The point is, of course, not just to imitate, but to know the true meaning.

1: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E5%88%80%E4%B8%A1%E6%96%AD

2: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E5%88%80%E4%B8%A1%E6%96%AD

3: https://hanzii.net/search/word/%E5%BF%AB%E5%88%80%E6%96%AD%E4%B9%B1%E9%BA%BB?hl=en

I would be cautious about making your own Koans unless having a deep, well digested and wide understanding of the Zen and Mahayana Buddhist Teachings, and the special wisdom them each Koan embodies. If you misunderstood the above Koans so easily, perhaps it would be a bit pre-mature for you to do so.

Comment by JundoCohen on 12/01/2025 at 00:59 UTC

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