Zen Koan Assignment
Zen Koan Assignment
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A Zen koan can refer to stories, parables, small statements or even a few words of a phrase that reference a larger story used in the practice of Zen Buddhism. They may be taken from the sayings or accounts of Buddhist teachers form the past or they may originate from modern day. The purpose of a Koan is to open the mind and perception to the truth and to open the mind that has been closed by habitual responses to the world and reality. Zen koans are meant to assist in shocking the mind into awareness or enlightenment which can be defined as the full realization of the truth of the Buddha’s teachings. In the Koan, “Nansen cuts the Cat in Two” there are many ways to interpret it by looking at it from different points
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A Zen koan can refer to stories, parables, small statements or even a few words of a phrase that reference a larger story used in the practice of Zen Buddhism. They may be taken from the sayings or accounts of Buddhist teachers form the past or they may originate from modern day. The purpose of a Koan is to open the mind and perception to the truth and to open the mind that has been closed by habitual responses to the world and reality. Zen koans are meant to assist in shocking the mind into awareness or enlightenment which can be defined as the full realization of the truth of the Buddha’s teachings. In the Koan, “Nansen cuts the Cat in Two” there are many ways to interpret it by looking at it from different points