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Post by mamza on Mar 24, 2011 12:43:02 GMT -5
Hi, everybody. I just received the book Ten Gates, The Kong-An Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn at the suggestion of ZD, but I'm having a bit of trouble with some of the language used. I'm not at all familiar with the terminology used in any practice or religion, let alone another language, so I was wondering if you guys could help me out.
Terms like 'KATZ' and 'HIT' have come up a few times, and I have no clue what they mean. (Is HIT just literally hit?)
There was also an area where an example of four types of "like this" koans were given, but it was a little unclear to me.
What does "Without like this" mean? It mentions the answers are 'true emptiness, silence, complete stillness.' The answer is understandable, but the term without like this seems...nonsensical.
Become-one like this, Only like this, and Just like this are also types mentioned.
I'm just wondering what these questions are asking and how you would identify between them at all. Maybe the last half of that sentence I'm supposed to figure out myself, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, any help would be great. Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2011 13:41:11 GMT -5
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Post by mamza on Mar 24, 2011 14:15:28 GMT -5
Well those things are basically what he says in the book, but I'm confused as to why a question with one of those types of answers is called 'without like this' or 'become one like this.'
And is Katz just like an exclamation or something, similar to random shouts or grunts when doing something physical?
[swing axe as hard as possible] HAAAAA [/axe swing complete] = [hitfloor] Katz! [/hitfloor]?
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Post by zendancer on Mar 24, 2011 17:23:07 GMT -5
Well those things are basically what he says in the book, but I'm confused as to why a question with one of those types of answers is called 'without like this' or 'become one like this.' And is Katz just like an exclamation or something, similar to random shouts or grunts when doing something physical? [swing axe as hard as possible] HAAAAA [/axe swing complete] = [hitfloor] Katz! [/hitfloor]? Yes, "Katz" is a Zen belly shout. In some books it is written "Quatz!" Some koans can be answered like this, and a shout or hit (slapping the floor with an open palm) is a broad answer to any koan. If a teacher asks a koan, such as, "What is that?" (pointing to a bell), a student can slap the floor or shout, and this is a "become one like this" answer. In this case everything is Mu. The bell, the teacher, the student, the sound, the slap, and the whole universe is one. The teacher will then ask, "Is that all?" or "Is that the best you can do?" The student must then give a more precise answer showing the teacher that she understands the issue more deeply. In this case, she must silently reach out and ring the bell or, if the bell is at a distance, she must use her hand to simulate ringing the bell. Ringing the bell is a "just-like-this" answer and is considered a 100% answer. Any answer to this koan involving words will be less than 100%. The hit, or floor slap, sometimes bypasses or short-circuits the intellect and allows direct body-knowing to occur. It is analogous to hitting the "clear" button on a calculator. Most koans must be answered using the body to perform some physical action. A few koans require silence as an answer, and a modest number of koans require a verbal answer. Some koans are "attack" koans, such as, "Why can't a strong man lift his own leg?" The best-known koan in the West is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" The best-known koan in the East is probably the Mu koan, which is used to trigger kensho experiences of oneness. |
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Post by mamza on Mar 25, 2011 13:47:00 GMT -5
Thanks, ZD, that helped a lot. I think that become-one like this bit defined all of those like this types for me. Now it's just a matter of time before I figure these out. I think I have answers to a few, but I'm going to mull them over a bit more to be certain. And thanks for the suggestion! This book is awesome, and the other one comes in the mail soon too. I'm pretty excited!
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