To be frank, these are questions for the teacher. Lack of control is part of the deal. Only go straight, don't know.yinyangkoi wrote: ↑Fri Aug 13, 2021 8:16 amSo basically just do zazen until the answer appears? Do I just count the breath or do I have to keep the koan in memory? I have been meditating for a few years already and gained some insight. What if the koan points to an insight I already realized, will the answer still appear? How long does it usually take for a koan to be solved? I asked my teacher what the hardest koan is, and she said 'speaking in terms of easy or hard will get you the stick 30 times' lol. It's frustrating because there is seemingly nothing one can do to attain the answer, this lack of control makes me feel so desperate for a hint or tipsseeker242 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 12, 2021 3:55 pm But to get back to the original question!
Seung Sahn answered this question himself.How to figure out the soluton to a koan
Some more very interesting comments!PP: What is the best way to answer a kong-an? How does one open oneself up so that a direct and "correct" response is possible?
ZMSS: Put down everything, put down your opinion, your condition, your situation. Moment to moment, only don't know. Then a correct response will appear by itself. Hitting the floor or shouting KATZ is only a technique. Sometimes using this technique is necessary, sometimes it's not necessary.
The part that really stands out for me is: "Correct kong-an practice means your mind becomes very simple."PP: Are there dangers in kong-an practice?
ZMSS: If you only want to "understand" kong-ans, then you have a big problem. It's a kind of sickness. Then a very strong "I-my-me" mind appears. Sometimes people are attached to a good answer. That is not correct kong-an practice.
PP: Do you think that trying to pass the ten gates leads to a sense of competition? Does it lead to a sense of pride? Isn't trying to "solve" kong-ans particularly dangerous in our goal-oriented society?
ZMSS: Correct practice is necessary. When you don't practice correctly, then your "I" mind appears, then competition appears, then pride appears. If you correctly "attain" kong-ans, than this kind of mind never appears. Kong-an practice means cutting off all (analytical) thinking. That means throwing away our attachments to our conditions, opinions, and situations. American mind is intellectual, very analytical. The intellectual mind cannot pass kong-ans. Correct kong-an practice means your mind becomes very simple. In simple mind, there is no "I-my-me." Then practicing kong-ans is no problem.
Our style of kong-an practice means not holding the kong-an. The old style was to go into the mountains, cut off the outside world, and just work on one kong-an. Our style of practice is to learn how to function correctly in everyday life through kong-an practice.
So, when you are doing something, just do it. In that doing, there is no thinking, no subject, no object. Inside and outside become one. In our style of practice, correct kong-an practice, correct life, and correct direction are all the same. If we make our everyday life clear, then kong-an practice is no problem. Then kong-an practice is not special.
_/|\_
Keith