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Let's check out a literal koan (pronounced "KO on"), reprinted in Steven Heine's Opening a Mountain: Kōans of the Zen Masters, and practically guaranteed to make you scratch your head and say "...um, what?":
A priest asked master Hsüan-sha Tsung-i of Fu-chou district, "I have heard that you often say, 'The whole universe in ten directions is one luminous pearl.' How are we to understand the meaning of this?" Hsüan-sha replied, "The whole universe in ten directions in one luminous pearl. What is the point in trying to understand the meaning?"
The next day Hsüan-sha asked the priest, "The whole universe in ten directions is one luminous pearl. How do you understand the meaning of this?" The priest said, "The whole universe in ten directions is one luminous pearl. What is the point in trying to understand the meaning of this?"
Hsüan-sha taunted him, "I see you have been struggling like a demon in the cave of a black mountain."
Well, y'all, there's a koan for you: a puzzle, and an invitation to meditate or think deeply. I picked that one to share with you instead of another I found that ends with one monk slapping another monk, but it was a tough call.
The word "koan" is, I think, the second one we've studied that comes from Buddhism. See if you can recall the first one, which starts with "n" and means "a place or a situation in which you feel totally happy and peaceful."
make your point with...
"KOAN"
This word has Japanese roots that mean "public matter," or "public material for thought."
Strictly speaking, in Zen Buddhism, a koan is a riddle with no answer: it's a story, a conversation, a fable, or a question that's used as a tool for both critical thinking and, ultimately, for exposing the limitations of critical thinking.
Koans are an important part of Zen literature, making up an entire mythology, kind of like Aesop's fables, but, you know, with fewer talking crows and more witches, spirits, dragons, caves, mountains, mind-reading, and spell-casting.
More loosely speaking, a koan is an unsolvable riddle, puzzle, or problem; or an unexplainable contradiction.
And even more loosely--as we'll see in a snarky example below from Barbara Kingsolver--a koan can be a puzzling impossibility.
Pronunciation:
KO on
(rhymes with "go on")
Part of speech:
Noun, the countable kind: "a koan," "three koans," "these baffling koans."
Other forms:
Just the plural, "koans."
How to use it:
Pick this odd, exotic word to emphasize the oddity and insolvability of whatever riddle, puzzle, problem, issue, paradox, or contradiction you're describing.
Simply call something a koan, or talk about someone's koan, or the koan of some situation.
Or, talk about people writing koans, posing koans, grappling with koans, speaking in koans, responding in koans, etc.
Or, talk about a word, phrase, theme, or idea being a koan or functioning like a koan in some situation.
Now, what is the sound of one hand clapping?
examples:
"[The film] also quotes Gertrude Stein: 'I am I because my little dog knows me.' Stein wrote that koan in a Vanity Fair essay where she grappled with her own success."
— Amy Nicholson, The Guardian, 10 August 2018
"Interviewer: 'If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?'
Barbara Kingsolver: 'In present circumstances, I think this question is what we call a koan.'"
— Jillian Tamaki, The New York Times, 25 October 2018
has this page helped you understand "koan"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "koan" without saying "conundrum" or "enigma."
try it out:
Fill in the blank: "To _____ is a koan, an impossibility."
Example: "To apply self-confidence to a brand-new task is a koan, an impossibility."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is "Big Bang Thicket."
In each issue, hack your way through the polysyllabic title of an episode of The Big Bang Theory, and use your knowledge of vocabulary to answer the question about what happens in that episode.
From the previous issue:
In "The Romance Resonance," does Howard write and perform a song for his girlfriend or end their relationship suddenly to focus on work?
Answer:
He performs the song. A resonance is a sound heard--or more figuratively, an emotional echo or effect.
Try this one today:
In "The Hesitation Ramification," when Penny proposes to Leonard and he hesitates, does this end or complicate their relationship?
review this word:
1. A near opposite of KOAN is
A. FOE.
B. PRECEPT.
C. DOWNFALL.
2. The book dives into some of the old koans, like _____.
A. Atlantis, El Dorado, and the fountain of youth
B. how to define responsibility in a world preordained by God
C. earning just enough from each gig to gas up the van and make it to the next one
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Let's check out a literal koan (pronounced "KO on"), reprinted in Steven Heine's Opening a Mountain: Kōans of the Zen Masters, and practically guaranteed to make you scratch your head and say "...um, what?":
"KOAN" This word has Japanese roots that mean "public matter," or "public material for thought."
"[The film] also quotes Gertrude Stein: 'I am I because my little dog knows me.' Stein wrote that koan in a Vanity Fair essay where she grappled with her own success."
Explain the meaning of "koan" without saying "conundrum" or "enigma."
Fill in the blank: "To _____ is a koan, an impossibility."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of KOAN is
|