One book in particular has stood out to me, has really inspired me in an incredibly mysterious way such that I am not sure what it means to me, or how even to understand it. This is the Mumonkan "The Gateless Barrier". Here is a koan from that text:
TWO MONKS ROLLED UP THE BAMBOO BLINDS
The monks gathered in the hall to hear the Great Hogen of Seiryo give a teisho before the midday meal. Hogen pointed to the bamboo blinds. At this two monks went to the blinds and rolled them up alike. Hogen said, "One has it; the other has not."
I don't know which one is me...
10 comments:
What does it mean?
It means that some have it, some don't.
And Sky, you have it.
Oh no, does that mean I don't?
And what is "it", and why do I want "it" again?
I don't know, and you don't.
If you don't know, how do you know I don't?
And on another note, would you consider certainty an emotion?
Mu.
i'm not sure, but i don't think mu will do. i think those might be answerable questions.
Certainty is a state of mind - though it can certainly be emotionally and stubbornly maintained!
And don't worry, I don't really know anything!
well i don't know about translating koans. i've seen other versions of this one that say about the two monks - one gains, one loses. that changes the meaning quite a bit hey?
translation is a tricky deal period.
one passage of the hebrew bible, for e.g., has traditionally been translated as something along the lines of "God hates divorce", whereas John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, and who was a multi-linguistic biblical scholar, translated it as "Whoever hates, let them divorce in the sight of God."
So, like, polar opposites.
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