In Zen, the student asks a question to the master, and the reply brings sudden enlightenment. It means something had long cluttered the mind, and in one deft stroke, like a genius, the master cuts the relationship between the ego and its belief. What Vedanta does through persuasive argument, the koan does through an abrupt shock.
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Acharya Prashant: We are starting this new series, “Wisdom from the World,” which will allow us to look at wisdom literature from all parts of the world and all times, irrespective of their place of origin, culture, history or identity. So we'll be able to take up Zen Koans. We'll be able to take up Sufi mysticism, Christian mysticism and, closer to our times, existential stories. These plays will help us widen our perspective.
So we'll start with koans today. Koans originate in China. Buddhism reaches China from India and emphasizes direct meditative observation. And that dhyāna becomes chán in Chinese. That was also after its interaction with the revealing tradition of Daoism there. From China, this chán travels to Japan and becomes Zen.
So, there is Buddhism in India. Buddhism travels to China, becomes chán, and then travels to Japan and becomes Zen. In Zen, there is a particular Rinzai school, named after the teacher Rinzai. This Rinzai was a very peculiar teacher actually, and Koans are attributed to him. The beginning of the Koan stream. Though, in time many big names got associated with it.
