The Power of Koans to Destroy Conceptual Thinking and Provoke Enlightenment

According to Zen philosophy, there are two sides of reality: the phenomenal one and the essential one.

Our phenomenal reality is the one we are most familiar with. It consists of everything that we sense (what we see, hear, touch, taste and smell) and everything that we think (our concepts and beliefs about the world). It is fundamentally a world of duality that begins with our distinction between “self” and “other.”

The distinction between “self” and “other” is the birthplace of consciousness itself. And in this phenomenal reality, we experience the world as something different and separate from it. We experience that stubborn ego (“me” or “I”).

Our essential reality is a recognition of our “Oneness” or interconnectedness with everything. It transcends the duality of senses and thought – and it transcends the duality between “self” and “other.” It is a reality beyond concepts that can only be realized through direct experience with it.

The experience of this “essential reality” is the ultimate goal of Zen. It’s enlightenment itself. But in order to experience it, we must be able to destroy our conceptual and dualistic thinking that stands between the phenomenal and the essential.

One popular tool Zen monks practice to provoke enlightenment is the use of koans. These are short anecdotes, paradoxes, or riddles that are designed to get one’s mind beyond dualistic and conceptual thinking.

The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans is one of the most influential collection of koans. It shares 48 koans that were originally compiled in the 13th century by Chinese Zen master Mumon Ekai. Each koan is designed by itself to create an experience of enlightenment.

On the surface, koans are often purposefully illogical and nonsensical. This is because the function of koans is to help the student break through the phenomenal world and into the essential world. If one approaches a koan from a phenomenal perspective, it will be impossible to understand it.

It’s common for zen masters to provoke through paradoxes, irrational thinking, and misdirection. These are done intentionally to help students break through their desire for logic and reason and thus become more open to enlightenment.

In this edition of The Gateless Gate, each koan is included with Mumon’s commentary, a short Zen poem, and then additional commentary and historical background provided for by Koun Yamada.

The discussions about koans are often just as important as the koans themselves. Zen monks often share koans with one another and have elaborate debates on what the meanings behind them are. It sometimes take multiple takes and interpretations of a koan before it finally clicks. And even then, many koans will leave you perplexed.

As Koun Yamada mentions in the book, most rational and scientific-minded people will find koans to be “repugnant” and “absurd:”

“The common sense of ordinary people will reject it as absurd. Learned people, such as philosophers and scientists, will feel repugnance at the lack of reason in the koan. Such people are often perplexed when confronted by the strange and even abnormal expressions found in the language of the koan. Koans bring us into a land abounding in contradictions of ideas and concepts. We cannot escape by means of rational thinking. There is no other way of freeing ourselves from this confusion than by cutting through it as thought it were the Gordian knot. This cannot be done by rational thinking or logical reasoning.”

In part, this could be a cultural difference too. Eastern philosophies tend to be more open to paradoxical thinking as opposed to Western philosophies which tend to be more rational and logic based.

In this article, I’d like to explain more about how koans work and share a few examples that you may find intriguing and thought-provoking in regards to Zen philosophy.

“Exploring Words”

The essential world can’t be grasped through words or concepts, yet koans are nothing but words and concepts. So how can they have anything to do with enlightenment?

In Zen philosophy, while words and concepts can never fully grasp the essential world, they can help point us in the right direction. Confucius once said, “When a wise man points at the moon the imbecile examines the finger” – this is a warning that while words and concepts can be useful, we mustn’t mistaken them for the whole of reality.

When Zen masters are approached by students, they often need to first understand how far the student is on their path to enlightenment before they can offer them any guidance. “Exploring words” are ways Zen masters test students to see how enlightened they are.

“Exploring words” can be any sentence, phrase, or question that is designed to elicit a response from the student – and based on that response, a Zen master can gauge how enlightened a student is.

Many koans are filled with examples of “exploring words” between a master and student that function to test and challenge the student’s enlightenment.

In one koan called “Kicking Over the Water Jug,” a Zen Master named Hyakujo took a water jug, placed it on the floor and said, “You may not call this a water jug. What will you call it?”

These are “exploring words” to see how the students would react. One student answered by saying, “It cannot be called a wooden sandal.” Another student answered by kicking over the water jug and leaving the room.

In this koan, the second student’s response led the master to believe that student was closer to enlightenment than the first student, so the student was promoted to be the new master of the monastery.

What does this mean? Why did the master prefer the second student’s response? What would your response have been to the water jug?

“Turning Words”

“Turning words” are words Zen masters say to provoke enlightenment in their students.

Unlike “exploring words,” they aren’t intended to test or challenge the student, but rather to make them instantly see things in a new way. “Turning words” are meant to transform the phenomenal into the essential. They are designed to evoke insight.

In many koans throughout the book, masters are shown providing “turning words” to a student. “Turning words” are carefully chosen to get that particular student to break beyond their conceptual framework and get a taste of enlightenment.

One person’s “turning words” may be different than another person’s “turning words.” The words alone aren’t what provoke enlightenment, the overarching context behind those words matters too.

In one koan named “Leaving Speech and Silence Behind,” a monk asks his master how can he transcend the dualistic world of sound and silence. The master replies, “Once I went to the south of the Yangtze River and looked at the spring scenery there. It was very wonderful. Hundreds of sweet-scented flowers were in full bloom, and partridges chirped and sand among them. I’ve been constantly thinking of it ever since.”

These were designed to be “turning words” for the student asking how to transcend speech and silence. The master transcended speech and silence by ignoring it and concerning himself with something else. And, for that moment, that was all that was in his universe: spring scenery and sweet scented flowers.

That’s how you transcend sound and silence. Whack!

“Whack!” is a common word used throughout the commentary in The Gateless Gate to symbolize moments of insight. When “turning words” hit us where they are intended to hit us, they “whack” us unexpectedly without warning. The insight comes as fast as lightning – we don’t even have time to think about it.

“Turning words” are designed to transcend the world of thoughts and concepts. They put us in direct contact with the essential.

Destroy All Concepts, “Kill the Buddha”

In Zen, every concept becomes a hindrance to the seeking of enlightenment. This is true even for the concept of “enlightenment” itself.

The moment we say, think, or write “enlightenment” we’ve already reduced it to a concept. And by reducing it to a concept, we’ve detached it from its essential reality. The more you think about something, the more you distance yourself from the “raw experience” of it.

This is why, from a Zen perspective, every concept needs to be thrown away with to seek direct experience with the essential world.

This is also why most koans are completely nonsensical and illogical – because they purposely misuse concepts to help break beyond the boundaries of conceptual thinking.

Most people think either something exists or it doesn’t exist. But a Zen master will say, “It both exists and doesn’t exist.” It’s a contradiction. A paradox.

Koans make great use of this contradictory thinking to purposely destroy concepts and get you into a mental state of “anti-thinking.”

There’s a popular koan called “Killing the Buddha” that simply states “If you meet the Buddha, kill him.”

But wait! Isn’t seeking Buddhahood or enlightenment supposed to be the goal? It is. But the moment you say “Buddha” you’ve reduced “Buddha” to a concept and thus you’ve made “Buddha” not Buddha. Because “Buddha” is beyond concept and beyond thought.

In another koan named “Tozan’s Three Pounds,” a student asks, “What is Buddha?” The master simply replies, “Three pounds of flax.”

Now kill the three pounds of flax. Whack!

Koans are essentially the use of concepts to destroy concepts.

Final Words

In general, I find Zen philosophy to be a very interesting and valuable perspective to learn about.

These koans are a great thing to check out if you are someone who practices meditation or mindfulness. They are great aid at helping you to quickly bypass your thinking and jerk you into the present moment.

We often become very attached to our world of concepts and thinking, and we sometimes forget that the concepts we cling to aren’t always the exact measures of truth and how things really are.

Of course having concepts, logic, and reason are very important tools for understanding our reality. But they have their limitations too.

Koans are purposely designed to poke fun at our desire to want to fit everything into a neat and clean box. And oddly by stripping ourselves away from conceptual thinking every now and then, we sometimes get a clearer view of how reality works.

The Gateless Gate is a great introduction if you want to become more familiar with Zen philosophy. In addition to the 48 mind-bending koans, there is also some great side stories and historical information that will help give you a broader knowledge of Zen history and Zen practice.

In case you didn’t notice, the title itself – “The Gateless Gate” – is a type of contradiction or paradox, further exemplifying just how embedded this type of thinking is in Zen philosophy.

While reading through this book, I actually had to put it down several times to contemplate and reflect on what I had just read. It’s a very thought-provoking and thought-killing book, it kept putting me into a state of trance. I highly recommend it if you want to exercise your mind.

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