Why we use koans in Zen

I came across this passage from the Nirvana Sutra which is from a translation by Kosho Yamamoto.

"Moreover, emancipation is termed that which severs all conditioned phenomena [saṃskṛta-dharmas], gives rise to all untainted [anāśrava], wholseome qualities /phenomena and eliminates the various paths/ approaches, that is to say, Self, non-Self, not-Self and not non-Self. It merely severs attachment and does not sever the view of the Self/ the seeing of the Self/ the vision of the Self [atma-dṛsti] . The view of the Self is termed the 'Buddha-dhātu' [Buddha-Nature]. The Buddha-dhātu is true emancipation, and true emancipation is the Tathagata.”

What underlies this is, actually, quite simple.  But the more words and concepts that are added, the more difficult it all seems.

Emancipation or enlightenment means, instantaneously, severing our dependence on conditioned phenomena.  Most, importantly, in Zen this is thought, i.e., the process of thinking which is always conditioned. Thinking as we know it belongs to the manas, which is not the same as Mind, Mind being the very substance or essence of thought.  This is why we use koans in Zen. 

Koans are designed to, first of all, bait and trap our thinking; then to frustrate our thinking until we enter into what Zen master Dahui calls “great doubt 大疑” — which I call “going to your wits’ end.” 

I mean, eventually, you see your insane pattern: think, think, think and get nowhere.  You’re now caught between a rock and a hard place, so to speak.  So what do you do? The right answer is get caught between a rock and a hard place!  Then maybe one night you will hear the churring of a cricket and awaken or walk by a pond in the early morning and become startled by the splash of a frog and awaken.  Yeah, severing one’s dependence on conditioned phenomena comes that fast — a sword cut.

And what did Mumon say? Oh, it’s so priceless!  Enlightenment always comes after the road of thinking is blocked.  Only then do you find your true Self —this Self or Buddha-nature is the very essence of our conditioned, illusory cosmos.  It is most fundamental.  It’s each of us further down if we’ve bothered to really look, profoundly, going beyond thought.

Comments

[n. yeti]

Well, no. The tetralemma is a common feature of Indian logic. It was also used by Democritus and the Pyrrhonist skeptics, and was put to good use by some of the most sophisticated Buddhist logicians such as Nagarjuna. It takes a certain degree of mental refinement to understand why the four-fold negation system is useful. For this reason it is best for you to practice good moral conduct and perhaps some chanting, but to study Zen you just don’t have what it takes.

[dave b]

Koans don't work. If they did, Zen wouldn't be such a mess. Koans merely contribute to the degeneration of language skills and logic that can lead one to write nonsense like "and eliminates the various paths/ approaches, that is to say, Self, non-Self, not-Self and not non-Self" which is absolutely incoherent. (With very rare excwptions, e.g. "does a dog have Buddha nature?" 99.9% of koans are just stoner logic.)