Zen kōans: Unsolvable enigmas designed to break your brain - Puqun Li

How do we explain the unexplainable? This question has inspired numerous myths, religious practices and scientific inquiries. But Zen Buddhists practicing throughout China from the 9th to 13th century asked a different question – why do we need an explanation? Puqun Li details the bewildering and ambiguous philosophical thought experiments these Buddhists called Zen kōans.

Lesson by Puqun Li, directed by Cabong Studios.

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[jjsmith]

"I left the traveler there. Are you still carrying her?"

#ZenBurn

[nguoiquaduong]

There're many short lessions in Buddhism. I like this one: "I want happiness, how get it?", "Just remove I and Want, there is Happiness".

[humanbeing]

Zen Koans: The original "It do be like that sometimes."

[migukmoonpark]

I know the sound of one hand clapping. It's a slap.

[JannPoo]

So this is a collection of weapons to destroy AI when they'll try to conquer the world.

[OrinBoborin]

"Unlike real court cases, koans were intentionally incomprehensible — they were surprising, surreal, and frequently contradicted themselves" oh dear, I may have some bad news for you about 'real' court cases.

[TheRealChubbDaddy]

In western (American/BCA) Jodoshinshu Buddhism (which does not have monks nor does it typically employ koans or meditation) the flag story goes as follows: During meditation one monk broke the silence, observing aloud, "Flag is flapping". Another corrected, "Wind is flapping ". A third monk chimed in, "No, the mind is flapping". Finally, the head monk broke their attachnent to the debate, saying: "Mouths are flapping".

[evanborodin]

...were intentionally incomprehensible. They were surprising, surreal, and frequently contradicted themselves."
Youtube commentators in a nutshell.

[potatomuncher]

0:16 straight up thought he had morning wood until I saw his other foot

[zacharygoodman]

“Says we shouldn’t try to explain the koans”

“Explains every single one”

[thenateman]

"Ugh, Colonel. I keep trying to solve this Koan, but my hands are dummy thicc, and the sound of one hand clapping keeps alerting the other monks."

[TheDuke]

"I left the traveler there, are you still carrying her?"
What a profound insight, applicable to so many of life's troubles. We'we all been the outraged monk at some point, still being weighted down by the negative emotions of troubles past.

[trollosaurus]

I remember studying these a little in high school. One of my favorites:

A calligraphy master has a promising young student who aspires to be a master like him one day. The master assigns his student to master a certain character and show it to him once he's mastered it. The student returns the next day, carrying a piece of parchment with ten handsome characters. The master looks at the parchment and disregards it immediately. Puzzled, the student returns home.
The next day, the student returns with dozens of elegant copies of the same character. Once again, the master turns him away. The student is confused and becoming frustrated.
The student shows up the next day, exhausted, carrying a sheet of hundreds of stunningly beautiful identical characters. The master, still not impressed, turns away without a word.
Infuriated, the student quickly dashes the character onto a piece of parchment and shouts, "how about now?!"
The master turns around, looks him in the eye, and smiles. "It's perfect."

[francesdelacruz]

when your teacher asks a question and follows it with a ‘why?’

me: why do we need an explanation??

[etc.]

They're not meant to break your brain, they're meant to help us realize that our brains are broken.

[LordofBroccoli]

12th century: Zen koans
21st century: Yanny or Laurel?

[PedanticAntics]

• First monk: "the flag flapping"
• Second monk: "the wind flapping"
• Third monk: "the mind flapping"


• The drunkard laying on the ground nearby: "their mouths flapping.."

[kirbymarchbarcena]

Answering the "Why" will always add another "Why".

[Crick]

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes"

[monilvalia]

'I left the traveler there. Are you still carrying her?'
Is solution to most of my problems i didn't even recognise then...