The Lesson At The Waterfall

[quintessentone]

I can understand that but you know what I am asking.

Let me try again.

Do you believe that there is an underlying purpose behind the attempt to answer the Koan, other than what you use it for? 

If you do then would that not be the most important thing to address?

Some students took years to unravel a Koan paradox never reaching an answer.

The master sometimes answers questions with silence and/or non answers.

[midicon]

Some students took years to unravel a Koan paradox never reaching an answer.

The master sometimes answers questions with silence and/or non answers.

I asked you two questions and you avoided both.

Why is that?

[quintessentone]

I asked you two questions and you avoided both.

Why is that?

I answered both questions.

[midicon]

I answered both questions.

Not really. I asked what you believe, not about what a master decides to do or how long a student might take.
​
I'm not trying to trap you, I'm just asking a question or two.

I have my own thoughts on this and why a Koan does what it does.

[quintessentone]

Not really. I asked what you believe, not about what a master decides to do or how long a student might take.
​
I'm not trying to trap you, I'm just asking a question or two.

I have my own thoughts on this and why a Koan does what it does.

We all should have our own thoughts about this topic but when did your not caring change to caring about this?

[midicon]

We all should have our own thoughts about this topic but when did your not caring change to caring about this?

I'm only human and just reacted to the GIF you posted.

I'll leave the thread now and wish you well.

[WallFlowerActive]

"Thich Nhat Hanh notes, "Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment.  Fully alive, fully aware," and adds that "The present moment is the only moment in which you can find everything you've been looking for.""

As someone else posted.  Fortune smiles on those who are prepared.  How much training and practice does it take to be anything from a championship team to a monk.  

Also..

Someone told me there is more to life than work.  I pointed out you still have to provide for yourself and your family if you have kids.  
 

Matthew 11 

4And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepersa are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

7As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8What then did you go out to see? A manb dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet?c Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’

11Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,d and the violent take it by force. 13For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15He who has ears to hear,e let him hear.

16“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

17“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”f

https://biblehub.com/esv/matthew/11.htm

If you believe in Jesus or not.  Still a testimony against the privilege which monks were in a society segregated and classed by law, and highlighted the importance of actually doing something.  

Do you have a monk that got crucified for speaking out against the fat and dumb establishment?

[quintessentone]

I'm only human and just reacted to the GIF you posted.

I'll leave the thread now and wish you well.

Your reaction was to state that you are the only dancer here and failed to explain what that meant. Rather you chose to state then that you don't care.

So I wish you well too and keep dancing that light fantastic alone if that is your choice.

[WallFlowerActive]

If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.

[quintessentone]

Well I wanted to toss this koan into "Transgender Dukkha Attachment Thread #843" to screw with everyone.

I was going say "here is a koan about fluidity and what is real," or "why are the people who believe in afterlife, souls, and other shit they cant prove, enough to even "feel" it sometimes,  giving shit to the people that cross-identify? Talk about willfull delusions andd mental conditioning." 

But that would be too "adversarial" and too much fallacy, even for me, so  I went another direction there, and am now using "passive-aggression" here, I guess. 

But then I was left with a quasi-buddhist story about "anatman" and "anicca" and liked it too much to shelve it..

Koans are rooted in Buddhism.

"Zen koans originated in China during the Tang and Song Dynasties as collections of stories and anecdotes known as gong'an (public cases), compiled by Chan masters to test and cultivate student enlightenment.  This practice was transmitted to Japan in the 12th century primarily through Eisai, who founded the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, establishing koan study as a core meditative discipline. 
While Eisai introduced the practice, its widespread influence and curriculum were later solidified in the 13th and 17th centuries by figures like Dogen (founder of the Soto school) and Hakuin Ekaku (who revitalized the Rinzai tradition).  Through these key figures, koans evolved from Chinese Chan anecdotes into a formalized Japanese Zen method used to exhaust the analytic intellect and trigger intuitive awakening."

https://study.com/academy/lesson/koan-ov...dhism.html

"...where answers come from within."