What is a Koan?

Koans are an ancient method for addressing the question of who we are

The basic assumption behind koans is that everybody has a light inside them, even before they try to improve themselves. Working with koans is a way to open a gate to your consciousness so that you can experience that light.

Sometimes the format of a koan (\’kō-‘än) is question-and-answer, but the answer is designed to shift your consciousness rather than answer the question. Sometimes a koan is snatched from a poem. It might be beautiful or puzzling in a way that is designed to stop your thinking so that you can experience life directly.

Koans hold an ancient wisdom that anyone can use, and for a long time PZI has been exploring different ways of working with them. This exploration, and its embodiment in practice, is our gift.

Koan, Defined:

A koan is a piece of old wisdom in a very concise form.

Think of a koan as a vial of ancient light that has been passed down to us. It’s the same light that was in the heart of the teacher who invented the koan.

So if you can get the vial open, what will pour out is your inheritance. This inheritance will be a perspective—the way an old master saw and experienced the world. Once you’ve learned how to open that vial you might find it handy to have with you on your travels.

A koan brings about a change of heart—its value is to transform the mind.

A koan may take many of your thoughts and assumptions away. It may show you that you stand on an emptiness, a mystery. And you may find this freeing. When you witness things as they emerge from mystery, you may find that you too are just emerging, and are essentially unknown. You are a something, vast and infinite, not limited by having a self. When you do not hold onto a set belief about who you are, many things are open and possible, and you may find that kindness just arrives by itself, without effort.