Koans

The word koan originally meant a court case which had established a legal precedent and was therefore a public record of an interaction. In Zen a koan is also a record of an interaction, or a question between a Zen master and a student. Here are some famous Zen koan's;

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there will it make a sound?

A Zen master once saw two monks debating whether the wind or the flag was moving. He said 'This is not the movement of the wind, nor the movement of the banner; it is the movement of your minds'.

There are many thousands of Zen Koans but they all revolve around just two concepts; an understanding of what we are or an understanding of what we could be.