6 ms·

Can someone please explain to me this part "The spectators were aghast until they looked up at Kobun, who gleefully shouted, “Bullseye!”? I have a hard time und

by irtefa 12y ago

Can someone please explain to me this part "The spectators were aghast until they looked up at Kobun, who gleefully shouted, “Bullseye!”? I have a hard time understanding why Kobun did what he did.

purpletoned 12y ago
Zen philosophy stresses on going with the flow and accepting things as they are. You could argue that Kobun did hit a target even if it wasn't the one the audience (or himself for that matter) anticipated.
- Zelphyr 12y ago
  I tend to agree though a part of me also wonders if it wasn't also a little mischievous humor on his part. :)
namenotrequired 12y ago
Considering the sentence that prefaced the anecdote, I read it as an illustration of the mentioned "humor and a light touch".
sp332 12y ago
From the previous paragraph: Zen flourishes in irreverence, subversion, inscrutability, and self-mockery, so it sounds perfect :)
onmydesk 12y ago
My favourite part of the article. A few meanings I think are possible, I like the explanation that the observers were wrong to assume they knew where the target was ; It was after all his shot to take, he wasn't conforming to the expectation of the group. Reminds me of "A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to".
- irtefa 12y ago
  This makes more sense now, thanks.
wpietri 12y ago
My inexpert take is that Zen makes a lot of use of contradiction of expectation as a way of waking people up. When my expectation of a situation is violated and I have a WTF moment, I start paying a great deal of attention to the exact details of the situation, and I start questioning all my assumptions. A good example is the story "A Cup of Tea": [1] Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" Without being there, I can't know what Kobun intended. (Even if I were I could well not know.) But one way to look at it is him getting people to empty their cups: they thought they knew what would happen, and suddenly they didn't. A joke? [2] A lesson? A metaphor? It almost doesn't matter, because now they're awake. To me the ultimate purpose of this is to get people to see the flashes of blue sky that the article talks about, those moments of insight that help us see through the useful illusions we collect as a way of getting by in the world. [1] From http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=1 http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=1 and I'd encourage interested parties to buy Paul Reps's "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones", a delightful book of similar and related material. [2] You might also find a useful analogy in the Native American notion of a sacred clown, a heyoka: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heyoka http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heyoka

by irtefa 12y ago

purpletoned 12y ago

Zen philosophy stresses on going with the flow and accepting things as they are. You could argue that Kobun did hit a target even if it wasn't the one the audience (or himself for that matter) anticipated.

Zelphyr 12y ago
I tend to agree though a part of me also wonders if it wasn't also a little mischievous humor on his part. :)

namenotrequired 12y ago

Considering the sentence that prefaced the anecdote, I read it as an illustration of the mentioned "humor and a light touch".

sp332 12y ago

From the previous paragraph: Zen flourishes in irreverence, subversion, inscrutability, and self-mockery, so it sounds perfect :)

onmydesk 12y ago

My favourite part of the article. A few meanings I think are possible, I like the explanation that the observers were wrong to assume they knew where the target was ; It was after all his shot to take, he wasn't conforming to the expectation of the group. Reminds me of "A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to".

irtefa 12y ago
This makes more sense now, thanks.

wpietri 12y ago

My inexpert take is that Zen makes a lot of use of contradiction of expectation as a way of waking people up. When my expectation of a situation is violated and I have a WTF moment, I start paying a great deal of attention to the exact details of the situation, and I start questioning all my assumptions. A good example is the story "A Cup of Tea": [1] Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" Without being there, I can't know what Kobun intended. (Even if I were I could well not know.) But one way to look at it is him getting people to empty their cups: they thought they knew what would happen, and suddenly they didn't. A joke? [2] A lesson? A metaphor? It almost doesn't matter, because now they're awake. To me the ultimate purpose of this is to get people to see the flashes of blue sky that the article talks about, those moments of insight that help us see through the useful illusions we collect as a way of getting by in the world. [1] From http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=1 http://www.101zenstories.com/index.php?story=1 and I'd encourage interested parties to buy Paul Reps's "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones", a delightful book of similar and related material. [2] You might also find a useful analogy in the Native American notion of a sacred clown, a heyoka: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heyoka http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heyoka