Koan
Story, dialogue, question, or statement used in Zen practice / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Koan (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Kaon.
A kōan (/ˈkoʊæn, -ɑːn/ KOH-a(h)n;[1] Japanese: 公案; Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn [kʊ́ŋ ân]; Korean: 화두, romanized: hwadu; Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement from the Chinese Chan-lore, supplemented with commentaries, that is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and initial insight of Zen-students. Prolonged koan-study is intended to shatter small-minded pride of, and identification with, this initial insight, and spurs further development of insight and compassion, and integration thereof in daily life and character.