Defining A Koan Poem by RAJ NANDY

DEFINING A KOAN

A Koan is a short paradoxical sentence,
Making a statement or asking a question,
The answer to which evades the solution!
The Zen master used it to teach his pupils,
In the practise of Zen philosophy,
Highlighting our logical reasoning's inadequacy!
For the deeper questions of life cannot be
answered logically,
But only through meditation, intutively!
Life is to be understood only as a unified
whole,
And not through unrelated parts coloured
by our individual philosophy!
For existence appears to become complex,
When we try to comprehend it logically or
rationally!
Therefore, the Zen Master always tells you, -
To sit in zazen* and break through!

Raj Nandy
New Delhi
(* The meditation posture of the Buddha)