16 Responses to “one hand clapping”

1.  beard  on 12/30/2005  

   I can't make heads of tails of these Zen koans or the idea of sudden enlightenment. Perhaps this is just as well.

2.  Jon  on 12/30/2005  

   Beard, You might want to give it the energy the pupil did. I think you'll get it if you had three days to live. :-)
   
   Mark, thanks. This is one of my favorites. (My very favorite is Shuzan's short staff--not even Buddhas can escape that attack!)

3.  Meredith  on 12/31/2005  

   I heard one friend suggest that the sound of one hand clapping was "Ouch!"
   
   
   ~M

4.  Jon  on 12/31/2005  

   Depends on what it's clapping.

5.  mark  on 1/01/2006  

   Great answers! One of my perspectives is similar to Jon's... death can sometimes bring things into better focus. I suppose, Beard, that if enough light illuminates anything, we start to see it more clearly. Problem is, of course, that we either don't have enough light in the room, or when we do have enough light it makes our eyes tear up so much we get blinded by the brilliance. That's my experience. Guess that's what makes us say "Ouch". :)

6.  Beard  on 1/03/2006  

   Jon,
   
   I am sure that that would help, but as you probably know, we have a limited amount of energy (attention) under our control. Right now I am using my little light to try to be present.
   
   Perhaps the koan can be of some use to help me to try harder(for a short time).
   
   
   Mark,
   
   I have never been blinded by the brilliance. In my best moments I simply know that I exist and that a few moments before I did not. This knowledge(truth) seems to me to be all that one could wish for. This "awakening" fluxtuates up and down from moment to moment, day to day, gradually increasing over the years. I see it as a never ending process. For me it is hard to reconsile this with the idea of sudden enlightment.
   
   I do not mean to suggest that the Zen way is incorrect. Surely it is effective. I simply do not think that I am going to understand it any time soon. Also I meant to say that what we think of as understanding is probably not what "enlightenment" implies. It probably means trancending understanding.

7.  Matt  on 1/03/2006  

   You have a very beautiful and inspirational blog Mark I will be coming back for more. Thanks.
   
   Matt
   Empathy
   http://e-m-p-a-t-h-y.blogspot.com

8.  mark  on 1/03/2006  

   Beard.
   
   I hear you. I don't claim to understand the Zen way, although I have found many aspects of it to be insightful and inspirational. The Great River way, which I study, is a way that I have a better understanding of. It is a way of studying principles, and then learning to apply them in everyday life applications. I, too, find the way that I study to be a never ending process. I used to act, live and behave as though just the opposite was true, i.e. that there was an end in sight and I was pretty darn close to it. Thank goodness I am less inclined to behave that way than I used to be.
   
   With respect to being "blinded by the brilliance," there have been some things that I have experienced that fall into that catagory. For example, there have been times when I have looked deeply into other people's eyes, and my own eyes have started burning including tears streaming down my face. My teacher has explained this phenomenon in several ways. He said it is my own resistance to the truth being burned away. He has also said that it is the result of looking deeper in toward the center, with the consequence of being burned or blinded by the brilliance of the light. He says that's why Moses had to cover his face, because the Israelites were unable to handle looking at someone who had centered themselves as deeply as Moses had. Actually, I have looked into the mirror at my own face and eyes, and had similar sensations. In that case, I believe I am looking at inner truths about myself that I am resisting, unwilling to fully embrace. Resistance creates heat, hence the strong sensations of burning and being blinded. I don't know if this makes any sense to you. I am probably doing a poor job of describing these experiences. I'll try better next time. Thank heaven there are next times. :)
   
   
   Matt,
   
   Thank you. I appreciate your comments, and am happy you stop by.

9.  beard  on 1/04/2006  

   Pretty darn close huh. :) Sounds familiar. Yes it is nice to be letting go of that.
   
   I am glad to see that our views of Zen are compatible.
   
   Regarding tears. I have them often. Mostly when I see or hear something beautiful. The thought that I often have at those times is, "How could anybody see the situation that they are in and not cry?" Sometimes my self pity is overwhelming when I see that I am effectively dead almost all of the time. Other times the gratitude I feel about being helped to escape is overwhelming. Sometimes I feel both at the same time.
   
   I think these intense emotions are just a way to release a certain fine energy when I have more of it than I can handle.
   
   I do not know about buring away resistance but at those times I feel totally vulnerable and defensless(emotionally). In a sense I guess this corresponds to finding a deeper level of inner truth because my defense mechanisms(my lies about myself) are gone in these moments.
   
   I don't know anything about burning but it kind of corresponds to the idea of too much fine energy.
   
   Please continue with the stimulating posts.

10.  Goddess  on 1/05/2006  

    I think I would have been enlightened too.

11.  amy  on 1/05/2006  

    "Hear the sound of one hand." humm... who's hand?

12.  mark  on 1/07/2006  

    Beard,
    
    "...at those times I feel totally vulnerable and defensless(emotionally)."
    
    For me, when I feel that way, I have found that to be a time where I have the so-called 'heart of a child'. I don't mean that metaphorically, but rather in the way that I believe Jesus meant when he said you have to have the heart or mind of a child to enter the kingdom of heaven. In those moments there is an innocence that I experience that I believe most adults have forgotten.
    
    I have experienced this enough times that I can go to that point at will. Unfortunately, I don't center and live from that point on a consistent basis. Yet, when I go there, I find the calm spot in the eye of the storm, I find the clear, quiet voice that unfailingly guides me to a better place or position. To me, entering the kingdom of heaven means centering in the direction of this vulnerable place, because it is a place that is past and deeper than my guilts, hangups, denials, etc. There is no question (IMO) that we cannot enter the deeper aspects of heaven and the deeper and more profound inner experiences unless we are able to adopt a posture that allows us to transcend - at least to some degree - our guilts, hangups, anxieties, and so on.

13.  mark  on 1/07/2006  

    Goddess, :) yes, indeed... that would be very sobering!
    
    Amy,
    
    Good point... in my case it would be the hand of someone smacking me on the side of the face, telling me to get it in gear. It's the best way I can personally think of to interpret this koan to my own life. There is no doubt I can hear one hand clapping when, after being smacked on the side of my face, my ear is left with a loud ringing sound. That would be a stinging clap that I'd definitely remember! I know... it's been done to me before, more than once, too! :)
    
    Perhaps that was the lesson being taught. It does appear that the teacher was continuously smacking the student. And then finally, duh, the student had a realization and saw the light. Or, as the koan says, became enlightened.

14.  Darlene  on 1/08/2006  

    My problem is that I tend to think too much, because I'm trying to find the reasoning behind someone else's actions or words if they bother me. I come up with both negative and positive reasons, and keep mulling over them, wondering which could be the true reason why they said or did that thing. The frustration grows, because I'll never know the truth, no matter how much I ponder the situation.

15.  Speck  on 1/09/2006  

    Darlene,
    
    Looks like you have your own personal koan...
    
    speck

16.  mark  on 1/10/2006  

    Hi Darlene,
    
    Yes, I know what you mean. I do that too. One of the things that has helped me the most is something I've learned about in my training: relaxing. When I get all caught up in something like thinking too much, everytime I focus on this principle, even the word itself, I start to relax. Consequently my stress and anxiety levels start to decrease. I have so many things that can raise those levels, ranging from everyday stuff at work or home, to inner stuff (which is typically the worse). I suppose one reason I get stressed out by what others are saying or doing is because I am often stressed by what I am saying or doing myself. :) Whenever I relax, I become a bit more centered... and that really helps.

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