The system remained permeable to various influences
from the literature and philosophy of the countries
in which koan were used. For instance, beginning
with the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Pure Land
recitation was often used as a koanlike topic. Master
Zhiji advised,
Recite the name of the Buddha Amitabha once, or three,
or five, or seven times. Then turn back silently and ask
yourself, “Where does this recitation of the name of the
Buddha arise?” Or ask yourself, “Who is this reciting the
name of the Buddha?” If you have doubts, simply have
doubts.... Investigate it carefully, inquire into it thor-
oughly. (Taisho2024, vol. 48, 1102b18–23)The practice of Zen meditation, although idealized
sometimes as a path of lonely self-discovery, requires
constant coaching, prodding, and questioning by a
qualified Zen master. In the Japanese Rinzai Zen tra-
dition, interactions between the disciple and the med-
itation instructor take place in private interviews
known as sanzen(Zen practiced by visiting) or doku-
san(private visit). The interview can be frightening to
the novice because the master traditionally sits on a
cushion with his teaching rod lying at his feet, in a dark
room, with a single candle illuminating the room from
behind the master’s back. The disciple must bow be-
fore the master and immediately give or demonstrate
his understanding of the meditation exercise. Any ex-
change taking place in dokusanis considered secret be-
cause it is believed to embody transmission from mind
to mind.
Although tradition sometimes suggests that all
koans ultimately have the same meaning, it is not
uncommon to organize koans in graded or step-wise
presentations, or to prescribe them for different pur-
poses (including the healing of specific diseases).
Collections composed mostly during the Song dy-
nasty also generated much debate as to the meaning
of koans and the proper explanation or “answer” to
the riddle implicit in the fact that a koan cannot have
a “discursive” meaning.
In Japan, approximately after the seventeenth
century, koans were systematized into a curriculum of
Zen training that included, for instance, traditional
correct answers to the koans. The plan also incorpo-
rated some koans of Japanese origin, such as the fa-
mous, “What is the sound of one hand,” attributed to
HAKUINEKAKU(1686–1768). The disciple is expected
to come up with the correct answer to a given koan,
which will then be accepted or rejected by the master.
Once the answer is accepted, the master assigns a dif-
ferent koan. The rigidity of the system and a number
of abuses were often criticized, the most thorough and
devastating criticism coming at the beginning of the
twentieth century.The contexts of meditation
What we conceive as “Buddhist meditation” may in-
volve a spectrum of beliefs and practices embedded in
both the private and the public lives of Buddhists.
Moreover, as outlined above, meditation practice and
doctrine, inner meditation processes, and external rit-
ual overlap significantly and reinforce each other.
Unlike ritual, meditation is, in practice, open-ended
and subject to missing its ultimate goal, even when
technically correct. To express it differently, medita-
tion is supposed to have a transformative effect, but in
actual practice, the effect may come about gradually,
imperfectly, or not at all. Both the experience of the
struggle, the failures and frustrations, and the prag-
matic quest for the right technique, time, and inten-
sity of practice are topics worth exploring.
The full range of meditation includes many experi-
ences. We have noted already some of the more ab-
stract: notions of truth, polemical and philosophical
insights, and the experience of preparation, retreat, or
ritual frames. But, as a personal journey, meditation
meets many obstacles: a person’s frustration with med-
itation; sleepiness or overexcitability during medita-
tion; physical pain, fatigue, or discomfort; and the
disappointment of making no progress. For people
who practice meditation these obstacles are equally im-
portant experiences. Sometimes they are either com-
mented upon in meditation instruction, or used for
meditation itself.
Needless to say, meditation, like other aspects of the
religious life, also has its social contexts and its inter-
personal correlates. In its social contexts, meditation
can have many meanings and functions. Similarly, the
goals of meditation can vary considerably even in the
lifetime of one individual. Such goals may be associ-
ated with traditions of hygiene, health, and healing, or
with those of wonder-working. Meditation is also of-
ten closely associated with the visionary quest, the
quest for visions of hidden or distant worlds, HEAVENS
and HELLS. It is also associated with ASCETIC PRACTICES,
withdrawal, or escape. In all of these functions the ten-
dency is to see meditation as essentially the concen-
tration of spiritual power.
Buddhists can, and often do, appeal to the experi-
ence of meditation as a justification or a foundation
for their beliefs, values, and practices, regardless ofMEDITATION