THE KOAN
Theinterferencebsometimeshelpful,sometimesdecidedlynot
Asaruleitworkstwoways.Wewelcomehumaninterference
whenmoreistobegainedthanlostandcallitimprovement
andprogress;butwhenitturnsoutotherwisewecallitretro-
gression. Civilization is human andartificial; some are not
satisfiedwithitandwanttogobacktonature.Well,so-called
modemprogressisbynomeansunmitigatedbliss,butonthe
whole,atleastonthematerialsideoflife,weseemtobebetter
offthesedaysthaneverbefore,andweseesomesignsoffurther
improvement.Therefore,ourgrumbhngsgenerallyarenotvery
vehementlyasserted.
Inasimilarway,theintroductionofthesystemofkoaninto
Zen, pure,natural,andelementary,isatonceadeterioration
andanimprovement.Butoncebroughtoutintoexistence,the
systemseemsveryhardtodoawaywith.Itwas,ofcourse,quite
humanonthepartoftheZenmastertobethinkingofhisless
fortunatebrotherswhosenaturalendowmentswerenotsorich
ashisown,andwho,therefore,wouldbelikelytomissoppor-
tunitiesto comeintothetruthofZen. Hewanted toimpart
tothem,ifpossible,thesamewonderfulbliwoftheunderstanding
whichhehadgainedthroughthemasteryofZen.Hismotherly
instinctmadehimthinkofsomewaytoopenoreventocoerce
theminds ofhis disciples to the unknown beauties ofsatori,
which,whenlefttotheirownignorantways,wouldnevercome
uj>onthemexceptbyahappy rarechance.Themasterknew
thatthedeviceofakoanwasanartificialityandasuperfluity
;
forunlessZengrewoutofaman'sowninneractivityitcould
notbetrulygenuineand full ofcreativevitalityas itought
tobe. Buteven asemblancewould be a blessingwhen the
genuinethingissodifficultandrare tohave;and,moreover,
it waslikely,ifit isleftto itself,to disappearaltogetherout
oftheloreofhumanexperience.Thesemblanceisnotnecessarily
ameremakeshiftbutmayhaveinitsomethingquitetrueand
full ofpossibilities; for the system ofkoan and zazen, when
prop>erlymadeuseof,reallydoesunfoldthemindtothetruth
ofZen.Whythenshouldwenotadoptitandworkitouttoits
fullness?
Atthebeginning, a Zenmaster was akind ofself-made
man; hehad noschool education,hehadnotbeen sent to
los
