THE KOAN
factthatwhathehassofaracceptedasacommonplacefact,or
as a logical impossibility, is not necessarily so, and that hisformer wayoflooking at things was not always correct or
helpfultohisspiritualwelfare.Afterthisisrealized,thestudent
mightdwellonthestatementitselfandendeavourtogetatitstruthifithasany.Toforcethestudenttoassumethisinquiring
attitudeistheaimofthekoan.Thestudentmustthengoonwith
hisinquiringattitudeuntilhecomes totheedgeofamental
precipice,asitwere,wheretherearenootheralternativesbut
toleapover.Thisgivingupofhislastholdonlifewillbring
thestudenttoafullviewof"hisoriginalface",asdesiredby
thestatementoftheSixthPatriarch.Thusitcanbeseenthatthekoanisnothandlednowinpreciselythesamewaythatitwasin
thoseearlierdays.Asfirstproposed,itwastheculmination,so
tospeak,ofailthathadbeenworkinginthemindofthemonk
Myo,whoseelaborationhereinreceiveditsfinalfinish;instead
ofcomingatthebeginningoftheZenexercise,asitdoesnow,the
Sixth Patriarch's questioncame at theend ofthe race. But
inmodemdaysthekoanisusedasastarter;itgivesaninitial
movement to the racing for Zen experience. More or less
mechanicalinthebeginning,themovementacquiresthetone
neededforthematuringofZenconsciousness;thekoanworks
asaleaven.Whenthesufficientconditionsobtain,themindun-
folds itselfintothefull bloomofasatori.To useakoanthus
instrumentallyfortheopeningofthemindtoitsownsecretsis
characteristicofmodemZen.
Hakuin usedto produceone ofhis handsanddemand of
hisdisciplestohearthesoundofitOrdinarilyasoundisheard
onlywhentwohandsareclapped,andinthatsensenopossible
soundcancomefromonehandalone.Hakuinwants,however,
tostrikeattherootofoureverydayexperience,whichiscon-
structedonaso-called scientific orlogical basis. Thisfianda-
mentaloverthrowingisnecessary inorderto buildup anew
order ofthings on the basis ofZen experience. Hence this
apparendymostunnaturalandthereforeillogicaldemandmade
by Hakuin on his pupils. Theformer koan was about "the
face", something to look at, while the latter is about "the
sound",somethingthatapp>ealstothesenseofhearing;butthe
ultimatepurportofbothisthesame;botharemeanttoopenup