Kō-an
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Kō-an ; From the Chin. Kung-an, a public document. A technical term in Rinzai Zen Bsm.
A word or phrase of non-sensical language which cannot be ‘solved’ by the intellect but which holds its attention while a higher
faculty takes over.
Used as an exercise for breaking the limitations of thought and developing the intuition (q.v.), thereby attaining a flash of awareness beyond
and later Satori (q.v.). This exercise, and its companion the Mondō, is not used in Sōtō Zen.
See Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism, Second Series, Essay I (1933).