< Back to Question and Answer
Since when have Koans been used?
October 3, 2014, 7:07 am
The history of Koan is long. Already at the time of the Buddha they were used. The teachings of the Buddha were used as Mantras, walking in Kinhin in the forest, in order to deepen one´s samadhi. When Buddhism moved to China, the Koan system became more formal. What is Buddha? What is the deep meaning of the teaching of the Buddha? Why did Bodhidarma came from the West? They were further developed in the Zen school, so as to strengthen concentration. At the time of Funnyo Zensho Zenji the quality of training dropped, so he introduced new koans, which help to measure the true understanding and depth of the student´s mind.