English Dictionary

koan

IPA（発音記号）

/ˈkəʊ.ɑːn/

名詞

(Zen Buddhism) A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.

日本語の意味

禅の修行における啓発のための逸話や問答。禅の師と弟子の間で交わされる、しばしば謎解きや寓話的な性格を持つ話で、瞑想を通じて悟りに導く手段とされる。

At dawn the Zen master presented a koan to his youngest student, trusting that meditation on the paradox would one day spark satori.

夜明けに禅の師は最年少の弟子に公案を示し、その逆説を黙想することがいつか悟りをもたらすだろうと信じていた。

意味（1）

(Zen Buddhism) A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.

Zen, with its absurdist koan, laughs at life much the way the Marx brothers did. What exactly can you make of a philosophical system whose teacher answers the question, How do you see things so clearly? with the seeming one-liner, I close my eyes?

意味（2）

A riddle with no solution, used to provoke reflection on the inadequacy of logical reasoning, and to lead to enlightenment.

Gibberish. Or else a koan that Achtfaden isn’t equipped to master, a transcendent puzzle that could lead him to some moment of light.

koans （ plural ）