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The Sound of One Hand

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Of course, Zen koans don't have answers: that's the point. This book wasn't meant to provide 'instant enlightenment' by giving readers the 'right' answers; it's more like a history book, giving the koans and the answers that the old zen masters supposedly expected from pupils when they were given one. In the final analysis, it's an interesting insight into the zen mind, with about as much relation to actual zen enlightenment as a biography of Louis Armstrong has to actually playing jazz.

Though translated flawlessly, the presentation of this text poses something of a problem, being approximately one half of the original Japanese text - written by a critic of the Zen tradition (a Zen Buddhist, using the pseudonym Ha Ho U-O). The 'Koan collection' comprising the bulk of Hoffmann's translation had been presented by the Japanese author - to expose the rigidity of the system concerned. The main body of the text (not presented by Hoffmann) comprises a lengthy critique and analysis of the contemporary Rinzai schools. This book appeared in the fifth year of the Taisho era (1916), presenting something of an embarrass- ment, attacking the whole system of 'koan training' then in use - in the transmission lines stemming from Inzan Ien (1751-1814) and Takuju Kosen (1760-1833). Thus, there is a certain irony in the fact that Hoffmann presented these koan (and their answers) as if handing over the keys to the 'inner sanctum' as it were, when the Japanese author had effectively 'leaked' them out - to show that the system had fallen into a repetitive, lifeless pattern. As Hoffmann acknowledges, these koan - were once sold to 'unsui' or trainess 'under the counter' in certain bookshops - as a kind of 'crib' to help them through dokusan or san-zen. Of course, it remains to be seen whether the Rinzai schools do stick that rigidly to such a formula. It may well be that the Japanese author of the book encountered a certain dogmatism, with a teacher of his own - justly complaining about it (after all, the Japanese text confirms that these documents were used for 'transmission in the secret room') and the author's comments were not founded on baseless rumour. Still, I suspect that most Roshis worth their salt would eschew the use of such a rigid systematisation of the koan.The point is - Hoffmann presented these 'koan' - and their 'answers' - as if they were the 'keys to the temple' - and the Japanese author had said the very converse. In a word, what Hoffmann presents as 'evening dinner' - is what the Japanese author had wanted taken 'off the menu' - and it is not hard to see why. Unlike texts such as the Zenrinkushu, which contain unadulterated extracts from scores of Zen dialogues, the texts presented here have an almost farcical arbitrariness about them - Zen burlesque.