ASIAN 161: “Mock Kōan” Project
Due Date: December 8, by 7:00pm PDT
(45 Points, 15%)
Assignment description and purpose:
Kōan literature shows us that, for Chan/Zen Buddhists, capturing a moment of profound
understanding can be a difficult process. Likewise, engaging such literature from outside of the
tradition and as a distant reader can make kōans equally difficult to understand. Ultimately,
kōans point directly to the gap between direct experience and its mere representation by
demanding that the reader evokes a qualitatively similar experience through study of the kōan
and through introspection.
The purpose of this assignment is to engage Zen literature in at least two interactive
ways: 1) by paying close attention, through reading and writing, to the form and function of a
literature meant to impress upon (or disrupt in) its reader or hearer a specific state and 2) by
embodying some of this attention through the composition of a “mock kōan” tied to a specific
experience of transmitted understanding.
Basic Guidelines:
Begin this assignment early by identifying a singular moment or experience of understanding
with another individual. This individual could be a teacher, parent, community religious
leader, or another person with whom you have had a formative interaction. The moment or
experience ought to have been formative insofar as it made a profound impression on you
and/or changed the way you think about something in your life from that moment forward.
Note that this interaction need not be profound, nor need it be religious. Even meaningful
moments of learning—at school, from a parent, at work, while practicing a sport—can present
themselves in mundane and seemingly meaningless interactions. In fact, these are often the
moments we remember as most formative since they present themselves spontaneously and
without much notice outside of your own pointed attention. The purpose and challenge of this
exercise is to capture both the profundity of an interaction and the way in which that moment
of transmitted understanding unfolded for you as the receiver.
Once you have identified an interaction as described above, flip through The Blue Cliff
Record to get a sense of how experience is captured. What style comes through for you? What
effect does the overly referential or cagey language have on you as a reader? Notice that even
cryptic language goes unexplained, and yet there also seems to be some loose connection
there, perhaps known only to the compiler or a small readership. These are the characteristics
we will seek to emulate.
Then, think about how you might describe your interaction in writing. What is the
context for the interaction? Who was there? When and where did it take place? What dialogue
or physical interaction led up to the moment of exchange? And what was your experience at
that moment? What was the experience immediately following? What was the effect
thereafter? In your description, do your best to capture the style of kōan literature.
As you draft your mock kōan, keep sentences short and punchy, write in third-person,
do not be afraid of repetition, do not be afraid of exclamation, do not be afraid of humor, do
not be afraid of creative syntax or wordplay. In your “case” section especially, do not be afraid
of confusing or confounding the reader; half of the fun of kōans is trying to decipher them
along with the help of the other supportive sections. If you need to embellish or invent, please
do so sensibly, as the point is to capture the reality of a moment in a style evocative of kōan
literature. Be sure to follow the section guidelines below carefully.