GONG'AN CHAN 公案禪 (KOANS) AND HUATOU 話頭

It is nice to call this an early gong'an, but if it is then it is clear that almost any human exchange can be a gong'an. However, not all human exchanges are gong'ans.

What is a Gong'an (koan)?

It is an interaction, verbal or non-verbal, between a master and one or more disciples that involves, when the interaction is understood and correct, an experience of an awakened mind. This experience may be recognized or not, so often much repetition of these exchanges is necessary.

In the past, such incidents were recorded and from that is derived the name kung-an, which means "public record".

The disciple's mind, with this and other systems which do not require a sitting posture, transcends attachment and logic, and even the concept of wu, emptiness. It reaches beyond all words and even normal consciousness. It is the absence of mind which reveals the Buddha-nature.

Kung-ans occurred very early in Chan history but came into great play around the time of the Sung Dynasty, which was the sunset of the Golden Age.

It is said academically that the student has to abandon knowledge, experience, and reasoning, since the answer is not susceptible to these methods. But this is just an intelligent explanation which is far fom the truth of the actual process.

How does the student encounter this truth?

He must continually use the technique of can gong'an, 參公案,  diligently and constantly "investigating the gong-an." This requires release from his consciousness of all conscious thought, all sensations, and all discriminations so that only the gong'an is present.

But there are conditions of contemplation which must be met and these must be explained clearly by a master or else the student will walk for eternity with the gong-an present and never encounter the Primordial State.

The Huatou 話頭

Huatou means "head of a thought", and is posed by a Master as a question.

The answer, like that of the gong-an, is not resolvable through reasoning, but requires can hua tou, 參話頭, "investigating the huatou." 

This huatou contemplation also requires full attention and the constant presence in consciousness of the question until the answer is encountered. Cleaerly someone involved in this world of the senses will find this exceedingly difficult.

A gong'an in a moment may be transformed in the student's mind into an huatou, and the reverse can occur. That makes absolutely no difference. It is the process and method which are important not the original mental stimulus.

P'ang Yun 龐蘊 (?-811) a lay disciple of  Ma-tsu 馬祖, resolved to follow the Path, threw his wealth into the river, and became a basket weaver. While plying his trade one day, he met a monk begging for alms. Giving the monk some money, Layman  P'ang asked him, "What is the meaning of giving alms? "

The monk said, "I don't know. What is the meaning of giving alms?"

And Layman P'ang replied, "Very few people have heard about it."

The monk answered, "I don't understand."

And Layman P'ang asked, "Who is it that doesn't understand?" This incident became a gong'an that gave birth to a whole series of huatous of the "who" type.

"Who is sitting on a rock?", "Who is investigating Compasion?", "Who is dying now?" all became huatous if the conditions were all met.

There have many texts presented with edited records of these kung-ans and huatous.

There is the The Transmission of the Lamp, 傳燈錄, written in the Sung Dynasty, which contains an important selection.

Fen-yang Shan-chao (947-1024), a Master of the great Shih-shuang (986-1039) and a follower of the Linji tradition, also edited a collection of 100 gong'ans, One Hundred Selections from Previous Sages.

Wu-men Hui-k'ai, 無門慧開 (1183-1260), another master of the same zong, much later than the Golden Age, brought together a collection of 48 gong'ans, called Wu-men guan 無門關 (Mumonkan), the "Gateless Gate".

While these records exist and can be consulted, they are not a sacred text, just records of previous encounters and it is the live spontaneous practice of a gong-an or huatou that engenders in due moment the best fruit.

Ta-hui Tsung-kao 大慧宗杲 (1089-1163), of the same tradition, was one of the greatest advocates of gong'an practice. From his record of sayings we see that he maintained that zuochan (zazen) was effective in settling the agitated and the wandering mind, to bring about emergent samadhi and the effective use of the gong'an or huatou.

Note here that the gong'an or huatou are not methods which reveal the Awakening in themselves. This is important to understand. To sit with either in one's mind constantly examining them leads nowhere in ten thousand years. The difficult "sitting" conditions for their use must be maintained.

The Rising of the Great Doubt 大疑情

This is one of the great secret elements to the correct condition.

By correct mental "sitting" with a gong'an or huatou the rising of the Great Doubt, 大疑情, may occur.

This doubt is not the ordinary mental search for the truth of an assertion. It  is the doubt, a "what?" that is quite different that arises out of Chan can (investigation). It is a deply questioning state of mind which searches while the truth seems available but always just out of the student's grasp.  

The door of the full Contemplation of Chan using the gong'an or huatou hinges on the nurturing of the great doubt. The continual presence of this great doubt is one of the three hinges to the door.  

This "doubt mass", 疑團, together with the two other conditions which will not be stated here, will either result in a retreat from the tension or an entry, like a blast of fresh air into Chan Contemplation, which must then be maintained.

One may enter fully into this Contemplation state, but not enter the Awakened state. The great master Ta-hui (1089-1163) did not penetrate sufficiently on his first experience. Yuan-wu K'e-ch'in, 圓悟克勤 (1063-1135), his master, told him, "you have  died, but you haven't come back to life."

So it is evident that one can pass into the correct state of contemplation without arriving with a correct verbal or non-verbal response, which confirms the Awakening. You may make a response to a gong'an or huatou, but it takes an able master who himself has Awakened to tell if the reponse is adequate.