Editing Koan (section)

==Doctrinal background==
The popular Western understanding sees {{transliteration|ja|kōan}} as referring to an [[the unanswered questions|unanswerable question]] or a [[nonsense|meaningless]] or [[absurdity|absurd]] statement. However, in Zen practice, a {{transliteration|ja|kōan}} is not meaningless, and not a riddle or a puzzle. Teachers do expect students to present an appropriate response when asked about a {{transliteration|ja|kōan}}.{{sfn|Sasaki|1965|p=xi}}{{sfn|Hagen|2000}}{{sfn|Aitken|1991|pp=xiii, 26, and 212}}{{sfn|Loori|1994|p=p64}} According to Hori, a central theme of many {{transliteration|ja|kōan}} is the 'identity of opposites':{{sfn|Hori|2000|pp=289-290}}{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=310 note 14}}

{{Blockquote|{{transliteration|ja|
[K]ōan}} after {{transliteration|ja|kōan}} explores the theme of nonduality. Hakuin's well-known {{transliteration|ja|kōan}}, "Two hands clap and there is a sound, what is the sound of one hand?" is clearly about two and one. The {{transliteration|ja|kōan}} asks, you know what duality is, now what is nonduality? In "What is your [[original face]] before your mother and father were born?" the phrase "father and mother" alludes to duality. This is obvious to someone versed in the Chinese tradition, where so much philosophical thought is presented in the imagery of paired opposites. The phrase "your original face" alludes to the original [[nonduality]].{{sfn|Hori|2000|pp=289–290}}}}

Comparable statements are: "Look at the flower and the flower also looks"; "Guest and host interchange".{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=289}} {{transliteration|ja|Kōan}} are also understood as pointers to an unmediated "Pure Consciousness", devoid of cognitive activity.{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=282}} Victor Hori criticizes this understanding:

{{Blockquote|[A] pure consciousness without concepts, if there could be such a thing, would be a booming, buzzing confusion, a sensory field of flashes of light, unidentifiable sounds, ambiguous shapes, color patches without significance. This is not the consciousness of the enlightened Zen master.{{sfn|Hori|2000|p=284}}}}