Description:

Written and Compiled by Zen Master Robert Moore and Edited by Paul Lynch, JDPSN. The Kong'an Collection of Zen Master Robert Moore. One of the core tenants of Zen Buddhism is Kong´an practice. The original concept of Kong´an, although associated with Buddhist practice in the West is not a Buddhist word and translated means a public case, a public exchange, a public situation, or a public document. The pronunciation of the Chinese character for Kong´an is Gongan in Chinese or Koan in Japanese. The common use for this word comes from ancient China, and referred to a situation when copies of a government document were produced, the scribe would use a “chop” or seal on the copy in such a way that half of the seal was on the original document and half was on the copied document. This would allow for future verification of the authenticity of the copy by matching the two halves of the seal.