Martial Koan

[公案]

A kōan (/ˈkoʊæn, -ɑːn/ KOH-a(h)n; Japanese: 公案; Chinese: 公案: is a story, dialogue, question, or statement that is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. - [https://tinyurl.com/2s4cytn9]

“Arousing this great inquiry or ‘Great Doubt’ is an essential element of kōa practice. It builds up ‘strong internal pressure (gidan), never stopping knocking from within at the door of [the] mind, demanding to be resolved’.”

“Analysing the koan for its literal meaning won't lead to insight, though understanding the context from which koans emerged can make them more intelligible.”

“ … the koan is not merely an object of consciousness but is also he himself as the activity of seeking an answer to the koan … .”

“Kyōgai (Japanese: 境界) is a concept in Zen Buddhism for a person's state of mind.[1] Kyōgai is a Japanese word and does not have a direct English translation,[2] but it is often variously described as a person's state of being,[3] or more specifically their ‘consciousness’ or ‘behavior’ or ‘experience’.”

To study koan and then to achieve a state of understanding in a moment, knowing the koan and one’s understanding will change, is kyogai [境界]. The kyōgai is a private experience, such that one person's kyōgai will be different from another's, and a person's kyōgai changes with time and experience.

Bugeisha Kōan [武芸者公案]: being sought and seeking itself to peel back the social layers hiding the true self.