History Main / Koan

-->'''Lemongrab:''' If you are the head that floats atop the ziggurat, then the stairs that lead to you must be infinite. Infinite stairs are [[CatchPhrase UNACCEPTABLE]]! [[note]]The path to true spiritual perfection is endless. Anyone who claims to have achieved it is a false lead.[[/note]]

* ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'': "The world is not beautiful, therefore it is."

"I am training a randomly wired neural net to play Tic-tac-toe," Sussman replied.\\

* * In ''Literature/GodelEscherBachAnEternalGoldenBraid'', kōans are used several times as a metaphor for the central idea of the book: Kurt Godel's famous Incompleteness Theorem, which says that any sufficiently powerful theory of mathematical logic can be used to prove that mathematical logic is incomplete - that there will always be true statements that can't be proven true but are true nonetheless. In one such case, Achilles explains how kōans can be transcribed and translated into strings, from which it is possible to determine if they have Buddha-nature or not. The Tortoise promptly uses those rules to create a string that is analogous to Godel's Theorem - by the rules it has Buddha-nature, but its "translation" says it does not have Buddha-nature. Of course, this confuses the hell out of Achilles.

* In ''Literature/GodelEscherBachAnEternalGoldenBraid'', Achilles explains how kōans can be transcribed and translated into strings, from which it is possible to determine if they have Buddha-nature or not.

* A student asked the master, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?" The master replied, "Wu."[[note]]The most common interpretation is that "wu," meaning "nothing," is to be interpreted as "not applicable", aka the question is ill-formed. It's also a pun on the onomatopoeia of a dog's bark. It can also mean "Unask the question", saying the question is meaningless.[[/note]]

* ''Series/TheOffice'': Robert California's bizarre, rambling Halloween story is similar to a koan, particularly the pithy denouement.

* Wiki/TheOtherWiki has a page of these, adapted to its own problems: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:ZEN The Zen of Wikipedia.]]

"It ain't over till its over."\\

* A ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'' episode has [[SadistTeacher Mr. Crocker]] dishing out various punishments to the class on account of a bad day. A.J., the ChildProdigy of the class, [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment has koans recited to him.]]

* Many of these appear in ''Series/KungFu,'' such as "know when to let go of those things that do not serve you but force you to serve them."

Not to be confused with a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaon kaon or K-meson]], a subatomic particle.

* Which came first, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_or_the_egg chicken or the egg]]?[[note]] Technically eggs came first, since egg laying amphibians and reptiles evolved long before avians, of which the chicken is a member. The chicken was domesticated from two species of birds called jungle fowl, which would have laid they eggs the first chickens came from. The argument "returns" when you specify "chicken egg" for those who don't understand, but it's still the egg regardless.[[/note]]

* Music/Apollo440 used a kōan in their song “Fuzzy Logic”, taken from an audio clip of Creator/RobertAntonWilson’s lecture “[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFcvOv9zAHg Techniques of Consciousness Change]]”.

* ''Webcomic/KoanOfTheDay'' does this [[http://www.koanoftheday.com/ every day]].

* DoubleSubverted by [[http://www.davidchess.com/words/BrokenKoans.html Broken Koans]]. It turns out that trying to make parody Koans [[PoesLaw still makes for some rather thought-provoking Koans]].

* [[EpiphanicPrison If you think you're free, there's no escape possible.]]

A superficial or poorly considered epigram of this type runs the risk of becoming MeaninglessMeaningfulWords. If this is done intentionally it's IceCreamKoan. Has nothing to do with the ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' character of the same name. For a smart/wise/enlightened character who speaks entirely in those, see ProverbialWisdom.

* Which came first, the chicken or the egg?[[note]] Technically eggs came first, since egg laying amphibians and reptiles evolved long before avians, of which the chicken is a member. The chicken was domesticated from two species of birds called jungle fowl, which would have laid they eggs the first chickens came from. The argument returns when you specify "chicken egg".[[/note]]

* ''Literature/TheTaoOfProgramming'' (available online for free [[https://www.mit.edu/~xela/tao.html here]]) is an AffectionateParody of traditional Taoist philosophical texts as they might apply to software programming. The koans range from genuinely insightful to [[IceCreamKoan nonsensical]], but are primarily focused on making wry observations of life in the field of computer science.
-->The Master Programmer moves from program to program without fear. No change in management can harm him. He will not be fired, even if the project is cancelled. Why is this? He is filled with Tao.

[[/folder]]