What's the sound of one hand clapping? oh
i first heard this in high school. good times. I didn't really 'get it' until a few years ago though. 8 )
2007-03-20 23:03:12 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Hint word:
koan
now you take it from here
2007-03-20 23:09:19 · update #1
Koans are said to confound thought and shock the mind into awareness. Two hands clapping make sound, what is the sound of one hand clapping?
To me it is an invitation to be still, and silent, and to listen intently. To me it means getting past the everyday noise of living. Getting past the noise of the world around me, the noise of bodily functions (the sound of breathing, tummy rumbles, the sound of my heart beating, the sound of my blood flowing through my veins, getting past the crack of my wrist as the one hand claps) and to bring myself to that small still center of self. And then I "hear" the whoosh of the atoms as they move to make way for the hand that is clapping. I hear the universe breathe and I am still. I am in the void of nothingness and everything.
It still is a shock to come back to this world at times.
2007-03-28 09:51:51 · answer #1 · answered by aggylynn 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The sound of one hand clapping is one hand is paralyzed or one hand is a corpse's, and the other one that is alive with all nerves intact, claps the other one. Morbid, but the sound is the same as two hands clapping. Try it next time you go to Dokusan. The teacher will most likely spank your bare *** with his one good hand, and that's going to sound just like a one hand clapping, no difference in quality of sound.
2007-03-25 22:46:44 · answer #2 · answered by Mike D 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
This is a koan from Japanese Zen Buddhism. It is a riddle to broaden one's mind. I can clap with one hand, for my fingers are better-coordinated than those of most people.It sounds like two hands clapping but not as loud.
2007-03-21 02:42:15 · answer #3 · answered by miyuki & kyojin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if the one hand makes the clapping motion, it does make the sound of wooshing air.
I love zen buddhism and it's koans but hate this one
It's like asking what a man running with one leg looks like, he can't run with one leg but he can hop.
2007-03-21 00:12:26 · answer #4 · answered by Wally 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of 1 person consummating alone.Get that sound and u will get your answer .So its obvious it has no sound ? That's your answer .Soundless
2007-03-21 00:36:06 · answer #5 · answered by blssmatthew 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
nothing, because clapping is really defined as 2 hands coming together to make a sound.
2007-03-20 23:15:48 · answer #6 · answered by reading rules! 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If ones hearing is good enough its a "Swoosh" type sound, typically just silence.
You first heard the saying in high school??? Or the sound itself???
2007-03-27 06:47:49 · answer #7 · answered by Izen G 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no one can clap with a single hand.hence there is no noise as such.silence is the sound of the deaf and if we can't hear the sound we too r arn't we?
; )
2007-03-20 23:52:16 · answer #8 · answered by maggie 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Silence, serenity
2007-03-20 23:07:01 · answer #9 · answered by kalpon777 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
koans are designed to get you thinking - a koan will let you come up with answers to a million questions but never to the koan itself - that is their beauty
2007-03-27 10:11:04 · answer #10 · answered by Basil 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋