what is the sound of one hand clapping all about??

Question

please Belzebot, what is the answer, i'm intrigued

Answer 1

I thought it was about thinking outside the box so to speak. Over coming the seemingly impossible. You CAN clap with one hand... if you clap it on your thigh! Or you can clap your fingers down onto your palm. You just have to broaden your mind and think in a more global, less linear way.

Found this - Unsophisticated persons are generally inclined to answer with something like "half a clap," which signifies that they have not yet achieved Buddha nature. After several years of dedicated meditating, however, they learn the correct response, which is to face the questioner, assume an appropriate Buddhist posture, and without a word thrust one hand forward. I learn this from The Sound of the One Hand: 281 Zen Koans With Answers by Hau Hoo, which is my idea of an admirably no-bullshit approach to cosmic enlightenment.

I realize that the allegedly correct response in this case is a little on the enigmatic side, but that is Zen Buddhism for you. It is by ruminating assiduously on such mysteries that we learn to free our minds from the strictures of linear thinking and grasp the essence of the void. Other effective methods of combating linear thinking are Quaaludes and old Magnum P.I. reruns, two excellent examples of the way modern technology enriches ancient religious practice.

Answer 2

When you you do realise what it means you will have joined the human race. I could tell you what it means but then it would be like giving you an orange with all the juice and goodness sucked out. You must learn to suck the orange of life for yourself if you want the full benefit and not have some-one do it for you.

Here is a clue which may help you with the first steps:

'It is the darknes that lets you see the light'

Ponder that for a while

Answer 3

Two one armed men working in tandem. That's the sound you get from a one hand clap.

Answer 4

it is possiable to clap with only one hand you simply have to hit your hand in an open position against another object (of your person or anothers) to make a sound. so flesh hitting flesh is the sound that it makes.

Answer 5

means u need to 2 hands to clap --that is -- for every thing u do u need two people --to love or to hate

Answer 6

'cl'
it's a veerrry deep riddle. Zen. meant to cler your mind, like 'does a tree falling in the forest make a sound when there is no-one to hear?'

Answer 7

its a thought that is meant to help you clear your mind, like thinking about a tree falling in the woods, if there is no-one there to hear it does it still make a sound, these thoughts are used often for meditation

Answer 8

it is celebrating the tree that fell in the forest, and with no one to hear it, did not make a sound

Answer 9

It's a Zen riddle (koan) which simply cannot be answered in a rational manner, so don't even try. :)

However, it does have an answer.

Answer 10

A Wave.