A koan is an open ended question, a paradox, designed to challenge the mind, to exercise the mind. Thinking like this quickens the thinker’s abilities to solve problems, to realize that not all is as it seems or as it’s presented to the thinker.
If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?
Autumn is the season of harvest, where nature’s bounty comes ripe and all animals on the planet are given to temptation with rich rewards and offerings. With a deep appreciation for earth’s offerings, we can learn many things from sweet Gaia, a path I am currently upon both gardening and foraging.
Koan Autumn, then, is a symbol of the rich rewards we can all experience from the deep thought and hard work we put in to life, and will be the focus of this website.
While these pages will be filled with my own koans, I have made a page of Zen Koans that links to valuable resources of translated koans, to provide the reader with ancient and traditional koans.
I, Ned Tobin, author of Koan Autumn, am a practicing thinker, yogi, gardener, outdoorsman, artist and engineer. Thank you for reading these thoughts of mine, and I hope you stay a while.
Namaskar.