Koans

My understanding of mechanics behind zen koans is that one gets answers to any questions they have thought about. The answer one gets is given in understandable language and in relevance to the situations one deals with.

One Russian translator of ancient texts on a Russian Buddhism forum translated the topic statement with the meaning that the great city has no outskirts. And it makes sense in it’s way.

Personal experience

At one point I posed the topical question to myself, invested some unusual but not too much time and got a delayed answer. I remember the answer to be strong and with effects. I cannot remember the answer itself. Probably it was paired to some priorities shift so the wording does not really matter.

As a side note there are those who seek effects by themselves in such circles. And I graduated from that early. But some echo finds itself in other forms that are just more productive as I see it. The difference in productivity is the same as the difference in writing posts versus writing on your hands.

Soviet Zen

Potential disclaimer: Some images here I got unexpectedly fast so it may be that I accidentally stole them from Pelevin that I read back in a day. Whether this is the case or not I see possible influence and the absurdity of times inspired multiple pictures and texts.

Another context would be somebody who consumes propaganda daily. Soviet++ times. At the time TV sets were black and white. With heavy glass screens that are filled with gas inside. So the shape of the screen itself was rounded while the box of the TV was rectangular. Also there were circular lenses to increase size of the screen right before it on the earliest exemplars. And propaganda itself does round every corner like it does not exist while trying to steal attention by every corner of a circle out there.

Every soviet citizen is trained in zen regularly by sitting still and looking at the great square that is refracted through the circle of invisible workers. Mandatory enlightenment guarantees that soon one starts to see every shape of the universe as both circles and squares simultaneously. And the only time this mystical duality is allowed to collapse to a specific shape is when when the party line happens to cross it.

Even after the Soviet Union collapsed itself many adepts among people still covertly practice all the rituals of thinking and maintain the altar in their head.

Analysis

I should say that unfortunately they may be right is some sense. They were right in predicting things to go back.

My highlight would be of a persistent problem of culture because of failure of transfer and failure of the system and local civic institutions. I think even good parts of soviets were not transferred well (if it was possible at all). So cultural capital was destroyed or was failed to be created.

Culture capital need to be reestablished on a more dependable ground already.