Re: Hand clap Zen koan

Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Wed, 04 Nov 1998 10:44:50 +1100

> The "meaning" of a Zen koan is implicitly opaque, and thus never revealed
> in the _Nine_, but Salinger cleverly alludes to it in "Teddy" when Teddy
> "clapped his hand against his ear" to get the water out of it.

Ah ha! Very well spotted! You may be the first person who's been able to
answer that unanswerable question `what is the sound of one hand clapping'
(: Proceed to the level of Salinger Yogi! And then on to ...

> The action described in the Zen koan is shown in the first story, when
> Seymour's wife, while drying her freshly-polished nails, passes her hand
back
> and forth in the air, much like one hand clapping.  

I think we may be on to something special here !

Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
@ THE INVERTED FOREST www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest




Charles Cohen