A kōan (公案)/ˈkoʊ.ɑːn/; Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn; Korean: 공안 (kong'an); Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement, which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and test a student's progress in Zen practice.
The Japanese term kōan is the Sino-Japanese reading of the Chinese word gong'an (Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn; Wade–Giles: kung-an; literally: "public case"). The term is a compound word, consisting of the characters 公 "public; official; governmental; common; collective; fair; equitable" and 案 "table; desk; (law) case; record; file; plan; proposal."
According to the Yuan Dynasty Zen master Zhongfeng Mingben (中峰明本 1263–1323), gōng'àn originated as an abbreviation of gōngfǔ zhī àndú (公府之案牘, Japanese kōfu no antoku—literally the andu "official correspondence; documents; files" of a gongfu "government post"), which referred to a "public record" or the "case records of a public law court" in Tang-dynasty China.Kōan/gong'an thus serves as a metaphor for principles of reality beyond the private opinion of one person, and a teacher may test the student's ability to recognize and understand that principle.
[method man]
Uh, and it goes like this
Uh uh uh uh, it goes like that
Now let me tell you who I am
Up early in the morning, dressed in black
Who dat? *echoes*
[genius/gza]
Yo yo
Marvel this theatrical, drama on stage
Broadway classical, led men to rage
Like currents, the beat change and now a flow is strange
You in the arctic wit wolves that viciously main
Thugs that roam clubs, in the dark wit fireworks that spark
Saltwater vibrations comin from sharks
Blood-thirsty kids bite just as well as I write
You're like secretaries who can't type, you're no use
Broke down vessels who want a boost, there's no jokes
Quick fast you, get stumped 'cause you played, your organ pump
Kool-aid, from indiana wit the jones of a lost crusade
Hip-hop done hit the church, choir girls rockin mini skirts
The b-side kept plenty hurt
Push like the shovels in snow storms
And stack piles of foul, the shit you must grow on! *echoes*
Chorus [method man] 4x
Uh and it goes like this
Uh uh uh uh, it goes like that
[method man]
Pay no attention to the evil they speak
You caught the beef wit the equal eye, poisonous beats from underneath
Crack the concrete wit two left feet
Head on my meat
Ain't no games here we playin for keeps (we play for keeps!)
Introducing, the crowd seducing man on the street
Penitentiaries is either half-dead or too sweet
Back to basic, condition-al god, plus I can take it
Wagin war within the matrix, it's hard to see
Touch, hear, smell or even taste it, take your places
We runnin in these human races, bucking naked
Back-slappin kid yappin, actin villian catchin feelin like we cap peelin
As if we killin every brick in every project building
From cabrini green to tildens, sincerely yours
Mista meth and maximilion (da millions, da millions)
(ka ka ka ka ka ka ka kaaa!) (da millions ha!)
Chorus 5x
[method man]
Uh uh uh uh
Uh uh uh uh
Wu-tang killa bees on the swarm (we play for keeps!)
(we play for keeps!)
Wu-tang killa bees on the swarm