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The Word Translated, Koan, It Means A Problem. But It's A Very Special Problem. And To Strip It Down To The Way It Works, You Are Given A Problem Which Has No Rational Solution. There Is A Contradiction Built Into It. One Standard - One Is This Is The Sound Of Two Hands Clapping. What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping? And So On. All Right, So The First Thing Is That It Brings Your Rational Mind To An Impasse.

-Huston Smith

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The Word Translated, Koan,

Huston Smith

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The Word Translated, Koan, It Means A Problem. But It's A Very Special Problem. And To Strip It Down To The Way It Works, You Are Given A Problem Which Has No Rational Solution. There Is A Contradiction Built Into It. One Standard - One Is This Is The Sound Of Two Hands Clapping. What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping? And So On. All Right, So The First Thing Is That It Brings Your Rational Mind To An Impasse.

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The Word Translated, Koan, It Means A Problem. But It's A Very Special Problem. And To Strip It Down To The Way It Works, You Are Given A Problem Which Has No Rational Solution. There Is A Contradiction Built Into It. One Standard - One Is This Is The Sound Of Two Hands Clapping. What Is The Sound Of One Hand Clapping? And So On. All Right, So The First Thing Is That It Brings Your Rational Mind To An Impasse.

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The Heart Of Religion Is Not Altered States But Altered Traits Of Character. For Me, Then, The Test Of A Substance's Religious Worth Or Validity Is Not What Kind Of Far-out Experience It Can Produce, But Is The Life Improved By Its Use? That's The Test. Now, On That Score, If You Remove The "religious Cocoon," The Experiences Don't Seem To Have Much In The Way Of Discernible, Traceable Effects.

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