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Kōan
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"Koan" redirects here. For other uses, see Koan (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Kaon.
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A kōan (公案) (/ˈkoʊ.ɑːn/; Chinese: 公案; pinyin: gōng'àn, [kʊ́ŋ ân]; 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.
Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 Origins and development
2.1 China
2.1.1 Commenting on old cases
2.1.2 Literary practice
2.1.3 Observing the phrase
2.1.4 Interaction
2.1.5 Contemporary koan-use
2.2 Japan
2.2.1 Koan manuals
2.2.2 Contemporary koan curricula
2.2.3 Suppression in the Soto-school
3 Doctrinal background
4 Koan-practice
4.1 Hua-tou or breakthrough-koan
4.2 Insight
4.3 Testing insight - or learning responses
4.3.1 Sassho – Checking questions
4.3.2 Jakugo – Capping phrases
4.4 Post-satori practice
5 Varieties in koan-practice
5.1 Chinese Chán and Korean Seon
5.2 Japanese Rinzai
5.2.1 Importance of koan-study
5.2.2 Koan curricula
5.2.3 Post-satori practice
5.2.4 Breathing practices
5.3 Japanese Soto
5.4 Sanbo Kyodan and White Plum Asanga
6 Classical kōan collections
6.1 The Blue Cliff Record
6.2 The Book of Equanimity
6.3 The Gateless Gate
6.4 The True Dharma Eye
7 Examples of traditional kōans
7.1 Does a dog have Buddha-nature
7.2 The sound of one hand
7.3 Original Face
7.4 Killing the Buddha
7.5 Other koans
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
10.1 Book references
10.2 Web references
11 Sources
12 Further reading
13 External links
Etymology[edit]
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.[1][2][note 1] 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.
Commentaries in kōan collections bear some similarity to judicial decisions that cite and sometimes modify precedents. An article by T. Griffith Foulk claims
...Its literal meaning is the 'table' or 'bench' an of a 'magistrate' or 'judge' kung.[4]
Gong'an was itself originally a metaphor—an article of furniture that came to denote legal precedents. For example, Di Gong'an (狄公案) is the original title of Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, the famous Chinese detective novel based on a historical Tang dynasty judge. Similarly, Zen kōan collections are public records of the notable sayings and actions of Zen disciples and masters attempting to pass on their teachings.
Origins and development[edit]
China[edit]
Commenting on old cases[edit]
Gong'ans developed during the Tang dynasty (618–907)[5] from the recorded sayings collections of Chán-masters, which quoted many stories of "a famous past Chán figure's encounter with disciples or other interlocutors and then offering his own comment on it".[6] Those stories and the accompanying comments were used to educate students, and broaden their insight into the Buddhist teachings.
Those stories came to be known as gongan, "public cases".[6] Such a story was only considered a gongan when it was commented upon by another Chán-master.[6] This practice of commenting on the words and deeds of past masters confirmed the master's position as an awakened master in a lineage of awakened masters of the past.[7]
Literary practice[edit]
Koan practice developed from a literary practice, styling snippets of encounter-dialogue into well-edited stories. It arose in interaction with "educated literati".[8] There were dangers involved in such a literary approach, such as ascribing specific meanings to the cases.[8] Dahui Zonggao is even said to have burned the woodblocks of the Blue Cliff Record, for the hindrance it had become to study of Chán by his students.[9] Kōan literature was also influenced by the pre-Zen Chinese tradition of the "literary game"—a competition involving improvised poetry.[10]
The style of writing of Zen texts has been influenced by "a variety of east Asian literary games":[11]
The extensive use of allusions, which create a feeling of disconnection with the main theme;
Indirect references, such as titling a poem with one topic and composing a verse that seems on the surface to be totally unrelated;
Inventive wordplay based on the fact that Hanzi (Chinese characters) are homophonic and convey multiple, often complementary or contradictory meanings;
Linking the verses in a sustained string based on hidden points of connection or continuity, such as seasonal imagery or references to myths and legends.[11]
Observing the phrase[edit]
During the Song dynasty (960–1297) the use of gongans took a decisive turn. Dahui Zonggao (1089–1163)[note 2] introduced the use of kanhua, "observing the phrase". In this practice students were to observe (kan) or concentrate on a single word or phrase (huatou), such as the famous mu of the mu-koan.[12]
In the eleventh century this practice had become common.[5] A new literary genre developed from this tradition as well. Collections of such commented cases were compiled which consisted of the case itself, accompanied by verse or prose commentary.[13]
Dahui's invention was aimed at balancing the insight developed by reflection on the teachings with developing samatha, calmness of mind.[14] Ironically, this development became in effect silent illumination,[15] a "[re-absorbing] of koan-study into the "silence" of meditation (ch'an)".[16] It led to a rejection of Buddhist learning:
Some extent of Buddhist learning could easily have been recognized as a precondition for sudden awakening in Chan. Sung masters, however, tended to take the rejection literally and nondialectically. In effect, what they instituted was a form of Zen fundamentalism: the tradition came to be increasingly anti-intellectual in orientation and, in the process, reduced its complex heritage to simple formulae for which literal interpretations were thought adequate.[17]
This development left Chinese Chan vulnerable to criticisms by neo-Confucianism, which developed after the Sung Dynasty. Its anti-intellectual rhetoric was no match for the intellectual discourse of the neo-Confucianists.[18]
Interaction[edit]
The recorded encounter dialogues, and the koan collections which derived from this genre, mark a shift from solitary practice to interaction between master and student:
The essence of enlightenment came to be identified with the interaction between masters and students. Whatever insight dhyana might bring, its verification was always interpersonal. In effect, enlightenment came to be understood not so much as an insight, but as a way of acting in the world with other people[19]
This mutual enquiry of the meaning of the encounters of masters and students of the past gave students a role model:
One looked at the enlightened activities of one's lineal forebears in order to understand one's own identity [...] taking the role of the participants and engaging in their dialogues instead[20][note 3]
Kōan training requires a qualified teacher who has the ability to judge a disciple's depth of attainment. In the Rinzai Zen school, which uses kōans extensively, the teacher certification process includes an appraisal of proficiency in using that school's extensive kōan curriculum.
Contemporary koan-use[edit]
In China and Korea, "observing the phrase" is still the sole form of koan-practice, though Seung Sahn used the Rinzai-style of koan-practice in his Kwan Um School of Zen.[21]
Japan[edit]
Japanese Zen, both Rinzai and Soto, took over the use of koan-study and commenting. In Soto-Zen, koan commentary was not linked to seated meditation.[22]
Koan manuals[edit]
When the Chán-tradition was introduced in Japan, Japanese monks had to master the Chinese language and specific expressions used in the koan-training. The desired "spontaneity" expressed by enlightened masters required a thorough study of Chinese language and poetry.[23] Japanese Zen imitated the Chinese "syntax and stereotyped norms".[24]
In the officially recognized monasteries belonging to the Gozan (Five Mountain System) the Chinese system was fully continued. Senior monks were supposed to compose Chinese verse in a complex style of matched counterpoints known as bienli wen. It took a lot of literary and intellectual skills for a monk to succeed in this system.[25]
The Rinka-monasteries, the provincial temples with less control of the state, laid less stress on the correct command of the Chinese cultural idiom. These monasteries developed "more accessible methods of koan instruction".[25] It had three features:[25]
A standardized koan-curriculum;
A standardized set of answers based on stereotypes Chinese sayings;
A standardized method of secretly guiding students through the curriculum of koan and answers.
By standardizing the koan-curriculum every generation of students proceeded to the same series of koans.[25] Students had to memorize a set number of stereotyped sayings, agyō, "appended words".[26] The proper series of responses for each koan were taught by the master in private instruction-sessions to selected individual students who would inherit the dharma lineage.[27]
Missanroku and missanchō, "Records of secret instruction" have been preserved for various Rinzai-lineages. They contain both the koan-curricula and the standardized answers.[28][note 4] In Soto-Zen they are called monsan, an abbreviation of monto hissan, "secret instructions of the lineage".[28] The monsan follow a standard question-and-answer format. A series of questions is given, to be asked by the master. The answers are also given by the master, to be memorized by the student.[31]
Contemporary koan curricula[edit]
In the eighteenth century the Rinzai school became dominated by the legacy of Hakuin, who laid a strong emphasis on koan study as a means to gain kensho and develop insight.[22] There are two curricula used in Rinzai, both derived from the principal heirs of Rinzai: the Takuju curriculum, and the Inzan curriculum.[32] According to AMA Samy, "the koans and their standard answers are fixed."[33]
Suppression in the Soto-school[edit]
During the late eighteenth and nineteenth century the tradition of koan-commentary became suppressed in the Soto-school, due to a reform movement that sought to standardise the procedures for dharma transmission.[22] One reason for suppressing the koan-tradition in the Soto-school may have been to highlight the differences with the Rinzai-school, and create a clear identity.[22] This movement also started to venerate Dogen as the founding teacher of the Soto-school. His teachings became the standard for the Soto-teachings, neglecting the fact that Dogen himself made extensive use of koan-commentary.[22]
Doctrinal background[edit]
The popular western understanding sees kōan as referring to an unanswerable question or a meaningless statement. However, in Zen practice, a kōan is not meaningless, and not a riddle or a puzzle. Teachers do expect students to present an appropriate response when asked about a kōan.[34][35][36] [37]
Koans are also understood as pointers to an unmediated "Pure Consciousness", devoid of cognitive activity.[38] Victor Hori criticizes this understanding:
[A] pure consciousness without concepts, if there could be such a thing, would be a booming, buzzing confusion, a sensory field of flashes of light, unidentifiable sounds, ambiguous shapes, color patches without significance. This is not the consciousness of the enlightened Zen master.[39]
According to Hori, a central theme of many koans is the 'identity of opposites':[40][41]
[K]oan after koan explores the theme of nonduality. Hakuin's well-known koan, "Two hands clap and there is a sound, what is the sound of one hand?" is clearly about two and one. The koan asks, you know what duality is, now what is nonduality? In "What is your original face before your mother and father were born?" the phrase "father and mother" alludes to duality. This is obvious to someone versed in the Chinese tradition, where so much philosophical thought is presented in the imagery of paired opposites. The phrase "your original face" alludes to the original nonduality.[40]
Comparable statements are: "Look at the flower and the flower also looks"; "Guest and host interchange".[42]
Koan-practice[edit]
Study of kōan literature is common to all schools of Zen, though with varying emphases and curricula.[43] The Rinzai-school uses extensive koan-curricula, checking questions, and jakogo ("capping phrases", quotations from Chinese poetry) in its use of koans.[44] The Sanbo Kyodan, and its western derivates of Taizan Maezumi and the White Plum Asanga, also use koan-curricula, but have omitted the use of capping phrases.[43] In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, the emphasis is on Hua Tou, the study of one koan throughout one's lifetime.[21] In Japanese Soto-Zen, the use of koans has been abandoned since the late eighteenth and nineteenth century.[45]
Hua-tou or breakthrough-koan[edit]
In the Rinzai-school, the Sanbo Kyodan, and the White Plum Asanga, koan practice starts with the assignment of a hosshi or "break-through koan", usually the mu-koan or "the sound of one hand clapping".[32] In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, various koan can be used for the hua-tou practice.
Students are instructed to concentrate on the "word-head", like the phrase "mu". In the Wumenguan (Mumonkan), public case #1 ("Zhaozhou's Dog"), Wumen (Mumon) wrote:
... concentrate yourself into this 'Wú' ... making your whole body one great inquiry. Day and night work intently at it. Do not attempt nihilistic or dualistic interpretations."[46]
Arousing this great inquiry or "Great Doubt" is an essential element of kōan practice. It builds up "strong internal pressure (gidan), never stopping knocking from within at the door of [the] mind, demanding to be resolved".[47] To illustrate the enormous concentration required in kōan meditation, Zen Master Wumen commented,
It is like swallowing a red-hot iron ball. You try to vomit it out, but you can't.
Analysing the koan for its literal meaning won't lead to insight, though understanding the context from which koans emerged can make them more intelligible. For example, when a monk asked Zhaozhou (Joshu) "does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?", the monk was referring to the understanding of the teachings on Buddha-nature, which were understood in the Chinese context of absolute and relative reality.[48][49][note 5]
Insight[edit]
The continuous pondering of the break-through koan (shokan[50]) or Hua Tou, "word head",[51] leads to kensho, an initial insight into "seeing the (Buddha-)nature.[52]
The aim of the break-through koan is to see the "nonduality of subject and object":[40][41]
The monk himself in his seeking is the koan. Realization of this is the insight; the response to the koan [...] Subject and object - this is two hands clapping. When the monk realizes that the koan is not merely an object of consciousness but is also he himself as the activity of seeking an answer to the koan, then subject and object are no longer separate and distinct [...] This is one hand clapping.[53]
Various accounts can be found which describe this "becoming one" and the resulting breakthrough:
I was dead tired. That evening when I tried to settle down to sleep, the instant I laid my head on the pillow, I saw: "Ah, this outbreath is Mu!" Then: the in-breath too is Mu!" Next breath, too: Mu! Next breath: Mu, Mu! "Mu, a whole sequence of Mu! Croak, croak; meow, meow - these too are Mu! The bedding, the wall, the column, the sliding-door - these too are Mu! This, that and everything is Mu! Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha Ha! that roshi is a rascal! He's always tricking people with his 'Mu, Mu, Mu'!...[54][note 6]
But the use of the mu-koan has also been criticised. According to AMA Samy, the main aim is merely to "'become one' with the koan".[56] Showing to have 'become one' with the first koan is enough to pass the first koan.[56] According to Samy, this is not equal to prajna:
The one-pointed, non-intellectual concentration on the hua-t’ou (or Mu) is a pressure-cooker tactics, a reduction to a technique which can produce some psychic experiences. These methods and techniques are forced efforts which can even run on auto-pilot. They can produce experiences but not prajana wisdom. Some speak of ‘investigating’ the hua-t’ou, but it is rather a matter of concentration, which sometimes can provide insights, yet no more than that.[56]
Testing insight - or learning responses[edit]
Sassho – Checking questions[edit]
Teachers may probe students about their kōan practice using sassho, "checking questions" to validate their satori (understanding) or kensho (seeing the nature).[57] For the mu-koan and the clapping hand-koan there are twenty to a hundred checking questions, depending on the teaching lineage.[58] The checking questions serve to deepen the insight of the student, but also to test his or her understanding.[58]
Those checking questions, and their answers, are part of a standardised set of questions and answers.[29][59][56] Students are learning a "ritual performance",[59] learning how to behave and response in specific ways,[29][59][56] learning "clever repartees, ritualized language and gestures and be submissive to the master’s diktat and arbitration."[56]
Jakugo – Capping phrases[edit]
In the Rinzai-school, passing a koan and the checking questions has to be supplemented by jakugo, "capping phrases", citations of Chinese poetry to demonstrate the insight.[60][61] Students can use collections of those citations, instead of composing poetry themselves.[60][61]
Post-satori practice[edit]
After the initial insight further practice is necessary, to deepen the insight and learn to express it in daily life.[62] In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, this further practice consists of further pondering of the same Hua Tou.[web 1] In Rinzai-Zen, this further practice is undertaken by further koan-study, for which elaborate curriculae exist.[32][63] In Soto-Zen, Shikantaza is the main practice for deepening insight.
Varieties in koan-practice[edit]
Chinese Chán and Korean Seon[edit]
Main article: Hua Tou
In Chinese Chán and Korean Seon, the primary form of Koan-study is kanhua, "reflection on the koan",[64] also called Hua Tou, "word head".[51] In this practice, a fragment of the koan, such as "mu", or a "what is"-question is used by focusing on this fragment and repeating it over and over again:[web 2][21]
Who is it who now repeats the Buddha's name?
Who is dragging this corpse about?
What is this?
What is it?
What was the original face before my father and mother were born?
Who am I?[web 3]
The student is assigned only one hua-tou for a lifetime.[51] In contrast to the similar-sounding "who am I?" question of Ramana Maharshi, hua-tou involves raising "great doubt":[web 1]
This koan becomes a touchstone of our practice: it is a place to put our doubt, to cultivate great doubt, to allow the revelation of great faith, and to focus our great energy.[51]
Japanese Rinzai[edit]
Kōan practice is particularly important among Japanese practitioners of the Rinzai sect.
Importance of koan-study[edit]
This importance is reflected in writings in the Rinzai-school on the koan-genre. Zhongfeng Mingben[note 7] (1263–1323),[65] a Chinese Chán-master who lived at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, revitalized the Rinzai-tradition,[66] and put a strong emphasis on the use of koans. He saw the kung-ans as "work of literature [that] should be used as objective, universal standards to test the insight of monks who aspired to be recognized as Ch'an masters":[12]
The koans do not represent the private opinion of a single man, but rather the hundreds and thousands of bodhisattvas of the three realms and ten directions. This principle accords with the spiritual source, tallies with the mysterious meaning, destroys birth-and-death, and transcends the passions. It cannot be understood by logic; it cannot be transmitted in words; it cannot be explained in writing; it cannot be measured by reason. It is like the poisoned drum that kills all who hear it, or like a great fire that consumes all who come near it. What is called "the special transmission of the Vulture Peak" was the transmission of this; what is called the "direct pointing of Bodhidharma at Shao-lin-ssu" is this.[67]
Musō Soseki (1275–1351), a Japanese contemporary of Zhongfeng Mingben, relativized the use of koans.[68] The study of koans had become popular in Japan, due to the influence of Chinese masters such as Zhongfeng Mingben. Despite belonging to the Rinzai-school, Musō Soseki also made extensive use of richi (teaching), explaining the sutras, instead of kikan (koan). According to Musō Soseki, both are upaya, "skillful means" meant to educate students.[68] Musō Soseki called both shōkogyu, "little jewels", tools to help the student to attain satori.[68][note 8]
Koan curricula[edit]
In Rinzai a gradual succession of koans is studied.[73] There are two general branches of curricula used within Rinzai, derived from the principal heirs of Rinzai: the Takuju curriculum, and the Inzan curriculum. However, there are a number of sub-branches of these, and additional variations of curriculum often exist between individual teaching lines which can reflect the recorded experiences of a particular lineage's members. Koan curricula are, in fact, subject to continued accretion and evolution over time, and thus are best considered living traditions of practice rather than set programs of study.
Koan practice starts with the shokan, or "first barrier", usually the mu-koan or the koan "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"[50] After having attained kensho, students continue their practice investigating subsequent koans.[74] In the Takuju-school, after breakthrough students work through the Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), the Blue Cliff Record (Hekigan-roku), the Entangling Vines (Shumon Kattoshu), and the Collection of Wings of the Blackbird (鴆羽集, Chin'u shū).[75] The Inzan-school uses its own internally generated list of koans.[75]
Hakuin's descendants developed a fivefold classification system:[73]
Hosshin, dharma-body koans, are used to awaken the first insight into sunyata.[73] They reveal the dharmakaya, or Fundamental.[76] They introduce "the undifferentitated and the unconditional".[77]
Kikan, dynamic action koans, help to understand the phenomenal world as seen from the awakened point of view;[78] Where hosshin koans represent tai, substance, kikan koans represent yu, function.[79]
Gonsen, explication of word koans, aid to the understanding of the recorded sayings of the old masters.[80] They show how the Fundamental, though not depending on words, is nevertheless expressed in words, without getting stuck to words.[81]
Hachi Nanto, eight "difficult to pass" koans.[82] There are various explanations for this category, one being that these koans cut off clinging to the previous attainment. They create another Great Doubt, which shatters the self attained through satori.[83] It is uncertain which are exactly those eight koans.[84] Hori gives various sources, which altogether give ten hachi nanto koans:[85]
Miura and Sasaki:
Nansen's Flower (Hekigan-roku Case 40)
A Buffalo Passes the Window (Mumonkan Case 38)
Sōzan's Memorial Tower (Kattō-shō Case 140)
Suigan's Eyebrows (Hekigan-roku Case 8)
Enkan's Rhinoceros Fan (Hekigan-roku Case 91)
Shimano:
The Old Woman Burns the Hut (Kattō-shō Case 162)
Asahina Sōgen:
Goso Hōen's "Hakuun Said 'Not Yet'" (Kattō-shō Case 269)
Shuzan's Main Cable (Kattō-shō Case 280).
Akizuki:
Nansen Has Died (Kattō-shō Case 282)
Kenpō’s Three Illnesses (Kattō-shō Case 17).
Goi jujukin koans, the Five Ranks of Tozan and the Ten Grave Precepts.[86][82]
According to Akizuki there was an older classification-system, in which the fifth category was Kojo, "Directed upwards". This category too was meant to rid the monk of any "stink of Zen".[87] The very advanced practitioner may also receive the Matsugo no rokan, "The last barrier, and Saigo no ikketsu, "The final confirmation".[87] "The last barrier" when one left the training hall, for example "Sum up all of the records of Rinzai in one word!"[87] It is not meant to be solved immediately, but to be carried around in order to keep practising.[87] "the final confirmation" may be another word for the same kind of koan.[87]
Post-satori practice[edit]
Completing the koan-curriculum in the Rinzai-schools traditionally also led to a mastery of Chinese poetry and literary skills:
[D]isciples today are expected to spend a dozen or more years with a master to complete a full course of training in koan commentary. Only when a master is satisfied that a disciple can comment appropriately on a wide range of old cases will he recognize the latter as a dharma heir and give him formal "proof of transmission" (J. inka shomei). Thus, in reality, a lot more than satori is required for one to be recognized as a master (J. shike, roshi) in the Rinzai school of Zen at present. The accepted proof of satori is a set of literary and rhetorical skills that takes many years to acquire.[88]
After completing the koan-training, Gogo no shugyo, post-satori training is necessary:[89]
[I]t would take 10 years to solve all the kōans [...] in the sōdō. After the student has solved all koans, he can leave the sōdō and live on his own, but he is still not considered a roshi. For this he has to complete another ten years of training, called "go-go-no-shugyō" in Japanese. Literally, this means "practice after satori/enlightenment", but Fukushima preferred the translation "special practice". Fukushima would explain that the student builds up a "religious personality" during this decade. It is a kind of period that functions to test if the student is actually able to live in regular society and apply his koan understanding to daily life, after he has lived in an environment that can be quite surreal and detached from the lives of the rest of humanity. Usually, the student lives in small parish temple during this decade, not in a formal training monastery.[web 4]
Breathing practices[edit]
Hakuin Ekaku, the 17th century revitalizer of the Rinzai school, taught several practices which serve to correct physical and mental imbalances arising from, among other things, incorrect or excessive koan practice. The "soft-butter" method (nanso no ho) and "introspection method" (naikan no ho) involve cultivation of ki centered on the tanden (Chinese:dantian). These practices are described in Hakuin's works Orategama and Yasen Kanna, and are still taught in some Rinzai lineages today.
Japanese Soto[edit]
Though few Soto practitioners concentrate on kōans during meditation, the Soto sect has a strong historical connection with kōans, since many kōan collections were compiled by Soto priests.
During the 13th century, Dōgen, founder of the Soto sect in Japan, quoted 580 kōans in his teachings.[90] He compiled some 300 kōans in the volumes known as the Greater Shōbōgenzō. Dōgen wrote of Genjokōan, which points out that everyday life experience is the fundamental kōan.
However, according to Michel Mohr,
...kōan practice was largely expunged from the Soto school through the efforts of Gentō Sokuchū (1729–1807), the eleventh abbot of Entsuji, who in 1795 was nominated abbot of Eiheiji".[45]
Sanbo Kyodan and White Plum Asanga[edit]
The Sanbo Kyodan school and the White Plum Asanga, which originated with the Soto-priest Hakuun Yasutani, incorporates koan-study. The Sanbo kyodan places great emphasis on kensho, initial insight into one's true nature,[91] as a start of real practice. It follows the so-called Harada-Yasutani koan-curriculum, which is derived from Hakuin's student Takuju. It is a shortened koan-curriculum, in which the socalled "capping phrases" are removed. The curriculum takes considerably less time to study than the Takuju-curriculum of Rinzai.[92]
To attain kensho, most students are assigned the mu-koan. After breaking through, the student first studies twenty-two "in-house"[75] koans, which are "unpublished and not for the general public",[75] but are nevertheless published and commented upon.[93][web 5] There-after, the students goes through the Gateless Gate (Mumonkan), the Blue Cliff Record, the Book of Equanimity, and the Record of Transmitting the Light.[75] The koan-curriculum is completed by the Five ranks of Tozan and the precepts.[94]
Classical kōan collections[edit]
Kōans collectively form a substantial body of literature studied by Zen practitioners and scholars worldwide. Kōan collections commonly referenced in English include:
The Blue Cliff Record (Chinese: Bìyán Lù; Japanese: Hekiganroku), 12th century;
The Book of Equanimity (also known as the Book of Serenity; Chinese: Cóngróng Lù; Japanese: Shoyoroku), 12th century;
The Gateless Gate (also known as The Gateless Barrier; Chinese: Wúménguān; Japanese: Mumonkan) collected during the 13th century).
In these and subsequent collections, a terse "main case" of a kōan often accompanies prefatory remarks, poems, proverbs and other phrases, and further commentary about prior emendations.
The Blue Cliff Record[edit]
The Blue Cliff Record (Chinese: 碧巖錄 Bìyán Lù; Japanese: Hekiganroku) is a collection of 100 kōans compiled in 1125 by Yuanwu Keqin (圜悟克勤 1063–1135).
The Book of Equanimity[edit]
The Book of Equanimity or Book of Serenity (Chinese: 從容録 Cóngróng lù; Japanese: 従容録 Shōyōroku) is a collection of 100 Kōans by Hongzhi Zhengjue (Chinese: 宏智正覺; Japanese: Wanshi Shōgaku) (1091–1157), compiled with commentaries by Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246). The full title is The Record of the Temple of Equanimity With the Classic Odes of Venerable Tiantong Jue and the Responsive Commentary of Old Man Wansong 萬松老評唱天童覺和尚 頌古從容庵錄 (Wansong Laoren Pingchang Tiantong Jue Heshang Songgu Congrong An Lu) (Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 48, No. 2004)
The Gateless Gate[edit]
The Gateless Gate (Chinese: 無門關 Wumenguan; Japanese: Mumonkan) is a collection of 48 kōans and commentaries published in 1228 by Chinese monk Wumen (無門) (1183–1260). The title may be more accurately rendered as Gateless Barrier or Gateless Checkpoint).
Five kōans in the collection derive from the sayings and doings of Zhaozhou Congshen, (transliterated as Chao-chou in Wade-Giles and pronounced Jōshū in Japanese).
The True Dharma Eye[edit]
The True Dharma Eye 300 (Shōbōgenzō Sanbyakusoku) is a collection of 300 kōans compiled by Eihei Dōgen. Upon arriving in China, Dogen Kigen first studied under Wuji Lepai, a disciple of Dahui, which is where he probably came into contact with Dahui Zonggaos (大慧宗杲) (1089–1163) Shōbōgenzō, the Zhengfayan zang (正法眼藏), "Treasury of the true dharma eye" (W-G.: Cheng-fa yen-tsang, J.: Shōbōgenzō) a collection of koans and dialogues compiled between 1147 and 1150 by Dahui Zonggao . Dahui's Shōbōgenzō is composed of three scrolls prefaced by three short introductory pieces. The Zongmen liandeng huiyao 宗門聯燈會要 was compiled in 1183 by Huiweng Wuming 晦翁悟明 (n.d.), three generations after Dahui in the same line; the sermon is found in zh 20 (x 79: 173a).
Other kōan collections compiled and annotated by Soto priests include:
The Iron Flute (Japanese: Tetteki Tosui, compiled by Genro in 1783)
Verses and Commentaries on One Hundred Old Cases of Tenchian (Japanese: Tenchian hyakusoku hyoju, compiled by Tetsumon in 1771.)
Examples of traditional kōans[edit]
Does a dog have Buddha-nature[edit]
Main article: Mu (negative)
A monk asked Zhàozhōu, "Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?" Zhaozhou said, "Wú".
("Zhaozhou" is rendered as "Chao-chou" in Wade-Giles, and pronounced "Joshu" in Japanese. "Wu" appears as "mu" in Japanese, meaning "no", "not", "nonbeing", or "without" in English. This is a fragment of Case #1 of the Wúménguān. However, another koan presents a longer version, in which Zhaozhou answered "yes" in response to the same question asked by a different monk: see Case #18 of the Book of Serenity.)
The sound of one hand[edit]
Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand? (隻手声あり、その声を聞け)
—  Hakuin Ekaku
Victor Hori comments:
...in the beginning a monk first thinks a kōan is an inert object upon which to focus attention; after a long period of consecutive repetition, one realizes that the kōan is also a dynamic activity, the very activity of seeking an answer to the kōan. The kōan is both the object being sought and the relentless seeking itself. In a kōan, the self sees the self not directly but under the guise of the kōan ... When one realizes ("makes real") this identity, then two hands have become one. The practitioner becomes the kōan that he or she is trying to understand. That is the sound of one hand.[web 6]
Original Face[edit]
Main article: Original face
Huìnéng asked Hui Ming, "Without thinking of good or evil, show me your original face before your mother and father were born." (This is a fragment of case #23 of the Wumenguan.)
Killing the Buddha[edit]
If you meet the Buddha, kill him. (逢佛殺佛)
—  Linji
Thinking about the Buddha as an entity or deity is delusion, not awakening. One must destroy the preconception of the Buddha as separate and external before one can become internally as their own Buddha. Zen master Shunryu Suzuki wrote in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind during an introduction to Zazen,
Kill the Buddha if the Buddha exists somewhere else. Kill the Buddha, because you should resume your own Buddha nature.
One is only able to see a Buddha as he exists in separation from Buddha; the mind of the practitioner is thus still holding onto apparent duality.
Other koans[edit]
A student asked Master Yun-Men (A.D. 949) "Not even a thought has arisen; is there still a sin or not?" Master replied, "Mount Sumeru!"
A monk asked Dongshan Shouchu, "What is Buddha?" Dongshan said, "Three pounds of flax." (This is a fragment of case #18 of the Wumenguan as well as case #12 of the Blue Cliff Record.)
A monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is the meaning of the ancestral teacher's (i.e., Bodhidharma's) coming from the west?" Zhaozhou said, "The cypress tree in front of the hall." (This is a fragment of case #37 of the Wumenguan as well as case #47 of the Book of Serenity.)
See also[edit]
Buddhism
Kirigami
Koans mentioning Subhuti, Tanzan, and Tetsugen
List of koans by Yunmen Wenyan
Mu-koan
Original face
Wild fox koan
Christianity
Apophatic theology
Other
Hacker koans, humorous expressions of hacker culture
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ Assertions that the literal meaning of kung-an is the table, desk, or bench of a magistrate appear on page 18 of Foulk 2000. See also [3]
Jump up ^ 大慧宗杲; Wade-Giles: Ta-hui Tsung-kao; Japanese: Daie Sōkō
Jump up ^ This role-taking is described by the Swedish psychologist of religion Hjalmar Sundén, though McRae does not seem to be aware of this
Jump up ^ In 1916 Tominaga Shūho, using the pseudonym "Hau Hōō", published a critique of the Rinzai koan-system, Gendai sōjizen no hyōron, which also contained a translation of a missanroku. The missanroku part has been translated by Yoel Hoffmann as "The Sound of the One Hand" (see [29]).[30]
Jump up ^ The controversy over whether all beings have the potential for enlightenment is even older. Vigorous controversy still surrounds the matter of Buddha nature. See "Tao-sheng's Theory of Sudden Enlightenment", Whalen Lai, in Sudden and Gradual (subtitle) Approaches to Enlightenment in Chinese Thought, p. 173 and 191. The latter page documents how in 429 or thereabouts (more than 400 years before Zhaozhou), Tao-sheng was expelled from the Buddhist monastic community for defending the idea that incorrigible persons (icchantika) do indeed have Buddha-nature (fo-hsing).
Jump up ^ Maura O'Halloran also gives an account of herself becoming mu.[55]
Jump up ^ 中峰明本, Wade Giles: Chung-feng Ming-pen; Japanese Chūhō Myōhon
Jump up ^ The term shōkogyu comes from a Chinese poem in which a lady calls the attendant using the word xiaoyu, Jap. shōkogyu, to warn her lover.[69] The poem figures in an interaction between Wuzi Fayan (1024–1104) and his student Yuanwu Keqin, the teacher of Dahui Zonggao. Yüan-wu was assigned the koan "The verbal and the nonverbal are like vines clinging to a tree". Yuanwu gained satori with the phrase "She keeps calling out to [her maid] Xiaoyu although there is nothing the matter.[70] It is only because she knows Tanlang [her lover] will hear her voice".[71] The same koan was assigned to Dahui Zonggao.[72]
References[edit]
Book references[edit]
Jump up ^ Sasaki 1965, p. 4-6.
Jump up ^ Foulk 2000, p. 21-22.
Jump up ^ McRae 2003, p. 172–173, note 16.
Jump up ^ Foulk 2000, p. 21–22.
^ Jump up to: a b Schlütter 2008, p. 111.
^ Jump up to: a b c Schlütter 2008, p. 109.
Jump up ^ Schlütter 2008, p. 1109.
^ Jump up to: a b McRae 2003, p. 131.
Jump up ^ Yampolski 2003a, p. 20.
Jump up ^ Hori 2003, p. Chapter 4.
^ Jump up to: a b Heine 2008, p. 52.
^ Jump up to: a b Griffith Foulk 2000, p. 22.
Jump up ^ Schlütter 2008, p. 110.
Jump up ^ Griffith Foulk 2000, p. 23.
Jump up ^ Wright 2000, p. 208.
Jump up ^ Wright 2000, p. 209.
Jump up ^ Wright 2000, p. 209–210.
Jump up ^ Wright 2000, p. 210–211.
Jump up ^ Kasulis 2003, p. 30.
Jump up ^ McRae 2003, p. 130.
^ Jump up to: a b c Lachs 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Griffith Foulk 2000, p. 25.
Jump up ^ Bodiford 2006, p. 92–93.
Jump up ^ Bodiford 2006, p. 93.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Bodiford 2006, p. 94.
Jump up ^ Bodiford 2006, p. 96–97.
Jump up ^ Bodiford 2006, p. 97–98.
^ Jump up to: a b Bodiford 2006, p. 98.
^ Jump up to: a b c Hoffmann 1975.
Jump up ^ Bodiford 1993, p. 264, note 29.
Jump up ^ Bodiford 2006, p. 102–106.
^ Jump up to: a b c Hori 2000.
Jump up ^ Samy, p. 4.
Jump up ^ Sasaki 1965, p. xi.
Jump up ^ Hagen 2000.
Jump up ^ Aitken 1991, p. xiii, 26, and 212.
Jump up ^ Loori 1994, p. p64.
Jump up ^ Hori 2000, p. 282.
Jump up ^ Hori 2000, p. 284.
^ Jump up to: a b c Hori 2000, p. 289-290.
^ Jump up to: a b Hori 2000, p. 310 note 14.
Jump up ^ Hori 2000, p. 289.
^ Jump up to: a b Ford 2006, p. 35-43.
Jump up ^ Hori 2006.
^ Jump up to: a b Mohr 2000, p. 245.
Jump up ^ Shibayama 1974.
Jump up ^ Sekida 1985, p. 138–139.
Jump up ^ Shibayama 1974, p. Commentary on case #1.
Jump up ^ Swanson 1997.
^ Jump up to: a b Hori 2005b, p. 132.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Ford 2006, p. 38.
Jump up ^ Hori 2000, p. 287.
Jump up ^ Hori 2000, p. 288-289.
Jump up ^ Satomi & King 1993, p. 106.
Jump up ^ O'Halloran 2007, p. 78.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Samy, p. 5.
Jump up ^ Hori 2006, p. 132–133.
^ Jump up to: a b Hori 2006, p. 133.
^ Jump up to: a b c Stephenson 2005.
^ Jump up to: a b Hori 1999.
^ Jump up to: a b Hori 2003.
Jump up ^ Sekida 1996.
Jump up ^ Hori 2005b.
Jump up ^ Schlütter 2000, p. 168.
Jump up ^ Dumoulin 2005b, p. 155.
Jump up ^ Dumoulin 2005b.
Jump up ^ Mingben 2006, p. 13.
^ Jump up to: a b c Dumoulin 2005b, p. 164–165.
Jump up ^ Dumoulin 2005b, p. 165.
Jump up ^ Schlütter 2000, p. 186.
Jump up ^ Schlütter 2000, p. 198 note 96.
Jump up ^ Schlütter 2000, p. 197 note 94.
^ Jump up to: a b c Besserman & Steger 2011, p. 148.
Jump up ^ Yampolski 2005, p. 186.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Ford 2006, p. 42.
Jump up ^ Hori 2005b, p. 136.
Jump up ^ Hori 2005b, p. 136–137.
Jump up ^ Besserman & Steger 2011, p. 148-149.
Jump up ^ Hori 2005b, p. 137.
Jump up ^ Besserman & Steger 2011, p. 149.
Jump up ^ Hori 2005b, p. 138.
^ Jump up to: a b Hori 2005b, p. 135.
Jump up ^ Hori 2005b, p. 139.
Jump up ^ Hori 2003, p. 23.
Jump up ^ Hori 2003, p. 23-24.
Jump up ^ Besserman & Steger 2011, p. 151.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Hori 2005b, p. 143.
Jump up ^ Griffith Foulk 2000, p. 42.
Jump up ^ Hori 2005b, p. 145.
Jump up ^ Bodiford 1993, p. 144.
Jump up ^ Sharf 1995c.
Jump up ^ Ford 2006, p. 42–43.
Jump up ^ MacInnes 2007.
Jump up ^ Sharf 1995c, p. 432.
Web references[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Nonduality Magazine (2010), Interview with Stuart Lachs
Jump up ^ Dharmanet, Huatou
Jump up ^ hsuyun.org, The Hua-Tou Practice
Jump up ^ Muho Noelke, Part 10: What does it take to become a full-fledged Sōtō-shu priest and is it really worth the whole deal?
Jump up ^ Ruben L. F. Habito (2007), Foreword to Flowing Bridge: The Miscellaneous Koans
Jump up ^ G. Victor Sogen Hori (1999), Translating the Zen Phrase Book. Nanzan Bulletin 23, 1999, p. 44–58
Sources[edit]
Aitken, Robert Baker (1991). The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan). New York: North Point Press/Farrar.
Besserman, Perle; Steger, Manfred (2011). Zen Radicals, Rebels, and Reformers. Wisdom Publications.
Bodiford, William M. (1993). Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan. University of Hawaii Press.
Bodiford, William M. (2006). Koan practice. In: "Sitting with Koans". Ed. John Daido Loori. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People And Stories of Zen. Wisdom Publications.
Foulk, T. Griffith (2000). The form and function of kōan literature. A historical overview. In: Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright (eds.)(2000), The Kōan. Texts and contexts in Zen Buddhism. Oxford University Press.
Griffith Foulk, T. (2000). The Form and Function of Koan Literature. A Historical Overview. In: "The Kōan. Texts and contexts in Zen Buddhism", Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hagen, Steven (2000). Introduction. In: The Iron Flute. 100 Zen Kōans. Nyogen Senzaki and Ruth Stout McCandless (trans.).
Heine, Steven (2008). Zen Skin, Zen Marrow. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hoffmann, Yoel (1975). The Sound of the One Hand. Yoel Hoffmann (trans.). Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-08079-3.
Hori, Victor Sogen (1999). "Translating the Zen Phrase Book" (PDF). Nanzan Bulletin (23).
Hori, Victor Sogen (2000). Koan and Kensho in the Rinzai Zen Curriculum. In: Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright (eds)(2000): "The Koan. Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hori, Victor Sogen (2003). Zen Sand: The Book of Capping Phrases for Kōan Practice (PDF). University of Hawaii Press.
Hori, Victor Sogen (2005b). The Steps of Koan Practice. In: John Daido Loori, Thomas Yuho Kirchner (eds), Sitting With Koans: Essential Writings on Zen Koan Introspection. Wisdom Publications.
Kasulis, Thomas P. (2003). Ch'an Spirituality. In: Buddhist Spirituality. Later China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World; edited by Takeuchi Yoshinori. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Lachs, Stuart (2012), Hua-t'ou: A Method of Zen Meditation (PDF)
Loori, John Daido (1994). Two Arrows Meeting in Mid Air. The Zen Kōan. Vermont/Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle.
Loori, John Daido (2006). Sitting with koans. Essential writings on the practice of Zen koan introspection. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
MacInnes, Elaine (2007). The Flowing Bridge: Guidance on Beginning Zen Koans. Wisdom Publications.
McRae, John (2003). Seeing Through Zen. The University Press Group Ltd.
Mingben, Zhongfeng (2006). The definition of a koan. In: "Sitting with koans. Essential writings on the practice of Zen koan introspection". Boston: Wisdom Publications.
Mohr, Michel (2000). Emerging from Nonduality. Kōan Practice in the Rinzai tradition since Hakuin. In: "The Kōan. Texts and contexts in Zen Buddhism", Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
O'Halloran, Maura (2007). Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: The Life and Letters of an Irish Zen Saint. Wisdom Publications.
Samy, AMA (n.d.), Koan, Hua-t’ou, and Kensho (PDF)
Satomi, Myodo; King, Sallie B. (1993). Journey in Search of the Way: The Spiritual Autobiography of Satomi Myodo. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-1971-1.
Sasaki, Ruth Fuller (1965). Introduction. In: Isshu Miura and Ruth Fuller Sasaki (1965), "The Zen Kōan". Harvest/HBJ.
Schlütter, Morten (2000). "Before the Empty Eon" versus "A Dog Has No Buddha-Nature". Kung-an Use in the Ts'ao-tung Tradition and Ta-hui's Kung-an Introspection Ch'an. In: "The Koan. Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism". Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schlütter, Morten (2008). How Zen became Zen. The Dispute over Enlightenment and the Formation of Chan Buddhism in Song-Dynasty China. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3508-8.
Sekida, Katsuki (1985). Zen Training. Methods and Philosophy. New York, Tokyo: Weatherhill.
Sekida (translator), Katsuki (1996). Two Zen Classics. Mumonkan, The Gateless Gate. Hekiganroku, The Blue Cliff Records. Translated with commentaries by Katsuki Sekida. New York / Tokyo: Weatherhill.
Sharf, Robert H. (1995c). "Sanbokyodan. Zen and the Way of the New Religions" (PDF). Japanese Journal of Religious Studies (22/3-4).
Shibayama (1974). The Gateless Barrier. Zen comments on the Mumonkan. Translated from Chinese and Japanese into English by Sumiko Kudo. Shambhala Publications.
Stephenson, Barry (June 2005), "The Koan as Ritual Performance", Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 73 (2): 475–496
Swanson, Paul L. (1997). Why They Say Zen Is Not Buddhism. Recent Japanese Critiques of Buddha-Nature. In: Pruning the Bodhi Tree. The Storm over Critical Buddhism. Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson, eds. University of Hawaii Press.
Wright, Dale S. (2000). Koan History. Transformative Language in Chinese Buddhist Thought. In: "The Koan. Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism". Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yampolski, Philip (2003a). Chan. A Historical Sketch. In: Buddhist Spirituality. Later China, Korea, Japan and the Modern World; edited by Takeuchi Yoshinori. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Yampolski, Philip (2005). Hakuin Ekaku and the Modern Koan System. In: John Daido Loori, Thomas Yuho Kirchner (eds), Sitting With Koans: Essential Writings on Zen Koan Introspection. Wisdom Publications.
Further reading[edit]
Loori, John Daido. Sitting with Koans: Essential Writings on the Zen Practice of Koan Study. Wisdom Publications, 2005. ISBN 978-0-86171-369-1
Steven Heine, and Dale S. Wright, eds. The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-511749-2
Hoffmann, Yoel.tr. The Sound of the One Hand. Basic Books, 1975. ISBN 978-0-465-08079-3 This book contains examples of how some Zen practitioners answer the koans "correctly". Originally published in Japan almost a century ago as a critique of fossilization of Zen, that is formalization of koan practice.
Samy, AMA (n.d.), Koan, Hua-t’ou, and Kensho (PDF)
Stephenson, Barry (June 2005), "The Koan as Ritual Performance", Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 73 (2): 475–496
External links[edit]
Zen Buddhism Koan Study Pages
Koan Collections and Studies
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text:
Member states of NATO
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Current NATO members highlighted in blue
Timeline of countries becoming NATO members. Dark blue marks countries that were already NATO members at the given time. Light blue marks new members.
NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an international alliance that consists of 29 member states from North America and Europe. It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. Article Five of the treaty states that if an armed attack occurs against one of the member states, it should be considered an attack against all members, and other members shall assist the attacked member, with armed forces if necessary.[1]
Of the 29 member countries, two are located in North America (Canada and the United States) and 27 are European countries while Turkey is in Eurasia. All members have militaries, except for Iceland which does not have a typical army (but does, however, have a coast guard and a small unit of civilian specialists for NATO operations). Three of NATO's members are nuclear weapons states: France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NATO has 12 original founding member nation states, and from 18 February 1952 to 6 May 1955, it added three more member nations, and a fourth on 30 May 1982. After the end of the Cold War, NATO added 13 more member nations (10 former Warsaw Pact members and three former Yugoslav republics) from 12 March 1999 to 5 June 2017.
Contents
[hide]
1 Founding and changes in membership
2 Member states by date of membership
3 Military personnel
4 Military expenditures
4.1 Table
5 References
Founding and changes in membership[edit]
Main article: Enlargement of NATO
NATO has added new members seven times since its founding in 1949, and since 2017 NATO has had 29 members. Twelve countries were part of the founding of NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1952, Greece and Turkey became members of the Alliance, joined later by West Germany (in 1955) and Spain (in 1982). In 1990, with the reunification of Germany, NATO grew to include the former country of East Germany. Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums for regional cooperation between NATO and its neighbors were set up, including the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. In 1997, three former Warsaw Pact countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO. After this fourth enlargement in 1999, the Vilnius group of The Baltics and seven East European countries formed in May 2000 to cooperate and lobby for further NATO membership. Seven of these countries joined in the fifth enlargement in 2004. The Adriatic States Albania and Croatia joined in the sixth enlargement in 2009, Montenegro in 2017.
Due to the 2016–17 Turkish purges and Erdogan's authoritarian politics some have speculated that Turkey could be expelled from NATO.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] United States President Donald Trump has also expressed interest in withdrawing from the organization during the 2016 election campaign, and only recently stated the United States would protect allies in the event that Article V is invoked.[10][11][12]
Member states by date of membership[edit]
Date[13]
Country
Enlargement
Notes
24 August 1949 Belgium Founders
Canada
Denmark Denmark's NATO membership includes the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
France France withdrew from the integrated military command in 1966 to pursue an independent defense system but returned to full participation on 3 April 2009.
Iceland Iceland, the sole member that does not have its own standing army, joined on the condition that it would not be expected to establish one. However, its strategic geographic position in the Atlantic made it an invaluable member. It has a Coast Guard and has recently contributed a voluntary peacekeeping force, trained in Norway for NATO.
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
United Kingdom
United States
18 February 1952 Greece First Greece withdrew its forces from NATO's military command structure from 1974 to 1980 as a result of Greco-Turkish tensions following the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
Turkey
6 May 1955 Germany Second Commonly known as West Germany when it joined; it later reunited with Saarland in 1957 and with the Berlin territories and East Germany on 3 October 1990. East Germany was a member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1956–1990.
30 May 1982 Spain Third
12 March 1999 Czech Republic Fourth Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991 as part of Czechoslovakia.
Hungary Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991.
Poland Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1990.
29 March 2004 Bulgaria Fifth Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991.
Estonia Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991 as part of the Soviet Union.
Latvia Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991 as part of the Soviet Union.
Lithuania Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1990 as part of the Soviet Union.
Romania Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991.
Slovakia Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1991 as part of Czechoslovakia.
Slovenia Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945–1991 (Non-aligned)
1 April 2009 Albania Sixth Member of the rival Warsaw Pact 1955–1968.
Croatia Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945–1991 (Non-aligned)
5 June 2017 Montenegro Seventh Previously part of Yugoslavia 1945–2006 (Non-aligned)
Military personnel[edit]
Country
Active personnel
Reserve personnel
Total
Albania 8,500 14,000 22,500
Belgium 24,500 100,500 125,000
Bulgaria 35,000 302,500 337,500
Canada 68,000 27,000 95,000
Croatia 14,506 180,000 198,000
Czech Republic 21,057 2,359 23,416
Denmark 19,911 63,000 82,911
Estonia 6,425 60,000 63,209
France 222,215 100,000 322,215
Germany 180,676 145,000 325,676
Greece 180,000 280,000 460,000
Hungary 29,700 8,400 38,100
Iceland 0 0 0a
Italy 180,000 41,867 220,867
Latvia 6,000 11,000 17,000
Lithuania 18,750 4,750 23,500
Luxembourg 1,057 278 1,335
Montenegro 1,950 400 2,350
Netherlands 47,660 57,200 104,860
Norway 26,200 56,200 82,400
Poland 120,000 515,000 635,000
Portugal 44,900 210,930 255,830
Romania 73,350 79,900 153,250
Slovakia 16,000 16,000
Slovenia 7,300 1,500 8,801
Spain 123,000 16,200 139,200
Turkey 920,473 429,000 1,349,473
United Kingdom 205,851 181,720 387,571
United States 1,469,532 990,000 2,459,532
NATO 3,673,000 3,745,000 8,420,000
a Iceland has no armed forces.
b 2015 data.
Military expenditures[edit]
The United States spends more on the organization than all other members combined.[14] Criticism of the organization by then newly elected US President Donald Trump caused various reactions from American and European political figures, ranging from ridicule to panic.[15][16][17] Pew Research Center's 2016 survey among its member states showed that while most countries viewed NATO positively, most NATO members preferred keeping their military spending the same. The response to whether their country should militarily aid another NATO country if it were to get into a serious military conflict with Russia was also mixed. Only in the US and Canada did more than 50% of the people answer that they should.[18][19]
Table[edit]
Country
Population
(2016 est.)
GDP (nominal)
(2015, US$ millions)
Military expenditures
(2015, US$ millions)
Military expenditures
(2016, % of GDP)[20]
Defence expenditures,
(2014, US$ per capita)
Deployable military
(2016)[20]
Albania 3,038,594 11,543 155 1.21 42.2 7,000
Belgium 11,409,077 454,687 4,953 0.85 468 29,000
Bulgaria 7,144,653 48,957 797 1.35 116 31,000
Canada 35,362,905 1,552,386 17,210 0.99 492 65,000
Croatia 4,313,707 48,850 904 1.23 204 15,000
Czech Republic 10,644,842 181,858 2,099 1.04 189 22,000
Denmark 5,593,785 294,951 4,130 1.14 796 16,000
Estonia 1,258,545 22,704 546 2.16 392 6,000
France 66,836,154 2,421,560 49,747 1.78 964 207,000b
Germany 80,722,792 3,413,483 47,046 1.19 562 180,000
Greece 10,773,253 195,320 6,104 2.38 479 106,000
Hungary 9,874,784 120,636 1,225 1.01 118 18,000
Iceland 335,878 16,718 4.5 a 14.2 0a
Italy 62,007,540 1,815,757 28,460 1.11 506 182,000
Latvia 1,965,686 27,048 341 1.45 150 5,000
Lithuania 2,854,235 41,267 566 2.06 126 13,000
Luxembourg 582,291 57,423 362 0.44 594 900
Montenegro 623,000 3,900 43 1.2 60 1950
Netherlands 17,016,967 738,419 10,476 1.17 600 41,000
Norway 5,265,158 389,482 7,377 1.54 1,328 20,000
Poland 38,523,261 474,893 12,603 2 275 103,000
Portugal 10,833,816 199,077 4,380 1.38 396 31,000
Romania 21,599,736 177,315 2,980 1.48 118 70,000
Slovakia 5,445,802 86,629 1,164 1.16 180 13,000
Slovenia 1,978,029 42,768 489 0.94 233 7,000
Spain 48,563,476 1,199,715 16,929 0.91 270 121,000
Turkey 80,274,604 733,642 17,669 1.56 298 411,000
United Kingdom 64,430,428 2,849,345 59,730 2.21 952 161,000
United States 323,995,528 16,348,875 595,472 3.61 1,891 1,305,000
NATO 932,645,526 36,211,501 904,913 2.9 934 3,515,000
Population data from CIA World Factbook
GDP data from IMF[21]
Expenditure data (except Iceland) from SIPRI Military Expenditure Database,[22] Icelandic data (2013) from Statistics Iceland[23]
Military personnel data from NATO[24]
a Iceland has no armed forces.
b 2015 data.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "The North Atlantic Treaty". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 1949-04-04. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
Jump up ^ "Erdogan's purge may give Nato no choice but to expel Turkey from the alliance". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ Wintour, Patrick (28 July 2016). "Turkey officials to demand extradition of Fethullah Gülen from US". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "Will Turkey be expelled from NATO?". Al-Monitor. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "NATO and Turkey: Allies, not friends". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "Turkey's NATO membership and move to cement ties with Russia". DailySabah. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "In Opinion: Turkey should be thrown out of NATO". Newsweek. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "NATO members are supposed to be democratic. What happens when Turkey isn't?". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ Weiss, Stanley (23 February 2016). "It's Time to Kick Erdogan's Turkey Out of NATO". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
Jump up ^ "Trump threatens to quit NATO: White House official - France 24". France 24. 2017-05-18. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
Jump up ^ Landler, Michael D. Shear, Mark; Kanter, James (2017-05-25). "In NATO Speech, Trump Is Vague About Mutual Defense Pledge". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
Jump up ^ Lauter, David (2017-05-26). "A glowing orb and a not-so-glowing review of the GOP healthcare bill: Trump's week was filled with events he didn't control". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
Jump up ^ "North Atlantic Treaty" (PDF). United States Department of State. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
Jump up ^ Where Does The Relationship Between NATO And The U.S. Go From Here?, Huffington Post
Jump up ^ NATO allies boost defense spending in the wake of Trump criticism, The Washington Post
Jump up ^ Former US ambassador to Nato in withering criticism of Donald Trump, The Independent
Jump up ^ Shaken by Trump’s Criticism of NATO, Europe Mulls Building Own Military Force, Voice Of America
Jump up ^ Support for NATO is widespread among member nations, Pew Research
Jump up ^ U.S. would defend NATO despite Trump's criticism, Europeans believe: study, Reuters
^ Jump up to: a b "Table 3 : Defence expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product and annual real change (based on 2010 prices)" (PDF). Retrieved 20 January 2017.
Jump up ^ "World Economic Outlook Database April 2016". International Monetary Fund. International Monetary Fund. April 2015. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
Jump up ^ "SIPRI Military Expenditure Database 2015" (XLS). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
Jump up ^ "Central government total expenditure by function 1998-2013". Statistics Iceland. Statistics Iceland. 2014-09-23. Retrieved 2015-06-08.
Jump up ^ "Financial and Economic Data Relating to NATO Defence" (PDF). NATO. NATO. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
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