I read the thing about the sound of one hand clapping. It sounds like a higher pitched clap. I know this since i can clap with my left hand. I just snap all of my fingers to my palm quickly.
Not to nitpick gnat shit from pepper, but that’s not clapping.
clap1 Pronunciation Key (klp)
v. clapped, clap·ping, claps
v. intr.
To strike the palms of the hands together with a sudden explosive sound, as in applauding.
To come together suddenly with a sharp sound.
v. tr.
To strike together with a sharp sound, as one hard surface on another: clapped a book on the desk.
To strike (the hands) together with an abrupt, loud sound, usually repeatedly: clapped hands in time to the music.
To strike lightly but firmly with the open hand, as in greeting: clapped me on the shoulder.
To put or place quickly and firmly: clapped the purse snatcher in jail; clapped a lid on the box.
To arrange hastily: clapped together a plan.
n.
The act or sound of clapping the hands.
A sudden, loud, explosive sound: a clap of thunder.
A sharp blow with the open hand; a slap.
Obsolete. A sudden stroke of fortune, especially of bad luck.
From Dictionary.com. Clapping involves two hands, not one. Thus the question remains theoretical.
actually, liquidlobotomy, with that definition, slapping your fingers against your palm would be clapping according to that definition. “to come together suddenly with a sharp sound”
The column: What is the sound of one hand clapping?
The earliest thread in this forum about this column.
Terry Pratchett says the sound of one hand clapping is “cl-.” The other hand supplies the “-ap.”
RR
Welcome to the SDMB, Animalchampion, and thank thee for posting thy comment.
Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site.
To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in thy post (make sure there is a space before and after the text of the URL).
Cecil’s column can be found on-line at the link provided by rowrrbazzle.
The column can also be found on pages 49-50 of Cecil Adams’ book «The Straight Dope (1984; reissued 1986, 1998)».
The “Sound of One Hand Clapping” is in fact the Title of an Australian movie that depicts the life of european immigrants in post world war two Australia.
Welcome to the Board!
I’d ask details about being an animal champion, but uncharacteristically, I’ll just answer the question, in two lights:
First, that you’re trying the metal of the habitual dopers. Second, that you are in earnest.
First. The zen koan about the sound of one hand clapping is meant to be a puzzler. A riddle that only advanced zen students have a hope of understanding. So anyone who answers is either ignorant, flippant, or on their way to Nirvana.
Retort to first supposition:
Straight Dope folks tend not to be ignorant. Flippancy is an absolute must. Nirvana is beyond the control of the most elect, and is therefore not a subject for definite speculation. In the way of an answer: May all your metaphysical problems be solved by creative application of one body part against another.
Hem. However, you may have been in earnest, in which case:
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Observe that the original question was phrased in Chinese, so the nit-picking about the meaning of “clap” is irrelevant.
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The purpose of a zen koan is not to answer a tricky physical problem, but to answer a problem for which science has no answer at all.
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The idea that there is a simple, obvious physical explanation to a koan is…actually…almost the answer. The koan invites the listener to hear beyond the question.
Finally, the idea of any koan is to shock the listener out of their complacency. Suppose you were in a monastery, and weren’t shocked. The master would simply ask you another question. Your answer would be irrelevant, unless you were shocked.
Q: What’s the sound of one hand clapping?
A: (Modernized) What’s the sound of two hands clapping in space?
There should be no confusion about clapping with one hand. With either left or right hand held rigid at the wrist, allow the fingers to flap freely against the heel of the palm. This produces the sound of clapping. I have taught this art to children and grandchildren but I am still the family champion of one hand clapping.
:wally
What is the sound of one hand clapping?
It is the Sound of Silence.
"Light travels faster than sound, that is why some people appear bright, until you hear them speak!"The little guy, my favorite nephew, was about three when I decided to yank his chain by asking him that question.
He thought about it a while, then ran over and started slapping one hand on the coffee table.
We’re gonna have to look out for this kid.
i think i need one of your cheeks to let you hear the sound of 1 hand clapping, then if you please turn the other one and i can let you hear it again.
I don’t get many of these posts. The answer to the koan is well known. Cecil gives the answer on the cited page. What is the problem? If you’re trying to do finger snaps or wrist cracks or whatever, you have missed the whole point of the koan. Why do people spend time doing (and posting about) these things?
Isn’t the point of koans that if you think you know the answer, then you don’t know the answer?
“First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.”
(For the less Zen aware: Donovan was ripping off an old saying.)
In short: Things are what they appear to be. Hence, the right answer is the right answer, no quibbling. (Quibbling by Zen students is strongly discouraged. If you started snapping fingers to answer the koan, you’d get whacked with a cane. No joke.) There are differences among Zen masters and their schools, which might affect the answers to less well known koans, but not for the big ones. (Like: The one hand clapping. Does a dog have Buddha nature? Meeting the Buddha on the road.) One of the main purposes of Zen schooling is to eliminate such Sophist thinking.
I read the book Cece cited a long time ago, still have it, read and listened to Alan Watts and none ever brought up Chronos’ point, AFAIR.
However, reading the answers etc. are not considered at all the same as reaching true enlightment by doing it the old fashioned way. (One of the more obvious statements I’ve ever made!)
As that old English fella once said, “much ado is made about nothing.” Why worry over a trivia when more serious things demand attention? Remember, however, that you know what you know and you know that you know so don’t fret the existence of unlightened souls who do not know what you know, you know!
If you mean the one that goes “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him”, then I’d like to see a cite, please. The last time that saying was discussed on the boards, I seem to recall the conclusion being that there was no such koan, and that the origins of the saying are completely outside Buddhism.
I’ve been quite convinced since the first time I heard this that there is a definite connection between Zen and the dialectic. The goals may be different, but the foundation is the same.
The one that goes, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him,” is most likely taken from Mumon’s (Wu-men Hui-kai) commentary on the koan Mu, which can be found in the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate), a collection of koans and commentaries from early 13th century China. Mumon is talking about breaking through the barrier of mu, and says, “It is as if you have snatched the sword of General Kan. When you meet the Buddha, you kill him; when you meet the ancient masters, you kill them.”
**
When I was a freshman and sophomore in high school I used to watch old Magnum P.I. reruns diligently. It’s comforting to know that I this provided not only cheap entertainment but increased my ability to “think outside the box.”
Now, on to those quaaludes…