# The Sound of One Hand **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 12, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828 "2010-12-12T00:08:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Philismo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@Philismo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philismo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/1 "2010-12-12T00:08:13Z")
Cecil’s comments on the sound of the one hand are not as helpful as they should be. The fact is, there is a sound. You last heard it when you were an infant, before you learned to clap. Back then, the universe was a very confused place. Sights, sounds, and sensations would come and go without cause. You would feel hunger and gurgle and there would be warmth and satiation, light and dark, in no particular order. But that first time you clapped, there was an event. There was a before and and after. There was a touch and a sound. Self and other. Cause and effect. This is the moment that self-awareness is born. You see tiny children clap again and again, establishing their mastery over the universe - until they discover the universe is seldom so agreeable as at that first time. But the sound of the clap masks something important. Something you’ve forgotten. Happily, you can still hear the sound of the one hand. It is not just a sound - because the experience before you first clapped was not divided into sound and sight and touch. Still most people start by listening for the sound. Look at your hand. Listen to it. Feel, with it. Feel the listening and looking. Listen to the feeling. It will be as if a tiny thin crack opens in the world you understand - because the world of understanding is all based on that first clap. Listen harder. And slowly the world of understanding itself becomes a malleable thing, held by the one hand. Once you learn to hear the sound of the one hand, you become aware of so much that was previously shuttered to you that you struggle to find words to convey it. Trying to share, you will see people’s faces go blank. They will not understand what you are trying to tell them unless you can get them to also hear the sound of the one hand. All you can really do is tell them how, and after they do that you share your new understanding with them without even trying. Try it! What do you have to lose? ETA: Link to column - [What is the sound of one hand clapping? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/43/what-is-the-sound-of-one-hand-clapping) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/2 "2010-12-12T02:56:11Z")
Deep… ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/3 "2010-12-12T06:27:37Z")
“Listen to the feeling.” Erm…sure man, sure. I’d like you to share whatever it is you’re partaking of… ---
**Author:** ![Philismo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@Philismo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philismo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/4 "2010-12-12T12:33:38Z")
> [@](#): > > They will not understand what you are trying to tell them unless you can get them to also hear the sound You don’t listen to that sound, there’s not much anyone can do about that. The point of the traditional apprentice response - thrusting a hand forward - is that of course a master can hear the damn thing. It’s not a mysterious intellectual question - it’s a really simple direct question. As to what’s “really” going on when you listen to that sound and finally hear it, well, sure, you just figured out a root password that lets you hack your own reality. And you didn’t even have to partake. Anyone can do it with nothing but their own hand and their own ears. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/5 "2010-12-12T14:42:03Z")
Umm… just… Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/6 "2010-12-13T15:01:57Z")
> [@Philismo](#): > > Cecil’s comments on the sound of the one hand are not as helpful as they should be. > Look at your hand. Listen to it. Feel, with it. Feel the listening and looking. Listen to the feeling. It will be as if a tiny thin crack opens in the world you understand - because the world of understanding is all based on that first clap. Listen harder. And slowly the world of understanding itself becomes a malleable thing, held by the one hand. Trying to out-Zen Hakuin? Ballsy. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/7 "2010-12-13T16:29:37Z")
> [@Philismo](#): > > Try it! What do you have to lose? Apparently my sanity. ---
**Author:** ![Philismo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@Philismo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philismo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/8 "2011-01-07T14:08:00Z")
Hakuin? Can’t out-zen that guy. I’m just passing on what I learned from Herrigel. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/9 "2011-01-07T15:41:47Z")
So, let me get this straight… the question is about the sound of _one_ hand clapping, so you bring up the first time a baby hears _two_ hands clapping? When did you learn how to count? ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sound-of-one-hand/563828/10 "2011-01-10T22:42:14Z")
What is the sound of no hands clapping ?