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Moan vs Koan - What's the difference?

moan | koan |

As a proper noun moan

is anglesey.

As a noun koan is

(zen buddhism) a story about a zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable, which has become an object of zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the zen student’s mind leading to satori.

moan

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • a low, mournful cry of pain, sorrow or pleasure

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.7:
    • Much did the Craven seeme to mone his case […].
  • * Prior
    • Ye floods, ye woods, ye echoes, moan / My dear Columbo, dead and gone.
  • (obsolete) To distress (someone); to sadden.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • which infinitely moans me
  • To make a moan or similar sound.
  • To say in a moan, or with a moaning voice.
    • ‘Please don't leave me,’ he moaned .
  • (colloquial) To complain; to grumble.

    • Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * moaner * moany

    Related terms

    * bemoan

    See also

    * murmur * protest * lament

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

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    koan

    English

    (wikipedia koan)

    Alternative forms

    *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Zen Buddhism) A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.
  • * 1979 , Douglas R. Hofstadter,
    • Achilles: Let me tell you a k?an about an imitator.
  • *:: Zen master Gutei raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen. A young novice began to imitate him in this way. When Gutei was told about the novice’s imitation, he sent for him and asked him if it were true. The novice admitted it was so. Gutei asked him if he understood. In reply the novice held up his index finger. Gutei promptly cut it off. The novice ran from the room, howling in pain. As he reached the threshold, Gutei called, “Boy!” When the novice turned, Gutei raised his index finger. At that instant the novice was enlightened.
  • A riddle with no solution, used to provoke reflection on the inadequacy of logical reasoning, and to lead to enlightenment.
  • * 1973 , (Thomas Pynchon), Gravity’s Rainbow
    • Gibberish. Or else a koan that Achtfaden isn’t equipped to master, a transcendent puzzle that could lead him to some moment of light.
  • * 2001 , (Joyce Carol Oates), Middle Age : A Romance (Fourth Estate, paperback edition, 303)
    • As always the koan “Why, Why am I here, why here” begins in her head, but she beats it back like a housewife with a broom.

    Anagrams

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