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Talk5 min

Zen kōans: unsolvable enigmas designed to break your brain

Puqun Li · TED

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About

How do we explain the unexplainable? This question has inspired numerous myths, religious practices and scientific inquiries. But Zen Buddhists practicing throughout China from the 9th to 13th century asked a different question – why do we need an explanation? Puqun Li details the bewildering and ambiguous philosophical thought experiments these Buddhists called Zen kōans. [TED-Ed Animation by Cabong Studios]

The talk

  1. Zen kōans: unsolvable enigmas designed to break your brain 5 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED-Ed
Speaker
Puqun Li
Year
2018
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Philosophy, Religion
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
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