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    CelticLilith's Avatar
    CelticLilith Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jun 17, 2008, 09:43 PM
    A koan riddle
    This is a zen/koan riddle that I am having trouble figuring out.
    If you have an ostrich stuck in a vase how do you get it out without breaking the glass or harming the ostrich?
    Any suggestions would help a lot.
    Thank you
    Namaste
    Xrayman's Avatar
    Xrayman Posts: 1,177, Reputation: 193
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    #2

    Jun 19, 2008, 05:04 PM
    You know, of all the annoying things on this planet, koans are one of the worst for me.

    To me I think that the koan is not supposed to be "worked out". It is to distract the mind to calm the conscious.

    Now to answer the question/koan, I think the answer would be, "you just carry the vase utside" that's how you would get it out without it breaking.
    om-nick's Avatar
    om-nick Posts: 1, Reputation: 2
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    #3

    Aug 11, 2008, 06:31 AM
    Teach the ostrige to be enlightened so he can rise up and see the four corners.
    Namaste
    Alder's Avatar
    Alder Posts: 342, Reputation: 71
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    #4

    Nov 5, 2008, 04:19 PM

    Or grease the inside of the neck of the vase and turn a pride of hungry lions loose in it. The ostrich will find his way out quickly enough if properly motivated and given a little help.

    No, I'm serious.

    My point is that only in your imagination could an ostrich get stuck in a small-necked vase, so you are free to imagine lions or whatever you like. The imagination is the tip of the iceberg of creativity, which floats in the limitless ocean of the collective unconscious.

    Blessings!
    cha0s's Avatar
    cha0s Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #5

    Dec 19, 2008, 02:18 AM
    Put a lid on it
    smilesillyyou's Avatar
    smilesillyyou Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #6

    Jul 29, 2010, 10:18 AM
    A blooming lotus flower.
    bendingleconte's Avatar
    bendingleconte Posts: 112, Reputation: 9
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    #7

    Aug 28, 2010, 08:52 AM

    Teach the ostrich that he is home and he will no longer be "stuck."
    Athos's Avatar
    Athos Posts: 1,108, Reputation: 55
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    #8

    Sep 15, 2010, 11:45 AM


    There is no ostrich. There is no glass.
    matou's Avatar
    matou Posts: 3, Reputation: 1
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    #9

    Nov 2, 2010, 08:39 AM
    Take a step back and you'll see the ostrich was never in the vase
    Wsmack's Avatar
    Wsmack Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #10

    Aug 27, 2012, 02:28 PM
    Rofl I don't see what's so problematic about this, but I think it's obvious that you should just turn the vase upside down :S

    , as above so below'' :P
    Athos's Avatar
    Athos Posts: 1,108, Reputation: 55
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    #11

    Aug 27, 2012, 02:44 PM
    Re-visiting here after two years (I just got an email there was a new answer), it's obvious most here do not know what a koan is. It is decidedly NOT a riddle, and even less is it some sort of logical conundrum that one "figures out".

    For those interested, start with Google. Better you find out for yourself and not someone else's definition.
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