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The question you’re asking—
“What was your original face before your parents were born?”—
is a famous Zen koan, traditionally attributed to the 6th Patriarch Huineng of Chan (Zen) Buddhism.
🧘♂️ Koan: “Your Original Face Before Your Parents Were Born”
❓ “Show me your original face before your parents were born.”
This koan appears in texts like the Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate), Case 23.
🪷 What Does It Mean?
This is not a literal question. It is a spiritual riddle meant to cut through dualistic thinking, ego-identity, and conditioned perception.
🔹 1. Beyond Ego and History
Your "face" here means your true nature—your original mind—that existed before time, before name, before body, before birth.
It's not the face you see in the mirror.
It's the pure awareness, unconditioned and unborn.
🔹 2. Before Thought, Before Form
"Before your parents were born" implies before memory, culture, personality, and even karma.
What remains? What are you, when you strip away everything you think you are?
🔹 3. The Trap of Words
Trying to answer this koan intellectually is missing the point.
It’s not asking for a description—it’s an invitation to directly experience your original nature.
The moment you think, speak, or conceptualize, you lose it.
Yet… it’s always right here.
🧠 Zen Master Responses
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🧍♂️ One master just held up a flower.
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💨 Another one blew out a candle.
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🎶 A third simply laughed.
These are non-verbal, intuitive expressions—pointing to the reality beyond thought.
🧭 Reflection Prompt (SBQ-style)
In silent awareness, before your name, thoughts, body, or history—
Who are you?
Don’t answer.
Look. Sit. Stay with the question.
Let it work on you.
🕊 Final Words
This koan is not meant to be solved but lived. It is a mirror.
It reveals your attachments.
And when the mind falls silent,
you may realize…
You never had a face to begin with.
Would you like a guided meditation based on this koan? Or a related one like “Does a dog have Buddha-nature?”
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