From Wiktionary:
"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*."
*A sudden inexpressible feeling of inner understanding or enlightenment.
From Wikipedia:
"A story, dialogue, question, or statement, which is used in Zen practice to provoke the 'great doubt' and test a student's progress in Zen practice.
The popular western understanding sees kōan as referring to an unanswerable question or a meaningless statement. However, in Zen practice, a kōan is not meaningless, and not a riddle or a puzzle. Teachers do expect students to present an appropriate response when asked about a kōan."
From Encyclopedia Britannica:
"Koan, Japanese Kōan, in Zen Buddhism of Japan, a succinct paradoxical statement or question used as a meditation discipline for novices, particularly in the Rinzai sect. The effort to 'solve' a koan is intended to exhaust the analytic intellect and the egoistic will, readying the mind to entertain an appropriate response on the intuitive level. Each such exercise constitutes both a communication of some aspect of Zen experience and a test of the novice’s competence."
A few well-known koans:
"Two hands clap and there is a sound, what is the sound of one hand?"
"Without thinking of good or evil, show me your original face before your mother and father were born."
"If you meet the Buddha, kill him."
From Wikipedia:
"Cruentation was one of the medieval methods of finding proof against a suspected murderer. The common belief was that the body of the victim would spontaneously bleed in the presence of the murderer.
Cruentation was part of the Germanic Laws, and it was used in Germany, Poland, Bohemia, Scotland, and in European colonies in North America. In Germany it was used as a method to find proof of guilt until the middle of the 18th century. Cruentation was mentioned in the Malleus Maleficarum.
In cases where it was difficult for the jurors to determine whether someone accused of murder was guilty or innocent, the case could be solved by means of a trial by ordeal. The accused was brought before the corpse of the murder victim and was made to put his or her hands on it. If the wounds of the corpse then began to bleed, or if other unusual visual signs appeared, that was regarded as God's verdict (judicium Dei) announcing that the accused was guilty."
From Wikipedia:
"Resistentialism is a jocular theory to describe 'seemingly spiteful behavior manifested by inanimate objects', where objects that cause problems (like lost keys or a runaway bouncy ball) are said to exhibit a high degree of malice toward humans. The theory posits a war being fought between humans and inanimate objects, and all the little annoyances that objects cause throughout the day are battles between the two. The slogan of Resistentialism is 'Les choses sont contre nous' ('Things are against us')."
From Reddit:
"The word 'criddler' has been used on the streets of Portland for at least the last decade.
It's derived from the word 'criddle,' which is a common mispronunciation of 'crystal'...slang for crystal meth. A criddler is a person whose life has been consumed by meth."
Photo by Zach Reynolds/Royal Gorge Dinosaur Experience
Stroopwafels
- Yield: 6 dozen
- Requires 4 hours
Ingredients
Stage 1 Ingredients (Yeast Mixture):
1 cup warm water (80-100deg F)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp dry yeast
Stage 2 Ingredients (Dough pt I):
1 lb (4 sticks) soft butter - about 15 seconds per stick in the microwave from fridge temp
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup white Karo syrup
2 eggs
1 dash salt
Stage 3 Ingredients (Dough pt II):
8 cups flour
Stage 4 Ingredients (Stroop/Syrup):
1/2 lb butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 jar (11oz) Lyle's syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Stage 1
Mix ingredients together in small bowl, set aside. Use a large enough container that will leave room for the yeast to expand.
Stage 2
Mix ingredients together in stand mixer
Stage 3
Add yeast mixture to stand mixer bowl, continue mixing
Add flour, continue mixing
Let set for one hour
Roll into walnut size balls
Press in pre-heated waffle cone iron (each waffle takes 45-75sec depending on size and where the iron is in its heat cycle)
Cut edges with cookie cutter
Use knife point to separate layers of each waffle, then run knife through each the long direction
Stage 4
Melt ingredients together, bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes. Spread approximately one tablespoon of syrup on each waffle. Press together gently. Waffles can be placed in the freezer to harden the stroop.
