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Zen k\u014dans serve a didactic function within the institution of Buddhist  schools, with teachers using them to help their pupils reach  enlightenment. In this paper, I suggest that Platonic dialogues function  similarly to Zen k\u014dans in their inducement of aporia. Thus, reading and understanding the role Zen k\u014dans are intended to play within Buddhist schools illuminates the role of aporia in Western philosophy. Using Plato\u2019s Seventh Letter as a guide for  reading Platonic dialogues, I analyze the form of Platonic dialogues  generally and highlight how the commentarial traditions engage  dialectically with the original texts. Second, I compare and contrast  the form and function of Zen k\u014dans and Platonic dialogues, taking the  authority of the master and philosopher and their orientation towards  truth as the driving force in both. I focus on a k\u014dan written,  ostensibly, by Qingyuan Weixin in the 13th century and Plato\u2019s Republic. I then show how, when stripped of content, the engagement with Zen k\u014dans can be understood in terms of the catuskoti. I suggest how this might also be the case for Platonic dialogues.