Emptiness
A Zen Koan.
A brash young man visited a Zen master that lived nearby. Wanting to impress the master he said:
"There is no mind, there is no body, there is no Buddha.”
“There is no better, there is no worse.”
“There is no master and there is no student.”
“There is no giving, there is no receiving.”
“What we think we see and feel is not real.”
“All that is real is Emptiness. None of these seeming things really exist."
The master sat quietly, smoking his pipe. Without saying anything, he picked up his staff and smacked the young man over the head with great force.
The young man jumped up in anger and cursed the old master.
"Since none of these things really exists" — said the master — "and all is emptiness, where does your anger come from?"
Oh, the platitudes! 🤣
Great parable. Thank you for your playfulness woven with wisdom, Matt. I just found you and am happily subscribing. 🙏🌼✨
That’s a perfect little roundhouse of a parable. Cuts through all the philosophical posturing and lands right in the gut. The master didn’t argue—he demonstrated. No tweet threads. No essays. Just whack. You want to talk emptiness? Then live it. The body, the anger, the ego—it all showed up real quick when things got uncomfortable.
It’s a reminder: you can’t think your way into awakening. You have to get hit in the head sometimes.