Grab Hold of Emptiness
A Zen Koan.
The Zen master, Sekyo, asked one of his students — “can you get a hold of emptiness?”
“I will try” — said the student, and cupped his hands into the air.
“That’s not very good” — said Sekyo
“Fine master, can you show me another way?”
Sekyo suddenly grabbed the monk by the nose and gave it a yank.
“OUCH!” — yelled the student, “that hurt!”
“That’s the way to get a hold of emptiness!” — replied Sekyo
The Guru does not teach directly; he teaches indirectly, not through familiar avenues of dogmatic lecture and exhausting persuasion but through good old nose-honking.
It's like a physical koan 😂
Reminds me of Alan Watts’ gong ❤️