The Last Stroke

A Zen Koan.

Two Zen students sat together in a park to paint in the traditional Japanese Suibokuga style.

The first student, Mitski, grabbed his brushes to prepare while his peer mixed the ink and sat behind him to watch.

Mitski finished his first piece after a couple of minutes.

— “No good!” — his peer told him.

So he painted another one.

— “This one is even worse than the first one!”

After 64 tries, the ink was running out. Mitski’s peer got up to mix some more ink so they could continue.

While he was away, Mitski kept going with the remaining ink, using up the very last drop.

When his peer returned with fresh ink, he took a good long look at the new painting.

— “A masterpiece!” he said.