“To be with a koan”

"To be with a koan,”
said the Zen Master,
"has nothing to do with Hamlet,
those old jokes about small pigs
or tiny villages,
bees and bee keepers. No,
to be with a koan,
you must get inside it
without forcing your entry.
It’s like you’re lemonade powder
dissolving in water.
Something other than you
does the stirring,
but there’s nothing other than you,
and after awhile, nothing stirs.”

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This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 31 Number 3, on page 28
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https://newcriterion.com/issues/2012/11/to-be-with-a-koan