What are we if not the world
a zen koan
A zen koan is a tiny little Buddhist story or riddle that explains something profound. This particular koan changed the way I think about how we can do good in the world. Long after I read it, my mind would turn to it again and again. But when I searched for it to reread the original words, I couldn’t find it.
Since I lost the original text, I recreated the koan from memory below.
A weary traveler approaches a cottage.
An old man is outside the cottage, bent over a small garden.
The traveler greets the old man. “Hello! I hail from afar in search of Sukhavati, the fabled Western Pure Land. Tell me—do you know of it? Is it far?”
The old man says, “Ah, you search for the Pure Land? Well, your search is over, for you are already here.”
The traveler is relieved, for he has journeyed far.
The traveler says, “They speak of the good that the people of the Pure Land do for the world. The stories told are legendary—how you relieve the suffering of others. I have come from afar to learn from you, so that I, too, may help the world. Will you tell me—how is it that you help the world?”
The old man smiles and says, “We grow our food, we eat our food, and we wash our plates.”
The traveler says, “No, I asked how you help the world.”
The old man smiles. “What are we if not the world?”
Zen koans seem to have the same purpose as parables from the Bible, stories that hold a larger truth. This koan you shared is simple yet no less true, and worth sharing consistently.