Zen #5 - Ryōkan and the Coins

A poet-monk sits with an old friend in the shade of a temple gate. The friend mentions a simple pleasure. Finding coins on the road, he says, brings a particular kind of delight. Ryōkan takes this observation to heart. He tries to recreate the experience by scattering his own coins and picking them back up. Nothing happens. No delight arrives. Confused but undeterred, he keeps trying until he loses the coins entirely in the tall grass. What he discovers while searching for them opens a door that deliberate effort could never unlock.

Part of The Fractal Mind Podcast, by Source Potential. New episodes every Sunday evening (Eastern US)!

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