393. understanding #zen

the guru saw a student sweating while reading over his notes, so he asked him, “student, what is wrong?”

the student said, “i do not understand #zen!”

so the guru lead the student to his archives, where hundreds of kōans were scribbled on rolled papyrus.

the guru said, “i have written all of these kōans, and still i do not understand #zen. why should you understand after only a few notes?”