Koans are wild and unpredictable,
And that's actually their magic.
Because if you're stuck in your usual way of seeing things and doing life,
You need something unpredictable.
You need something a bit wild,
Maybe.
You need to go out past the bounds of where you usually live.
And that's where Koans live.
They live out in the wilds.
It's like Rumi said,
Out beyond right and wrong,
There is a field.
I will meet you there.
And that's where koans live.
They live out beyond right and wrong,
Good and bad,
Success and failure.
And so if you really want something different.
Something other than just making your mind calm while you're meditating or thinking more positive thoughts,
Then koans are absolutely excellent guides for that.
But you do have to be willing to give up your conception of what meditation might be.
You have to be willing to give up.
Some of your ideas about what life might be about,
Even.
You have to give up your ideas of who you are.
And you need to be open to discovering something deeper,
Which might be strange or shocking or even frightening.
Although oftentimes it's full of love and joy and a deep sense of peace and stillness.
And so when I do one of these koan guided meditations,
I'm just offering you a taste of what it's like to be with a koan.
The way you really.
.
.
Meet a koan is to bring it into your life every moment.
Everywhere you go,
Everything you do,
The koan is there.
Even if you don't think you see it,
You can assume that the koan is operating in your life from the moment you meet it.
And so then the question about koan practice is not how do I practice with a koan,
But how is the koan already appearing in my life?
