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Five miles, five more, and then no return || Acharya Prashant, on Zen Koan (2018)
Acharya Prashant
1.7K views
6 years ago
Zen Koan
Gudo
Mu Nan
Impermanence
Spiritual Love
Individuality
Guru
Meditation
Description

Acharya Prashant discusses a Zen koan about a man who, after meeting the master Gudo, decides to leave his life of gambling and drinking to follow the master forever. He explains that Gudo provided the man with the necessary wisdom to live a better life within his family, which is the maximum a teacher can offer. The teacher’s role is to provide the best advice for the situation, such as encouraging responsibility and mental clarity, but the teacher has neither the intention nor the capacity to force a deeper inner transformation or a specific life path upon the student.