Top of a Pole

There is a very famous koan. A man climbed up to the top of a pole. If he stays there, he is not enlightened. When he jumps off from the top of the pole, he may be an enlightened one. How we understand this koan is how we understand our practice. Why we have something which should be taken out from us is because we stay here. Because you stay at the top of a pole, you have problems. But actually, there is no top for a pole—for actual pole continues endlessly forever. So, you cannot stop here, actually. —cuke.com/ig for links to the source of the image. Excerpt from Shunryu Suzuki lecture 69-04-20 as found on shunryusuzuki.com, edited by PF. Go to instagram.com/cuke_archives for the Instagram version.