A Riddle on “Just This”
I thought I’d keep this message sparse, which is a clue for answering the riddle below. I can’t remember where I first came across this riddle, but I think it does a nice job of communicating my perspective on words and how they are symbolic representations of a more basic and ineffable reality; necessary and useful symbolic representations but potentially distracting and confusing when taken as the basic reality (see a related post here).
Here’s the riddle:
When you say my name,
you no longer have me.
What am I?
I challenge you to not look up the answer (though it may have already easily come to you), as the process of realizing it on your own might lead to a deeper impact, and then I’d love to hear any reflections you might have on its meaning in the comments below.
I’ll leave you with a related quote attributed to the Zen teacher Dogen:
“If you want to attain just this,
you must immediately practice just this.”
