(If this is your first time visiting us or if you have been here before this is a new feature we’d like to call Metaphysical Monday. Every Monday we will break down a Koan, a parable, a quote, etc. That leans to and towards self development and confidence, basically we believe in giving what we need. So here we go.)

This Koan for me would have been difficult a few years ago, I would not have been able to see the revelation that is revealed in the essence of the Koan. Most of us don’t think about impermanence, we don’t think about our demise or the demise of those that are close to us, even though we all know that life as we know it will end. There is a difference between trying to hold on to the ideals of what life is supposed to be and what life is. Having three generations pass at the same time would be tragic, sad, and of course detrimental to the family and community as a whole.

However if we look at the Koan again we see that, that would be a natural progression, Grandfather dies, Father dies, and Son Dies, the Koan doesn’t say that they all die at once. “This is Good Fortune,” to have circumstances in our lives progress according to the natural order is good fortune. Parents do not want to bury their children, that would obviously be opposite of the natural order of life as we know it.

True happiness can come from the natural order of circumstances. Our eyes have become tainted with the cynicism and snap judgments, and we can no longer fill in the blanks for ourselves. Our habitual ways of thinking have removed us from our very own common sense and intuition. This “Koan” was originally written for a rich man who saw this as a depressing statement written by a Zen monk, after the rich man asked for said monk to write something down that could encourage the prosperity of his family into perpetuity. The rich man did not see the natural progression in the “Koan”. Unfortunately that is how many of us see life, in the “if’s,” not looking at the “ways”. The way of progressing in the natural order may mean that we look at things as they truly are and not as we want them to be. This will cause less confusion and suffering.

Of course there are so many distractions in this day and age, and we have the ability to ignore whatever we want to. The suggestion from this Koan and this post is that if you feel confused or are suffering look to sustain and assist the natural order in yourself and your life and see how that natural progression can bring you good fortune.

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