A Zen Master dropped his handkerchief and said to one of his disciples who was just sitting there, “Try to pick up the handkerchief. Try to pick it up.”
Immediately the disciple picked up the handkerchief and gave it to the Master. But the Master was not happy. He dropped it again. And he said, “Listen to me, to what I am saying. Try to pick it up.”
And the disciple picked it up again. It happened six times, and the Master dropped the handkerchief again and again. When he dropped it the seventh time, it dawned upon the disciple what he meant. He was saying something absurd. He was giving a kōan.
“Try to pick it up!” How can you ‘“’try to pick it up’? Either you pick it up or you don’t pick it up. How can you try?
Then he got the point that trying is not possible. Either you pick it up or you don’t pick it up – trying is not possible. Then he laughed.
And he said, “I understand.” He bowed down, thanked the Master.
And the Master said, “Remember, never try. Either do or don’t do. There is no way to try.”
Osho (Acharya Rajneesh) in the book Sufis: The People of the Path Vol. 2
Image of festival postage stamps (2021) celebrating the birth of the Buddha, of Macau, courtesy https://indiastamp.blogspot.com/
The kōan (Chinese) are groupings of related questions and answers which are a paradox. The kōan may be a story which cannot be understood or explained easily. They can originate in the sayings and events in the lives of wise men and legendary figures. The kōan is a fundamental part of the history and practice of Zen Buddhism.
Acharya Rajneesh (1931-1990), known later as Osho, was an Indian godman, philosopher, mystic and founder of the Rajneesh movement. He was viewed as a controversial religious leader during his life. He rejected institutional religions, insisting that spiritual experience could not be organised into any one system of religious dogma. He advocated meditation and taught a unique form called dynamic meditation. Rejecting traditional ascetic practices, he asked his followers to live fully in the world but without attachment to it. Pic courtesy: https://www.sannyas.wiki/