Catching a Catfish in a Gourd

Josetsu, here portrayed trying to catch a big, tricky catfish in a small gourd.

As Master Muso once proclaimed, "the reality of mind is inconceivable."

There is no possibility of your thinking consciousness apprehending or defining it; you might as well try catching a giant catfish in a small gourd. It is ungraspable, utterly beyond the reach of words and concepts.

So how will you attain it?

You are it already, so the only way to attain it is to drop away all your thinking and mental grasping in a single instant.

That is the sudden all-enlightening and wonderful taste of Zen.