I'm Gretchen Ruben and this is a little happier.

Now I've said many times, I love aphorisms, maxims, proverbs, and teaching stories, all

of which contain a powerful succinct point, a certain lesson.

And of things of this nature, I also love co-ins.

A co-in is a question or story or statement that can't be understood logically.

Zen Buddhist monks meditate on co-ins as a way to abandon dependence on reason in their

pursuit of enlightenment.

The most famous co-in is probably two-hands clap and there is a sound.

What is the sound of one hand?

That's a co-in.

I collect co-ins, both traditional Zen co-ins and also co-ins that I've identified myself

out in the wild.

These are sayings or stories that seem to have great meaning, but I'm not exactly clear

what that meaning is.

I came across a story like this recently.

This story strikes me as very powerful, but I'm not exactly sure how to characterize its

meaning.

It's about the nature of the salvation of souls and about doing good for others and virtue,

but somehow I can't quite grasp its lesson.

I came across this story in My Several Worlds, the 1954 memoir by the Nobel Prize-winning

author Pearl S. Buck.

She's probably best known for her novel The Good Earth.

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