A Zen Koan

Featuring Salvador the Gangster

Salvador was an infamous and infintely wise gang lord. One day, as he sat drinking his tequilla, in a southern Mexican bar, he said, "Caballeros, you sing like angels. I can answer any question you boys may ask." One of the young boys stood up, "Whats the real meaning of life?". Salvador stood up and hit him in the head with his pistol and the kid fell unconscious. Few of the the fellow drunkards in the bar got enlightened suddenly. It was almost dawn, the sun hadn't risen yet.

According to Salvador, the perceiver and perceived had to be identified for a question to exist and that division or duality renders the question meaningless when it comes to questions about the 'whole'.

The San Francisco Fog

I lay gloomy in my room
Pondering where I was.

To the restless waves of the Pacific
The hills answered in silence
Like life, to all my questions

The quiet San Francisco fog
Rolled in like a huge white cat
And lay softly over the city.

Under my thick blanket
I lay waiting for my sleep.