Zen koan: The cloud of entrapment, is not necessarily a cloud of entanglement, unless we enter it ourselves

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The great Zen master, Falal Zalalen, was looking up pensively at the clouds, floating by overhead. He said to his student, standing next to him: "Clouds cannot entrap, but they can entangle." "We are Human beings, but we are not just Human beings, unless we become entrapped in the vehicle." "No two clouds are the same, and neither are two human beings ever the same either." "Our cloud is our spirit." "We should let it freshen our thoughts, with its cooling shadow, which stops us from overheating within ourselves." Just then, it started to rain, and the master, and his student, run for cover quickly, towards being back into the confines of the Zen Temple. Neither of them made it, though. The student, running faster than his master, tripped on a rock, protruding out from the ground, and then the Zen master, tripped on his student. The master was cushioned in his fall by his student, and sitting up, still atop of his student, he winced and smiled, at the same time, and commented wittily too: "The Zen master sits atop his student, but the student has tripped him up." "The student then is the master of the Zen master, and the Zen master the master of only himself, when not himself." "Here I was myself, my old Human self, and so I fell over you, trying to escape the rain, but a true Zen master never tries to escape any part of life, but always endeavours to embrace it all with himself." "I have learned a valuable lesson here too, my lad," he said, and then he helped his student back up, and they both retreated into the Monastery to escape the now heavier rain. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com The Zen master stroked his chin pensively, as he continued to be rained upon.