Spiritual Fart

A young man dropped out and started searching for the meaning of life. He was drawn to zen buddhism and joined a zen monastery in northern California. One of the practices was the contemplation of a koan. The Sensei gave the young man an old koan to contemplate. The koan is: What is the sound of one hand clapping? The young man worked hard on penetrating the paradox of the koan. It ran around his mind constantly like a mantra. At times he felt that he was getting close to a break through but then the sensei would hit him between the shoulder blades with a bamboo staff and he would be back at the beginning. After a time he became disillusioned with the monastery and wandered away. After some months of wandering he was walking along a beach in southern California when he ran into a surfer just emerging from the water. The surfer said: Dude what’s up? The young man was still engrossed in the repetition and contemplation of the koan and said: What is the sound of one hand clapping? The surfer thought for a moment and replied: A BEAN FART! The young man fell down on the sand as a white light exploded inside his head as he experienced his first satori experience. The surfer headed down the beach in search of a burrito.