I had never seen the college kid so sad and frustrated as she appeared today. So I asked her what the problem was
“It’s your damn quiz. I am getting frustrated with not being able to answer even a single question.”
Oh, is that all? Don’t worry. I’ll help you with a few.
(her face lit up immediately). “Really?”..”Just for me?”
Why not? I can see your frustration. It just shows me how much you care about it.
“It’s just that I am not the brainy types…I am not good at solving puzzles, crosswords and things like that”
Well… actually…this quiz is not for clever people. In fact, the cleverer you are, the harder you make it for yourself.
“I don’t understand…if I am not clever, how can I answer them? the questions look very difficult”
The difficulty is not in a question. It is in the way we interact with a question.
“How is that possible? I don’t believe that”
I will prove it to you, dear. Do you remember the 1st question?
“Of course. How can I forget? I have been struggling with it for weeks.”
Tell me.
“Why is the monk grinning? Why is he not grasping at the coins? What does he know?”
So, the first thing you might have done is to attack it with all your knowledge.
“Yeah”
But knowledge of what? That is where you get stuck!
You spend time figuring out what type of problem it is – Physics? Maths?Philosophy? History? Chemistry? Biology? Computer science? Religion?
When you can’t figure out what type of problem it is, you won’t know what type of knowledge to apply.
You have been interacting with the question as if it is a problem you need to solve.
In doing so, it became difficult.
When, really, it is not.
“But that’s what we learn to do at school – solve problems”
We do that in order to learn useful stuff, for society.
But remember – that doesn’t mean the universe has problems to solve. It may not even know the concept of questions and answers, problems and solutions.
“Ha ha. So how do you manage then?”
There are only situations we find ourselves in as long as we live. We respond to those situations in the way we feel best.
Knowledge is just a tool we use to respond better. Sometimes, using our knowledge makes the situation worse.
So, what I want you to do is just relax. Trust yourself.
(We sat down by the table and looked at the pyramid in front of us).
Just focus on the pyramid in front of you, ok?
“OK”
What do you see?
“I see the grinning monk, some gold coins and a lot of gold dust”
(after a few minutes, I asked her again!)
What do you see?
“I think…he is not grasping all the gold coins because he doesn’t want them”
What do you see?
“I think…he knows the coins are falling from heaven, so he’s happy with the blessings”
What do you see ?
“I think…..”
(At that moment, I slammed the table hard with my fist)
WHAT DO YOU SEEEEE? (I shouted)
GOLD (she screamed back!!!)
And laughed loudly!!!!
“I GOT IT!”
“It is all gold! Just gold! That’s all there is inside the pyramid.”
In the form of dust, in the form of coins, in the form of the monk….all gold! Just gold!
He doesn’t reach out for the treasure. Why should he? Can gold grasp gold? Can gold own gold ?
He doesn’t hate the coins nor does he run away from all the wealth around him. Why should he? Can gold run away from gold? Can gold hate gold?
He doesn’t get confused about all that is happening around him. Why should he? The knower and the known are the same.
The monk, realizing this, just sits and grins – at you and me! Why shouldn’t he?
In that moment of direct recognition, there is no grinning monk, no gold coin, no gold dust, no heaven, no treasure, no grasping
In that moment, the curtain opens. You see clearly.
Without any illusion of a problem to solve
without any illusion of desire to find the answer
Without any illusion of independent objects
without any illusion of past and future
without any illusion of right or wrong concepts
what remains is just perfect realization!
A direct experience of reality!
Aha!
But only for that moment!
For..the curtain draws itself quickly.
Inviting you to experience everything ‘normally’ again…
…as you, me, monks, gold coins, buildings, music, family, friends, oil spills, enemies, stocks, rivers, jobs, dollars, euros ….
…until the next Aha!
The monk waits for you – grinning!
The Urban Monk diaries 
Wow!! You are the best.. Just for a milli second!! Genius