Short story: Zen koan. What is the sound of a snail crawling across sand, to itself?
@innertalks (21631)
Australia
July 4, 2023 11:50pm CST
The Zen master, Artrop Koslongski, was newly appointed in his role, and he wanted to make an immediate first impression on his students, and so he gave them a new koan to solve, and the one who solved it best, would be given a copy of the writings, in book form, of his predecessor, who had died, only a few short weeks ago.
The koan was this one:
What is the sound of a snail crawling across sand, to itself?
None of his students knew that snails do not hear, as they only have the other four senses, sight, smell, touch, and taste.
And yet, one student said that through the rasping feeling of the sand on their bellies, they would know that they were sliding on sand.
The new Zen master told him this in reply:
Generally, snails do not like to crawl on dry, scratchy surfaces, and yet from time to time, they will consume some sand, or soil, when they need extra calcium to thicken their shell.
Then, he told them, that in life, we can never properly solve a problem, without our gaining the full facts, and knowledge, about the problem first.
We need to know that a snail does not hear to even just begin to think properly about that question.
The answer then is the same as the sound of one hand clapping. It is no sound to the snail.
The sound of no sound is no sound. But the sound of unheard sound is still a sound.
The sound of a tree falling in a forest exists, whether it is heard, or not, but not to a snail, who never hears anything.
Can we hear an inner sound without hearing an outer sound, though?
Inner spiritual sounds are always playing to you, from your soul, connecting to God.
Love, loving, often produces a sound like that of a flute, fluting.
These inner sounds are divine sounds, that are coming from within, from the Heavenly planes of existence.
Some religions call this sound the audible life sound, or sound current, which is similar to the sound you hear around an electricity tower, on a high-humidity day.
It is the background noise to the Universe.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
The picture is of one snail getting a ride on another snail.
We all need help from others, at times, like that, but if you find yourself going at a snail's pace, do not blame the snail.
6 people like this
6 responses
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
5 Jul 23
I usually hear more of a high-pitched buzz, but I have heard it reported that some people do hear sounds like that coming from a flute.
2 people like this
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
7 Jul 23
@thebos I do now, but years ago, l was involved in group meditation, and chanting.
I also tried group led, guided visualisations too.
2 people like this
@thebos (5964)
• Kisumu, Kenya
7 Jul 23
@innertalks let me ask, do you meditate alone??
2 people like this
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
5 Jul 23
Yes, it is better to gather all of the facts together first, than to make a premature decision on a problem, and only obtain a half-baked solution, which does not really solve completely the problem.
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
5 Jul 23
Thanks. I didn't know that either, but I found it out when I was reading about snails for this story.
@Shiva49 (26470)
• Singapore
5 Jul 23
When someone is deaf, his other senses rise to the occasion to balance life.
I think each item of creation has a connection to the creator who knows how to compensate for any drawbacks in them. The absence of hearing sense would be compensated by others so that the snail is not disadvantaged.
The inner sound or prompt is ready on tap but then we need to switch to the right wavelength.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
5 Jul 23
Yes, when one sense is missing, or not up to par, the other senses do come to the fore.
Some creatures have senses like sonar, which we do not have, and so in a sense, there are more than five senses, if we count all of these other senses too.
Yes, we need to tune our hearts to hear the inner prompting of our soul, or the guidance of God, in our lives. Our conscience, intuition or gut feeling are areas where we hear with our inner ears.
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
9 Jul 23
@Shiva49 Everything can serve us in its way, though, and so if there is any truth in the existence of these gifts, they should be used for good too.
Yes, the right approach is needed in every aspect of the living of our lives.
@Shiva49 (26470)
• Singapore
8 Jul 23
@innertalks A few have (or claim to have) clairvoyance faculty too of perceiving things or events in the future or beyond normal sensory contact.
However, I feel they are more off-target than getting their perception right. The doomsday scenarios persist to give grist for the mill for the charlatan to make hay while the sun shines!
At the end of the day, it boils down to having the right approach to life.
1 person likes this
@misunderstood_zombie (8142)
• United States
5 Jul 23
This reminds me of the book called The Sound of a Thousand Snails Eating. I haven't read it but I've heard it's a good book. Have you read it?
2 people like this
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
5 Jul 23
No, l have not heard of that book. Maybe, they make a lot of noise, when eating.
@laser_vision (56)
• United States
5 Jul 23
We have plenty of snails around here. They come out after a rain and one would be best to avoid stepping on them. Sometimes when the water recedes, they can get stuck on concrete surfaces or on the side of the house, retreating into their shells until they can move again.
Research is indeed like that. It moves slowly and sometimes gets stuck, retreating into its shell until another breakthrough causes it to move again.
@innertalks (21631)
• Australia
5 Jul 23
Yes, snails seem to exist in most places in the world, and we have plenty here in Australia too.
Even with our own growth, and spiritual understanding, we can become stuck up on a high ledge, and might need to come down again, to try to climb a different mountain.
