Teshin Sweger invites us to consider a koan that is not in any of the koan collections. He asks us to consider the koan of our aging. In practice he often hears the question, am I too old to sit and realize my true nature? As we are all aging, Teshin encourages us to hear the messengers of sickness, old age, and death. At what point will we stop having a need to shine and turn the light around to look within and see the beautiful patina that our experience has given us? And at what point, Teshin asks, might we consider another angle on the first question, “Who is aging?”
