"In this simple anecdote you laughed; you laughed as if it is just a joke. It says everything that needs to be said, it contains the whole essence of Zen. But you laughed because you did not understand its implications. Sometimes one laughs because he does not understand; sometimes one laughs because he understands; sometimes one laughs just to hide the fact that he has not understood. You laughed because it looks like a joke – but it only looks like a joke. It is the whole philosophy of Zen. Now let me read it to you with its implications….

On one occasion, as Joshu was receiving new arrivals in his monastery, he asked one of them, 'Have you been here before?'

"Small things to be noted: one, the master himself is at the reception desk receiving new arrivals. Zen is an effort to look into your potentialities. Why waste time? – not even a few moments. So the master is receiving new arrivals at the gate of the monastery. In the first encounter with each new arrival it will be determined whether he is worthwhile to work upon, or just to let him have a cup of tea and move on.

"And the question that he asked does not mean what you think it means. 'Have you been here before?' He is not talking about the ordinary 'here'; he is talking about the ultimate 'here.' It is not concerned with the place, the monastery, or Joshu. It is concerned with a meditative state where time ceases and only now-ness remains; where space disappears and only here-ness is left behind.

"This now and here, these two words, contain the whole approach of Zen. If you can be now and here, nothing else has to be done. Every door of existential mystery will be opened unto you.

"So when a man like Joshu asks, 'Have you been here before?' don't misunderstand him. He is not talking about the place, he is talking about spacelessness, timelessness. 'Have you ever been in deep meditation?' That is what he is asking.

"'Yes,' the monk said.

'Help yourself to a cup of tea!'

"The monk has understood the meaning of 'here.' It is not that he has been here to this monastery before, it simply means he has known the taste of here-ness."