Crazy Has Places To Hide In....

Sacred texts and teachings include parables and questions that tease at the mind.

Koans in Zen Buddhism are stories and riddles that "demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning to provoke enlightenment."

Here's one:

1.   A Cup of Tea Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

I discovered an American koan this morning, set to music, and I think it may carry seeds of true enlightenment.  It starts like this: "I had to be crazy to love you...."

Delivered in the voice of the late- and always living in my car, Leonard Cohen, it's pure gold:

Sometimes I'd head for the highway
I'm old and the mirrors don't lie
But crazy has places to hide in
That are deeper than any goodbye.