People may be less familiar with the back the background, the Wydo that exists behind the the koan, what is this or what? I'll read a little bit here from a little article that appeared in tricycle in 2008 by Martine Batchelor, and she gives some very helpful points on working with this koan, which is very commonly taken up in Korea by Zen students as the first of their first con So what is this derives from an encounter between the Sixth Patriarch or ancestor? Why nung estates a 638 to 713? Common Era and a young monk why rang? Who became one of his foremost disciples and his full name is non UAE, who Iran, non Gaco in shape Japanese, and six ancestors, no and Japanese. So here's the here's the case that the mando slides behind the question, what is this? Why run into the room and bowed to way nung? Why Nana said where do you come from? Very common opening move on behalf of our Master is where were you coming from? spiritually? Where are you coming from? I came from Mountain song replied, why Iran? What is this? And how did it get here demanded why none? What is this? And how did it get here? Why Ron could not answer and remain speechless. He practiced for many years until he understood elsewhere. It says that he he sat with us for eight years. And you can imagine not just doing an occasional machine but intensive monastic practice for eight years. He went to see why nung to tell him about his breakthrough. Why nung asked, What is this? Why Ron replied, to say it as a thing misses the mark. But still it can be cultivated. So this is the con. And the question that comes out of what what is this is the central point, the huatou. Word is pretty much the same, I think brands the Asian in both Korean and Chinese. She says a little more, which I think is very helpful guidance for people working on what is this? The practice is very simple. Whether you are walking, standing, sitting or lying down, you ask repeatedly, what is this? What is this? You have to be careful not to slip into intellectual inquiry. For you are not looking for an intellectual answer. You are turning the light of inquiry back onto yourself. And your whole experience in this moment. That's very key point. Say it again, you are turning the light of inquiry back onto yourself and your whole experience in this moment. And doing this as continuously as you can. What is this thought? Well, you're not asking what is this thought sound sensation or external object? If you need to put it in a meaningful context, you are asking, what is it that is hearing feeling? Thinking? You're not asking what is the taste of the tea or the tea itself? You are asking what is it the taste the tea? What is it even before you taste the tea? And it made it be a real revelation to us working on this, just to realize perhaps for the first time that everything we do everything we experience has a mental component. We are never ever experiencing the world separate from our own right how could we the mind is the experiencer.