Dizang's "Not Knowing"
Dizang asked Fayan, "
Where are you going?"
Fayan said,
"I am wandering on pilgrimage."
Dizang said,
"What is the purpose of pilgrimage?"
Fayan said,
"I don't know."
Dizang said,
"Not knowing is most intimate."
Reflection
Dizang's response to Fayan – 'Not knowing is most intimate' – presents sincere ignorance not as a lack but as the open and receptive state closest to true understanding. Fayan's honest admission that he does not know the purpose of pilgrimage is closer to Zen than any clever answer. The koan reminds us that genuine openness is itself the gateway to intimacy with reality.