Original Teachings of Cha'an Buddhism

There is a story of an art lover from the Far East who went to a museum in New York to see Picasso's famous "Guernica" when that canvas was first acquired. This eager Easterner trudged through the entire museum, up and down stairs, through all the galleries, but could not find the picture he had come to see. Disappointed, he decided to leave, but on his way out, by the entrance where he had first come in, he finally discovered the painting he had been seeking. Then his disappointment gave way to astonishment. Could this huge, grotesque canvas truly be the masterpiece of a world renowned painter? No matter how long he stared, or how carefully he examined and considered it, he still found it difficult to understand why this work was so highly valued by recognized experts and men of taste in theWestern world. This earnest admirer of art from an alien culture truly wished to become initiated into the best in modern Western aesthetics, but his ignorance of its philosophy stood in his way. He had found the painting physically, yet it still eluded him because he could not appreciate it, sincerely though he wished to.