I first read this Buddhist koan in Douglas Hofstadter’s book Gödel, Escher, Bach; I’ve altered it slightly for fun:

Shuzan’s Jazz Record

Shuzan played a jazz record and said: “If you call this jazz, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it jazz, you ignore the fact. Now what do you wish to call this?”

Mumon’s comment: If you call this jazz, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it jazz, you ignore the fact. It cannot be expressed with words and it cannot be expressed without words. Now say quickly what it is.

Listening to his jazz record,

He gave an order of life or death.

Positive and negative interwoven,

Even Buddhas and patriarchs cannot escape this attack.

It’s perception, logic, paradox, linearity, non-linearity, dualism, holism, language and life all interwoven; it makes my head spin!

My music is jazz and it isn’t jazz.

Jazz is dead and jazz is not dead.

Check out GEB; it’s well worth the read!

Related posts:

1. Priorities in Music Education – Classical, Jazz, Jazz Nerds and More (Part 1/2)
2. Positive Experiences and Jazz
3. Priorities in Music Education – Classical, Jazz, Jazz Nerds and More (Part 2/2)
4. Jazz Education, Jazz Unity
5. The Jazz Police