Higher logic

A student asked the Zen master: “Can you tell us what you mean by higher logic, which you talk about so often and which you say we have to understand if we want to move forward on the spiritual path?”

The master smiled. “Well, I will explain it with a concrete example: two men fall through a dirty chimney. One stays clean, the other is covered in soot.

Which of the two will go and wash himself?”

“The one covered in soot, of course,” replied the student.

“The opposite”, said the master, “The one who stayed clean will go and wash, as he sees that the other is dirty and he thinks he is too. But the one who is covered in soot thinks that he is clean, as he sees that the other is clean too. Well, they fall through the chimney a second time.

Who will go and wash now?”

“The clean one”, replied the student.

“The opposite”, said the master. “The one covered in soot will go and wash himself. As he has now understood why the clean one has washed himself; but when washing he saw that he was clean. Well, they fall through the chimney for a third time. Who will go and wash?”

“From now on, always the one covered in soot,” the student said proudly.

“The opposite”, said the master. “Have you ever heard of two people falling through the same dirty chimney and one gets dirty and the other doesn’t? Look, to see through this is higher logic”