What Came First: the Chicken or the Egg?

This question has been asked for centuries, and in that time some decent philosophical and logical answers have emerged:

…It’s like a circle; it has no beginning and no end, it’s infinite…

…Two birds who weren’t fully chickens created the first egg that became a chicken…

…We can never know the truth; even the best evidence is incomplete…

Clearly, logic and deep thought were engaged to arrive at the answers above. However, it was the ego’s need to be right that came up with those answers. That’s fine when you’re in a logical debate, but if you’re on a mission to Awaken, those answers won’t do.

Questions aren’t always meant to be answered logically, or even at all. They’re often designed to inspire contemplation, much like a Zen koan. Worthy contemplation requires standing inside of the question and looking out at your world through the lens of the question itself.

When you climb inside the egg and experience life as the egg, what do you see?

Inside the question is where you’ll find clarity; not because there’s an answer, but because standing inside of the question is the only perspective that allows you to see the question through a clear lens. When you see the question clearly, without filtering it through your beliefs, the question disappears. And that’s the whole point.

So back to the hypothetical chicken and egg. The answer is simple: the chicken IS the egg.

The chicken is the egg in the same way the hills are the valley and the leaves are the tree. I’d even say the sun is the tree, too.

The question of “what came first” isn’t a legitimate question. It’s an expression of a misunderstanding that has arisen from language and the way we describe our surroundings. The question exists due to an error in human perception, expressed through language that has become a filter for how we (incorrectly) see the world.

Get inside the egg and look. Get inside the chicken and see for yourself.

Sit with any question long enough for it to disappear, and all other questions about life and your world will disappear, too.