On Killing the Buddha, If you meet him on the road

There is a popular koan ( Japanese Zen funda for statements used to provoke "great doubt" and test student's progress in Zen.) which states " If you meet Buddha on the road, Kill Him" like much of Zen teachings which are based on circumspect and lot of contemplation. This one makes valid point as the basis of Buddha of not to believe just because it is written in scriptures, someone said it but because you experienced it. To turn to Buddha into a religious fetish is to miss the essence of what he taught.

I was drawn into a conversation of this when my work colleague was of the opinion that Buddhism and Buddha is a major world religion and how Buddha's path needs to be followed for finding the valuable work life balance which of late seems to be so missing in our lives. Which led me to inquire into Buddha and his philosophy. As he himself stated to his disciples on his deathbed to be their own lamp when asked on any specific path to follow for Nirvana attainment (Aapo Deepo Bhava) I propose we take this statement by Zen master and as students of Buddha and Buddhism kill both.

Well I am sure that you have not taken the literal meaning of the sentence, The road, the killing, the Buddha are symbolic. As per Vedantic belief there are three ways through which enlightenment/ realization can be attained viz Karma (Through Work), Jnana ( Through Knowledge) and Bhakti (Through devotion).Buddhism which derives its philosophical content from Hinduism has the road symbolized as seeker on any of these paths to enlightenment tu put it straightforward "Your life is your road."

But how do you meet the Buddha on this “road?” Imagine meeting some symbolic Buddha. Would he be a great teacher that you might actually meet and follow in the real world? Could that Buddha be you yourself, having reached Enlightenment? Or maybe you have some idealized image of perfection that equates to your concept of the Buddha or Enlightenment.

Whatever your conception is of the Buddha, it’s WRONG! Now kill that image and keep practicing. This all has to do with the idea that reality is an impermanent illusion. If you believe that you have a correct image of what it means to be Enlightened, then you need to throw out (kill) that image and keep meditating.

Most people have heard the first chapter of the Tao, “The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao.” (So if you think you see the real Tao, kill it and move on).