That What We Could Be Separated From Is Not the Way

In Case 18 of The Gateless Gate, a collection of koans, a monk asks Tozan, "What is Buddha?"  Case 19 of The Gateless Gate starts with Zen Master Joshu earnestly asking Zen Master Nansen, "What is the Way?"  

These are hard questions.  These are the most difficult questions a man can ask.  These questions are the equivalent of What is God?  What is Life?  What is Truth?  What is the Universe?  What is Existence? What is it that is Thus?

When I consider the Universe from a rationalistic, scientific point of view and try to imagine the Big Bang or what things were like milliseconds before the bang, the thing that amazes me the most is that there is Existence at all.  Why is there something instead of nothing?  It seems more likely that there shouldn't be this expanding mass in the limitless expanse of infinity than that there is.  And why is this something the way that it is and not some other way?

Theists consider these questions the doubts and concerns of the non-believer, but putting a god into the equation doesn't change the question as all.  Why is there a god instead of no god? And why was that god created the way that he was, and not some other way?  Same thing.

Buddhist teachings say that all things are Buddha, so the question "What is Buddha?" is really asking what is all of existence.  In Buddhist terms, earnestly asking what is the Way is asking what is dharma, and since dharma can be interpreted as that which is real, it's sort of another way of asking the same question.

Tozan answered the monk by holding up the three pounds of sesame seed (flax in some translations) he was weighing out at the time in preparation of the monastery's meal, as if to say Buddha, and by extension all of those other big things mentioned above, is the activity of this very moment, right here, right now.  Nansen answered Joshu saying ordinary mind is the Way, our very selves at this very moment, right here, right now. 

Same questions, same answers.