A TEDx talk about Zen koans, business paradoxes, and the questions that don't have answers. Sometimes the breakthrough comes not from solving the problem, but from accepting that it can't be solved.
I recently gave a TEDx talk at VIT Bhopal. The theme of the event was "Beyond the Origin," and I talked about something I've been thinking about for years now... the idea that not every problem needs a solution.
Here's the core of it.
A thousand years ago, somewhere in the mountains of Japan, a Zen master gave his student a puzzle: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
The student came back with answers. Again and again. For weeks. Months. Some monks sat with a single puzzle like this for years.
These puzzles are called koans. And they were never meant to be solved. There is no answer to "what is the sound of one hand clapping." That's the whole point. A koan isn't a test of intelligence. It's a test of something much harder... your ability to sit with a question without demanding it give you an answer.
We live in the most answer-obsessed era in human history. Google gives you 4 billion results in 0.3 seconds. ChatGPT writes you an essay in 10. We have a framework for everything. A 5-step plan for everything.
But what if some questions don't have answers?
"Should I follow my passion or get a stable job?" Koan.
"Should I do what I want or what my parents expect?" Koan.
"When will I know I'm ready?" Koan.
These are not decisions with a right answer. They are paradoxes where both sides are true at the same time. Your parents are right AND your dreams are valid. Stability matters AND so does risk. You're not ready AND you never will be.
Every career counsellor, every motivational speaker, every LinkedIn post that says "just follow your heart"... is giving you a neat answer to something that was never a neat question. They're trying to solve a koan. And koans don't work that way.
In Hindi we say... "जो होना है, वो होके रहेगा" (What is meant to happen, will happen). Most people think it means sit back and wait. I think it means something else. Stop strangling the future with your need for certainty. Do the work. Walk the path. But stop demanding that the path tell you where it ends before you've taken the first step.
Not every problem needs a solution. Some just need you to be brave enough to sit with them.
And sometimes... when you finally stop forcing the answer... the answer finds you.
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Based on my TEDx talk at TEDxVITBhopal (2026). More at mrvijay.com/talks.
Vijay Sharma
HealthTech Entrepreneur and reluctant philosopher. Built India's largest digital mental health platform. Angel investor. Writing about startups, technology, and building businesses.
