something worthless; something impure; dried shit stick
A derogatory Zen Buddhist term for something utterly worthless or impure, originally a literal 'dried shit stick' used as a koan reference to the Buddha. The traditional English translation 'dried shit stick' is now considered a mistranslation of the original Chinese. Used in highly specialized Buddhist discourse.
In Zen koans, 'kanshiketsu' is used as a symbol to question the essence of Buddha.
The word 'kanshiketsu' originally referred to a stick-shaped piece of dried excrement, but came to be a metaphor for something worthless.