Koans are like Mystic Kabir’s ulatnansiyan उलटबासियाँ. Meditating on them a seeker gets satori, ie a particular answer from beyond, and then they start happening on its own.
Here it’s meaning is that Buddhahood is human being’s nature by default (it is against your sketch)and you cannot help him to attain it, he has just forgotten it.
Even a normal person will try to help him out, an enlightened one or monk just needs to give him his company ie सत्संग , and rest will be done on its own even he cannot help anyone to attain it. Everyone is like a coil with magnetic substance inside it. An enlightened one is like a coil with a magnetic substance within and electric current is flowing through it. So this current produces magnetic field and when another person (coil with magnetic material within) is brought near to it then due to induction electric current starts flowing through that coil too, till he/she will remain near to his enlightened master. Still it starts something that will help him get enlightened too.
So if anyone wish to help people out, be an enlightened one and seekers will come to him seeking his company and rest will be taken care of.
Kabir said ‘तृषावंत तो आवेगा’, तू क्यों फिरे गाँव गाँव’
