Originally Posted by
Jundo
Hi Adrian,
Here is a famous Koan. To see a bit of what's up, please understand that the standard Buddhist answer of the time would have been that, yes, a dog does have Buddha Nature (the ultimate nature of being Buddha, or perhaps, the potential to become a Buddha).
A monk asked Joshu, a Chinese Zen master: `Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?'
Joshu answered: `Mu.' (No, or "does not)
In another version of the Koan I like, Joshu one time tells one monk "yes", but then one time "mu" ... to the very same question.
Now, this can be taken in a number of ways. One is "Hey, fella, don't get caught up in philosophical non-questions like that, like 'how many angels fit on the head of a pin' The other (which really is not all so different) is the "MU" represents "Emptiness" ... and in the beautiful dance of Emptiness, such questions become non-issues. Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not? JUST DANCE!
Now, Aitken Roshi was a Koan-Zazen teacher. In that style, this "Joshu's Dog" Koan is one of the first Koan's assigned. Traditionally, folks will sit Zazen and focus intently on the phrase "MU" ... until they become MU! Sometimes at Sesshin where folks are working on MU, they will wrap themselves into MU, lose their self in MU, from morning until night ... maybe even in their dreams. MU MU MU!
We just sit Shikantaza ... which is MU realized too, the Dance of Mu!
There is a new book on the MU Koan, I have not read it. It is probably from a more Koan Zazen perspective. I will find the link. Gassho, Jundo