A monk asked Joshu, a Chinese Zen master: “Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?”
Joshu answered, “Mu!”
Years ago my teacher was telling us about Buddha-nature and I innocently asked [having two dogs] if dogs have Buddha-nature. He didn't answer, but subsequently on many occasions told me that I was too discursive.
1) I told my koan teacher that mu was stuck in my gut. He failed me, of course. I was adjusting to the fact that I'd fail each week I met with him and that would be fine. XLax didn't help either. Mu was stuck... like a hard rock.
2) By the next week I was imagining that I was in a mu-storm and it penetrated through me. I remember the song from the year we were married (1969), “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.” I was happy with mu flowing through me. And still I failed. There was still a dualism of me and mu.
The cool thing about koan study is that if someone told you the “answer” you'd still fail. Knowing about love or even the secret of a good relationship doesn't insure anything. Reading about going to Paris isn't the same as going to Paris. How does one have an experience of mu? Paris was easier.
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