Koan practice
You can't really talk about Japanese Zen without mentioning koans. A koan is a short story or dialogue from Zen lore that is used as a focus for zazen, with each koan highlighting some form of problem. Originally, 'koan' meant a public case which established a legal precedent. In Zen, it is an apparently paradoxical story assigned to a student to solve, in order to help their awakening or to test the deepness of their realisation. There are about 1,700 recorded koans (pronounced in Japanese ko-an). Notable collections may be found in the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) and the Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record). Koans are usually considered a hallmark of the Rinzai sect of Zen, but are also used in Soto Zen - indeed, Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen, himself collated one important collection of koans.
The character "Mu"
Koan study is a form of practice that requires the supervision of a recognised teacher who has himself or herself gone through this rigorous training. Within the White Plum Sangha are a number of teachers who have the authority to lead koan study, some of whom visit the UK regularly.
Joshu's "Mu"
An example of a koan is this one - perhaps the most famous koan of all. It comes from the Mumonkan, or Gateless Barrier, one of the classic collections of Zen koans from the Chinese era. It is a classic in both its form - the Case, the Commentary and a Capping Verse - and content. Mu provides us with a nonsense, for it is basic Buddhist doctrine that all beings have Buddha-nature. So why does Joshu deny this? What is his denial, what is "mu"?
In many lineages of Zen, this is the first koan that a students must pass in order to begin his formal koan practice. Here is a translation this most famous koan:
Case One: Joshu's Dog
A monk asked Joshu, a Chinese Zen master, "Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?"
Joshu answered: "Mu." [Mu is the negative symbol in Chinese, meaning "No-thing" or "Nay".]
Mumon's comment: To realize Zen one has to pass through the barrier of the patriachs. Enlightenment always comes after the road of thinking is blocked. If you do not pass the barrier of the patriachs or if your thinking road is not blocked, whatever you think, whatever you do, is like a tangling ghost. You may ask: What is a barrier of a patriach? This one word, Mu, is it.
This is the barrier of Zen. If you pass through it you will see Joshu face to face. Then you can work hand in hand with the whole line of patriachs. Is this not a pleasant thing to do?
If you want to pass this barrier, you must work through every bone in your body, through ever pore in your skin, filled with this question: What is Mu? and carry it day and night. Do not believe it is the common negative symbol meaning nothing. It is not nothingness, the opposite of existence. If you really want to pass this barrier, you should feel like drinking a hot iron ball that you can neither swallor nor spit out.
Then your previous lesser knowledge disappears. As a fruit ripening in season, your subjectivity and objectivity naturally become one. It is like a dumb man who has had a dream. He knows about it but cannot tell it.
When he enters this condition his ego-shell is crushed and he can shake the heaven and move the earth. He is like a great warrior with a sharp sword. If a Buddha stands in his way, he will cut him down; if a patriach offers him any obstacle, he will kill him; and he will be free in this way of birth and death. He can enter any world as if it were his own playground. I will tell you how to do this with this koan:
Just concentrate your whole energy into this Mu, and do not allow any discontinuation. When you enter this Mu and there is no discontinuation, your attainment will be as a candle burning and illuminating the whole universe.
Has a dog Buddha-nature?
This is the most serious question of all.
If you say yes or no,
You lose your own Buddha-nature.
From www.ibiblio.org/zen/gateless-gate/1.html.
