Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 09:31:55 -0500
From: Unka Bart <mendicant-AT-buddhist.com>
Subject: Does a dog have Buddha-Nature?  Gesundheit!


> >Ali Kazmi wrote:
> >>
> >>     "you will eat meat because not eating meat is a deision and eating is
> an
> >> instict."
> >>         -Denis Leary
> >>
> >>     hmmmmm.. don't the Zen Koans belong on the Shamans List?
> >
> > ok, y got me, Ali.  what's a Zen Koan?
> >
>  example
>
> Sage "Buddha, what is the road to enligtenment?"
> Buddha "One head of lettuce, please"
>
> the good stuff cannot be explained in words, one has to discover it through
> experience and meditation. Zen Koans are supposed to remind you of that. And
> refocus you on the inner exploration rather then trying to borrow someone
> elses enlightenment.
>
> or maybe its just that Buddha had a mean sense of humor.
>
> I am sure Unka Bart can explain it better.

> Ali
>
> Sage " Buddha, how may one achieve nirvana?'
> Buddha "Which way to the proctology department?"

Pretty hard to top that last one, Ali.  But while you are very close in
your explanation (and your example is delightful), that's not technically
completely accurate.

A koan is a question without a rational answer.  It is a tool used by the
teacher to help the student to slip past the rational mind by paralyzing
it, by giving it an impossible task (to answer a question without an
answer).

Each day the student must focus his mind upon the question, to the
exclusion of everything else.  At the end of the day, the student goes to
the teacher and attempts to provide an answer, which is never acceptable to
the teacher.  At some point, the rational mind becomes exhausted and
surrenders.  At this point, a flash of Satori (insight, illumination,
realization)  occurs and the student is changed.  Moreover, any answer the
student gives at this point will demonstrate this change.

This change is what the teacher is looking for, it cannot be faked (OK, I'm
sure that it can be faked, so sue me...), and virtually any form of
response given by the student who has experienced this, when visiting the
teacher, will be *correct*.

There is a famous collection of Koans used by sages over the years, known
as "the gateless gate" (mumonkan), and students (those following the path
using Koans)  are traditionally given first the one known as Joshu's Dog
(does a dog have Buddha-nature?) and upon "solving" that one, given the
next and then the next, until either having gone through the entire list,
or having demonstrated complete mastery of the rational mind.

The ironic thing is that there are books that provide the "correct"
answers.  Talk about missing the point...

Now, aren't you glad you asked?

(No, that's not the correct answer.  Return to your meditation and try
again tomorrow...)

Yer Kindly Ol' Unka Bart