05 Zen -Koans Flashcards
Transcending Duality - Every Day Is a Good Day
Unmon said: “I do not ask you about fifteen days ago. But what about fifteen days ago. But what about fifteen days hence? Come, say a word about this!” Since none of the monks answered, he answered for them: “Every day is a good day”
“Every day is a good day” is a simple statement, but very few know its real meaning.
The “good day” does not refer to a nice day as compared to a bad day. It means the absolute, not the relative, day. Today is the absolute day, the
only day in the eternity of time. Today is never repeated. Every day is fresh and new just as one’s life is new each day. Every day is a good day, but the good is not of one’s own making. It is good in the original, or absolute, sense—rain or shine, war or peace, sickness or health. The past is only reference; the future is only hope. Today is real.
Transcending Duality - No Cold and Heat
A monk asked Tozan, “How can we escape the cold and heat?” Tozan replied, “Why not go where there is no cold and heat?” “Is there such a place?” the monk asked. Tozan commented, “When cold be thoroughly cold; when hot, be hot through and through.”
Heat and cold cause discomfort; they represent troubles in life. When troubles arise, what should one do? If one can escape, fine. But many of life’s problems cannot be escaped. Where is the place of no trouble? Zen says: Become one with trouble. When the day is hot, don’t cry, “Oh, hot! Oh, hot! What shall I do?” Take the heat and be it instead of complaining about or trying to escape it. Whatever it is, if we become totally one with it, we become the master instead of the victim.
Transcending Duality - The Short Staff
Shuzan held out his short staff and said, “If you call this a short staff, you oppose its reality. If you do not call it a short staff, you ignore the fact. Now what do you wish to call this?”
If the student calls it a short staff, he attaches to its name; if he doesn’t call it a short staff, he ignores its reality. He can neither assert nor deny. Only when he falls to the very bottom of contradiction and utter confusion will he enlighten himself. “What is this?” Shuzan demands. Itjust is. Don’t talk about it; experience it.
Transcending Duality - Joshu’s Mu
Joshu was a famous Chinese Zen Master who lived in Joshu, the province from which he took his name. One day a troubled monk approached him intending to ask the Master for guidance. A dog walked by. The monk asked Joshu, “Has that dog a Buddha-nature or not?” The monk had barely completed his questions when Joshu shouted: “MU!”
Of all koans, Joshu’s Mu is the < mostfamous. It is extremely popular with Zen Masters, whofrequently assign it to novices. If the student tends properly to business, Mu comes to resemble a hot iron ball stuck in his throat—he can neither swallow it nor spit it out. The importance of Joshu s Mu is its succinct (one syllable) revelation of Buddhism. Mu is the negative symbol in Chinese meaning “not” or “no-thing.” Mu is also a basic concept in Oriental philosophy. There is a relative Mu and an Absolute Mu. The relative Mu, in
Chinese characters, is the opposite of U which means “is.” The Absolute Mu of Zen Buddhism transcends “is” and “is not.” In order to “understand” this koan, it is necessary to be aware of this distinction. When the monk asked Joshu, “Has that dog a Buddha-nature or not?” he was asking not only from the standpoint of his own troubled mind, butfrom the basic Buddhist teaching that “all beings have Buddhanature.” Joshu realized this. His “MU!” was a blow aimed at breaking, or untying, the monk’s attachment to that teaching. The essence of Buddha’s teaching is non-attachment. All human troubles and sufferings, without exception, are due to attachment. Even attachment to the idea of nonattachment is attachment! Joshu wanted the monk to transcend the relative world, transcend the teachings, transcend U and Mu, transcend Buddhism, and gain the free and independent world of enlightenment. Satori, or enlightenment, is this new dimension or perspective in life. Ordinary human life is always attached to the relative: the “is” and the “is not,” good and bad, right and wrong. But life itself is constantly changing; the condition of society changes; right and wrong changes; every situation is different according to time and place. Static concepts are not appropriate to life. Thus, Mu is crucial: it offers no surface upon which the intellect can fasten. The word Mu must be experienced as the world of”MU!”
Awareness
Unless we are aware, we do not fully live. We have ears,
but we do not hear; we have eyes, but we do not see. Oftentimes
we are merely existing. Awareness means awareness
of life. The Japanese haiku poem, an extremely short form
that has been used for over three hundred vears, grew out
of awareness. The haiku is a direct expression of life:
Maple leaves
Falling down-
Showing front.
Showing back.
—Rvokan
Awareness - The Gate of Paradise
Nobushige, a soldier, came to Hakuin, a famous Zen Master, and asked, “Is there really a paradise and a hell?” “Who are vou?” inquired Hakuin. “I am a samurai,” Nobushige replied. “You, a samurai!” exclaimed Hakuin. “What
kind of a lord would have vou as his guard? You look like a beggar!” Nobushige became so enraged that he began todraw his sword. Hakuin continued, “So you have a sword. It is probably too dull to even cut off my head.” Nobushige brandished his weapon. Hakuin remarked, “Here, open the gates of hell.” At these words the perceptive samurai sheathed his sword and bowed. “Here, open the gates of paradise,” said Hakuin.
Awareness - Tipping Over a Water Vase
Hyakujo wished to send a monk to open a new monastery. He told his pupils that whoever answered a question most ably would be appointed. Placing a water vase on the ground, he asked,
“Who can say what this is without calling its name?”
The chief monk said, “No one can call it a tree stump.” Isan, the cook monk, tipped over the vase with his foot and went out. Hyakujo smiled and said, “The chief monk loses.” And Isan became the master of the new monasterv.
The chief monk was still attached to the water vase and tried to say something
about it, whereas Isan transcended the problem, or question. To try to answer the question intellectually is a totally wrong approach. Life’s questions are answered by the totality ofa persons character, not by the extent of one’s learning.
