Tortoise: Hmm ... Now THERE'S something I could like about Zen.
Achilles: I had a hunch you'd get attached to it.
Tortoise: But tell me: if Zen rejects intellectual activity, does it make sense
to intellectualize about Zen, to study it rigorously?
Achilles: That matter has troubled me quite a bit. But I think I have finally
worked out an answer. It seems to me that you may begin approaching
Zen through any path you know-even if it is completely antithetical to
Zen. As you approach it, you gradually learn to stray from that path.
The more you stray from the path, the closer you get to Zen.
Tortoise: Oh, it all begins to sound so clear now.
Achilles: My favorite path to Zen is through the short, fascinating, and
weird Zen parables called "koans".
Tortoise: What is a koan?
Achilles: A koan is a story about Zen masters and their students. Some-
times it is like a riddle; other times like a fable; and other times like
nothing you've ever heard before.
Tortoise: Sounds rather intriguing. Would you say that to read and enjoy
koans is to practice Zen?
Achilles: I doubt it. However, in my opinion, a delight in koans comes a
million times closer to real Zen than reading volume after volume
about Zen, written in heavy philosophical jargon.
Tortoise: I would like to hear a koan or two.
Achilles: And I would like to tell you one-or a few. Perhaps I should
begin with the most famous one of all. Many centuries ago, there was a
Zen master named Joshii, who lived to be 119 years old.
Tortoise: A mere youngster!
Achilles: By your standards, yes. Now one day while Joshii and another
monk were standing together in the monastery, a dog wandered by.
The monk asked Joshii, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature, or not?"
Tortoise: Whatever that is. So tell me-what did Joshii reply?
Achilles: 'MU'.
Tortoise: 'MU'? What is this 'MU'? What about the dog? What about
Buddha-nature? What's the answer?
Achilles: Oh, but 'MU' is Joshii's answer. By saying 'MU', Joshii let the
other monk know that only by not asking such questions can one know
the answer to them.
Tortoise: Joshii "unasked" the question.
Achilles: Exactly!
Tortoise: 'MU' sounds like a handy thing to have around. I'd like to unask
a question or two, sometimes. I guess I'm beginning to get the hang of
Zen. Do you know any other koans, Achilles? I would like to hear some
more.
Achilles: My pleasure. I can tell you a pair of koans which go together.
Only ...Tortoise: What's the matter?
A Mu Offering 233