Achilles: No, any old order will do.
Tortoise: Of course, then I would get a different string, and consequently
a different koan. Now would I have to perform the same NUMBER of
steps as you did?
Achilles: By no means. Any number of steps is fine.
Tortoise: Well, then there are an infinite number of strings with Buddha-
nature-and consequently an infinite number of genuine koans! How
do you know there is any string which CAN'T be made by your Rules?
Achilles: Oh, yes-back to things which lack Buddha-nature. It just so
happens that once you know how to make strings WITH Buddha-
nature, you can also make strings WITHOUT Buddha-nature. That is
something which my master drilled into me right at the beginning.
Tortoise: Wonderful! How does it work?
Achilles: Easy. Here, for example-I'll make a string which lacks
Buddha-nature ...
(He picks up the string out of which the preceding Man was "pulled", and
ties a little teeny knot at one end of it, pulling it tight with his thumb and
forefinger.)
This is it-no Buddha-nature here.
Tortoise: Very illuminating. All it takes is adding a knot? How do you
know that the new string lacks Buddha-nature?
Achilles: Because of this fundamental property of Buddha-nature: when
two well-formed strings are identical but for a knot at one end, then
only ONE of them can have Buddha-nature. It's a rule of thumb which
my master taught me.
Tortoise: I'm just wondering about something. Are there some strings with
Buddha-nature which you CAN'T reach by following the Rules of Zen
Strings, no matter in what order?
Achilles: I hate to admit it, but I am a little confused on this point myself.
At first my master gave the strongest impression that Buddha-nature
in a string was DEFINED by starting in one of the five legal starting
positions, and then developing the string according to the allowed
Rules. But then later, he said something about somebody-or-other's
"Theorem". I never got it straight. Maybe I even misheard what he
said. But whatever he said, it put some doubt in my mind as to whether
this method hits ALL strings with Buddha-nature. To the best of my
knowledge, at least, it does. But Buddha-nature is a pretty elusive
thing, you know.
Tortoise: I gathered as much, from Joshu's 'MU'. I wonder ...
Achilles: What is it?
Tortoise: I was just wondering about those two koans-I mean the koan
and its un-koan-the ones which say "This mind is Buddha" and "This
mind is not Buddha"-what do they look like, when turned into strings
via the Geometric Code?
Achilles: I'd be glad to show you.
A Mu Offering 241