CHAPTER IX
Murnon and G6dei
What Is Zen?
I'M NOT SURE I know what Zen is. In a way, I think I understand it very
well; but in a way, I also think I can never understand it at all. Ever since my
freshman English teacher in college read J6shu's MU out loud to our class,
I have struggled with Zen aspects of life, and probably I will never cease
doing so. To me, Zen is intellectual quicksand-anarchy, darkness,
meaninglessness, chaos. It is tantalizing and infuriating. And yet it is
humorous, refreshing, enticing. Zen has its own special kind of meaning,
brightness, and clarity. I hope that in this Chapter, I can get some of this
cluster of reactions across to you. And then, strange though it may seem,
that will lead us directly to Godelian matters.
One of the basic tenets of Zen Buddhism is that there is no way to
characterize what Zen is. No matter what verbal space you try to enclose
Zen in, it resists, and spills over. It might seem, then, that all efforts to
explain Zen are complete wastes of time. But that is not the attitude of Zen
masters and students. For instance, Zen k6ans are a central part of Zen
study, verbal though they are. K6ans are supposed to be "triggers" which,
though they do not contain enough information in themselves to impart
enlightenment, may possibly be sufficient to unlock the mechanisms inside
one's mind that lead to enlightenment. But in general, the Zen attitude is
that words and truth are incompatible, or at least that no words can capture
truth.
Zen Master Murnon
Possibly in order to point this out in an extreme way, the monk Mumon
("No-gate"), in the thirteenth century, compiled forty-eight k6ans, follow-
ing each with a commentary and a small "poem". This work is called "The
Gateless Gate" or the M umonkan ("1'\ o-gate barrier"). I t is interesting to note
that the lives of Mumon and Fibonacci coincided almost exactly: Mumon
living from 1183 to 1260 in China, Fibonacci from 1180 to 1250 in Italy. To
those who would look to the Mumonkan in hopes of making sense of, or
"understanding", the k6ans, the Mumonkan may come as a rude shock, for
the comments and poems are entirely as opaque as the k6ans which they
are supposed to clarify. Take this, for example:'(^246) Murnon and Godel