Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism

Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism

Heine, Steven

Paperback

Buddhism

ISBN10: 0199837309
ISBN13: 9780199837304
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Nov 26 2013
Pages: 288
Weight: 0.85
Height: 0.90 Width: 6.10 Depth: 9.10
Language: English
Koans are dialogues that stand at the center of Zen Buddhist literature and are often used to provoke the great doubt in testing a trainee's progress. The Mu Koan consists of a brief conversation in which a monk asks Master Zhaozhou whether or not a dog has Buddha-nature. According to the main version, the reply is Mu literally, No, but implying the philosophical notion of nothingness. This case is widely considered to be the single best- known and most widely circulated koan record of the Zen school that offers existential release from anxiety to attain spiritual illumination.

In a careful analysis of the historical and rhetorical basis of the literature, Steven Heine demonstrates that the Mu version of the case, preferred by advocates of the key-phrase approach, does not by any means constitute the final word concerning the meaning and significance of the Mu Koan. He shows that another canonical version, which gives both Yes and No responses, must be taken into account. Like Cats and Dogs offers critical insight and a new theoretical perspective on the koan of koans.

Also in

Buddhism

View All