Zhaozhou's No (GG1)(BS18)
KOAN:
Someone asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?”
Zhaozhou said, “No.”
—Gateless Gate, Case 1, & Book of Serenity, Case 18
13 No – The Zenosaurus Course In Koans
Zenosaurus Curriculum 13: The link between the koan and the transformation of your life is real, but since the process isn’t linear you might not notice it at first. The link might seem to be in a black box—invisible.
Your Life Is Right Here
John Tarrant talks about the great koan “NO,” and other koans that Hakuin and Hakuin’s friends have handed down to us. “They are a treasure for you, and they’ll keep you company. Don’t worry about how you’re doing it. It doesn’t actually matter how you’re doing it. It is doing you, and the koan world is doing you, and the light is doing you. It’s going to be okay, and the light will appear and dawn in your own heart.” Transcript of an excerpt from Fall Retreat 2018.
The Great Koan NO
PZI Zen Online Audio: Dharma talk on the great koan “NO” by David Parks Roshi, director of Blue Grass Zen in Lexington KY. As recorded April 2 2020.
The First Dog & NO
The great koan NO and dogs in our lives. ‘Reality’ is an edit of everything that is always really going on.
Yes, She Knew What She was Doing!
That dog knew what she was doing when she ‘dogged’. Zhaozhou also says ‘Yes’, a dog has Buddha nature. Becoming a dog who knew what she was doing is encouraging. Maybe something isn’t wrong with the dog you are right now.
The Dog Part of the Koan NO
The dog part of the koan emerges from the resounding NO as a companion for the inner life. Humans and dogs have been companions for eons and are clearly in the fossil record from ancient times. Through this long relationship down through time, dogs have learned to relate and map us and our inner lives. What is our relationship to the natural world? Dogs help us remember there is no separation, as does meditation practice.
Nobody Meets Buddha Nature
Hating the koan ‘NO’! And the nature of limiting stories. What is the color of ‘NO’? Red, like stop signs. Always other possibilities…
The Art & Craft of Koan Practice
Often we chase out and look for things, but when things come toward us – that’s enlightenment. In retreat, time expands and the universe appears. The art and craft of koan practice – freeing the heart and mind.
The Space Between Yes & No
Investigating the place of unaming where life comes forward to meet us. It’s a place of risk and desire, play, brightness.
Starter Kit for the Koan “No”
A monk once asked Master Joshu, “Has a dog the Buddha Nature or not?” Joshu said, “No!”
The Power of Koan Practice
Those who have used koans have described them as a poetic technology for bringing about awakening, a painful but effective gate into the consciousness of the Buddha, an easy method of integrating awakening into everyday life, the most frustrating thing they have ever done, an appalling waste of time, a tyranny perpetrated by Zen masters… Well, you get the idea — about koans, opinions differ. Article by John Tarrant published in Shambhala Sun magazine, May 1 2003.
Stories of NO
Rachel Boughton, Roshi offers a talk on what it’s like to live with the koan “Does a dog have Buddha nature? No.”