ZTV - mu

Probably the most famous koan amongst Zen enthusiasts is the notorious mu. Here it is:

            A monk asked the Zen master Joshu, "Has a dog Buddha-nature

            or not?"  Joshu answered “mu”.

Anyone who has delved but little into Zen literature cannot imagine the amount of writing this has produced as well as countless personal records of Zen acolytes, describing their early studies with a roshi containing some passage like, “I was given mu and spent two years on it.”

What’s going on? There are two important issues here. First, what does mu actually mean in this context? Generally, mu means no, not, without, nothing, or nonexistence. 

                                              
 Second, according to traditional Buddhist doctrine, a dog, like all sentient beings, indeed has Buddha-nature.

So, if  the mu in the passage above means no, it is counter to established doctrine. On the other hand, if it is to be understood along the lines of  nothing or nonexistence, what does that mean? One commentator suggests that Joshu’s answer is basically,"Your question cannot be answered because it depends on incorrect assumptions". 

Koans, as Zen adepts know, do not actually have meanings – do not have answers or solutions, as it were. Rather they are devices to force the mind out of the normal processes of thought, out of the patterns and constraints of discursive reasoning until, in a moment of enlightenment, the seeker sees the true nature of Mind.

I, however, being the unenlightened simpleton that I am, always think of that other famous anecdote of Zen literature.

               A famous samurai asked Master Hakuin:  'What  happens  to  the

            enlightened man at death? What happens to the unenlightened man?'

           The master replied: 'Why ask me?'  'Because you are a Zen master!'

           'Yes,' said Hakuin, 'but not a dead one!'

Therefore, guided by Master Hakuin, I offer this alternative answer for Joshu.

           A monk asked the Zen master Joshu, "Has a dog Buddha-nature

             or not?"  Joshu answered “How should I know?  I am not a dog.”

notes

    Joshu is the Japanese name for the Chinese Zen master Zhaozhou, 778 – 897, a major figure in the history of Zen.

                                                        From Oxford University Press                                      

    

    About his first experience of (partial) enlightenment, he wrote the following memorable passage:

          "Suddenly I was ruined. Whatever I was before, is all
            ruined. I was not that. I had cultivated a personality, a
            mind, a heart  –  nothing of that was me. The satori
            left me suddenly ruined and homeless. . .”

    He lived a long life and is said to have achieved full enlightenment at the age of 80.

   

    The best-known anecdote about him, after mu, is this one:

A monk asked Zhaozhou to teach him.

Zhaozhou asked, "Have you eaten your meal?"

The monk replied, "Yes, I have."

“Then go wash your bowl", said Zhaozhou.

At that moment, the monk was enlightened.

 

    A thousand years later, the Japanese Hakuin Ekaku, 1686 – 1768, was responsible for the revival and reinvigoration of the Rinzai sect of Zen. In addition to being a Zen master, in his later years he became well-known for his painting and calligraphy.

                                                          Two Blind Men Crossing a Log Bridge - Hakuin

                                                                  Calligraphy - Hakuin

 

    Hakuin placed great emphasis on koans in his instruction. The single most famous koan, even in the world beyond Zen, is attributed to him:

          “Two hands clap and make a sound. What is the sound of one hand?” 

   

    The exchange quoted above, (‘Yes, but not a dead one!' ), is widely attributed to Hakuin, although the attribution is disputed by some scholars:

   

    Finally, I must include this charming story:

               A beautiful girl in the village was pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious and embarrassed girl finally pointed to Hakuin, the Zen master whom everyone previously revered for living such a pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter's accusation, he simply replied "Is that so?"

               When the child was born, the parents brought it to Hakuin, who now was viewed as a pariah by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child since it was his responsibility. "Is that so?" Hakuin said calmly as he accepted the child.

               For many months he took very good care of the child, until the daughter could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. "Is that so?" Hakuin said as he handed them the child.

  

Keep Groups Out of the Bedroom

This happened when I was a mathematician in a former life.

‘I want to turn the mattress,’ my wife said after dinner.

‘Okay.’

‘Furthermore, I want the head and foot swapped, the left and right sides swapped, and the top and bottom swapped.’

‘Okay. Let me finish my drink.’

She came back in the middle of Wild Girls on tv and said, ‘Have you finished your drink?’

‘Yes. Look at this.’ I handed her a piece of paper on which I had scribbled

                            

  

 ‘What is this?’

‘This tells you that you cannot do what you said.’

‘My ass,’ she said, ‘it doesn’t tell me anything.’

‘Au contraire, ma chère.  Take this paper and go study the mattress. The letter x denotes the act of flipping the mattress head-to-foot, y the flipping of it side-to-side, and z rotating it in a horizontal plane one hundred and eighty degrees. In this multiplication table, for example, xy means first doing y and then doing x, or, which turns out to be the same, doing x and then y. The table says, for example, that doing x and then y (or y and then x) leaves the mattress in the same state - relative to head/foot, left/right sides, and top/bottom - as just doing z.

‘Furthermore, doing x twice, or y, or z, leaves the mattress in the original state. The capital eye stands for identity, that is, no resulting change.’

‘Are you drunk?’

‘Pas du tout, mon petit chou. Go. Study.’

She stomped out.

Returning a while later, she asked, ‘Okay, so how does this - thing - prove I can’t do what I said?’

‘Consider. Clearly x leaves the left side on the left and the right side on the right, right? And y leaves the head at the head and the foot at the foot? And z leaves the top on top and the bottom on bottom?’

Nodding, nodding, nodding.

‘So that’s it. It’s obvious from the multiplication table, which can easily be verified mentally, that x, y, and z are all there is. It’s a closed system, and what you want ain’t there.’

‘Actually,’ I rattled on, ‘this is a tiny example of what we mathematicians call a group. The fact that the order of doing x and then y, or y and then x, produces the same result says this is a commutative group.  It’s actually a subgroup of a larger non-commutative group called the . . .’

‘Stop!’ she cried. ‘Keep your groups out of our bedroom.’ Pouring herself a drink she added, ‘And here’s one damn thing your little group doesn’t tell you: I want a new mattress.’

APOD's Terrestrial Images

Do you know APOD? 

Well, you should. It’s an example of the breathtaking benefits of the Internet, a labor of love that has been running for many years and continues to give us incredible views of our universe. Every day, every day, “. . . a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.”  Many of the images are from the Hubble Telescope but many others are from observatories and individuals around the world.

Personally, the pictures that strike me most deeply and cause me to catch my breath are those on a cosmological scale – galaxies, galaxy clusters, superclusters, pillars of star creation, etc. But APOD is replete with images that include the earth or near-earth. These are also extremely affecting in a different way. 

For you who have never visited this wonderful site, go now, go see, go marvel. Go to                 

                                                  http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/  

In the meantime, here are a few images selected almost at random from the many terrestrial images.

RECOMMENDED: As you probably know, clicking on the picture will produce a larger image. And, clicking on the title (e.g., "Castle and Meteor by Moonlight" just below) will take you to the APOD page with an even larger image plus descriptive information.

2011 August 13: Castle and Meteor by Moonlight

a medieval castle near Veszprem, Hungary

Jupiter near center, Pleiades to left; can you spot the meteor?

2010 August 23: A Milky Way Shadow at Loch Ard Gorge

Port Campbell National Park, Victoria, Australia

water in front of two rocks shows shadows thrown by Milky Way

2011 February 28: Red Snow Moon over Edmonton

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

very long lens, plumes of steam from neighboring oil refineries

2011 September 16: September's Harvest Moon

Turin, Italy, Basilica of Superga

Harvest Moon

2012 February 29: Moon and Planets Over Catalonia

Catalonia, Spain

sculpture depicting legendary battle; bright moon with Venus to left, Jupiter near top

2010 June 21: Sunrise Solstice at Stonehenge

Stonehenge, U.K.

Summer solstice, 2008

2010 July 14: Easter Island Eclipse

Easter Island

total solar eclipse, July 11

2010 September 15: Clouds, Birds, Moon, Venus

Spain

the title says it all

2011 May 29: Comet Between Fireworks and Lightning

Perth, Australia

Australia Day celebrations, Comet McNaught, storm clouds

2011 July 25: Milky Way Over Abandoned Kilns

Nevada

historic kilns to process local wood into charcoal

2012 March 19: Sunspot Group 1429 and the Distant Sun

near Merida, Spain

active sunspot groups visible on Sun

These are just a tiny fraction of all the terrestrial images available, not to mention those, far more, of objects at cosmic distances. Do look.

It's Been a Lovely Spring

Yes,  it’s been a lovely spring and it starts the day after tomorrow. Tuesday, March 20, at 12:14 a.m. CDT, to be exact. Spring (or vernal) equinox. Equal day and night. See.

As you probably know, clicking on the picture will produce a larger image (recommended).

The posting of December 21, 2011 on this blog noted the approach of winter, i.e., the winter solstice. In that posting I said “Winter is a lovely, cold, bleak time of the year and I love it.” 

How wrong can a person be? Winter, in fact, has been a lovely spring. O Nature, what have we done to thee?!

Nevertheless, spring is nearly here and we must celebrate it (albeit perhaps with some trepidation). A favorite spring poem of mine, and probably of yours, is this one.

                    in Just-

                   spring    when the world is mud-

                   luscious  the little

                   lame balloonman

                   whistles   far   and wee

                   and eddieandbill come

                   running from marbles and

                   piracies and it’s

                   spring

                   when the world is puddle-wonderful

                   the queer

                   old balloonman whistles

                   far   and   wee

                   and bettyandisbel come dancing

                   from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

                   it’s

                   spring

                   and

                          the

                   goat-footed

                   balloonman whistles

                   far

                   and

                   wee

-      e. e. cummings

Another, rather shorter one is equally my favorite:

                      Sitting quietly, doing nothing;

                      Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.                    

                                                                     - Zenrin Kushu

What is the Zenrin Kushu, you ask? A goddamn treasure, I say.

But away with poems; I would conceal nothing from you. The red bud tree in my yard is all that need be said about spring.

ZTV - The Ten Oxherding Pictures (2)

One version of the oxherding pictures was the subject of the January 13, 2012 posting. As promised there, an alternative version is presented here.

There are two pictures here that basically precede the earlier version, and two that follow it, so that the first version is essentially telescoped here into pictures 3 through 8. It may be recalled that the last picture of the earlier version was titled "Both Vanished," symbolizing the Buddhist "emptiness." Some adepts felt that this was misleading and omitted the important notion of the bodhisattva, the person who, after reaching enlightenment, returns to the world as an agent of compassion and for the benefit of all.

                                                       1. Search for the Bull

                                

In the pasture of this world,
I endlessly push aside the tall grasses in search of the bull.
Following unnamed rivers,
lost upon the interpenetrating paths of distant mountains,
My strength failing and my vitality exhausted,
I cannot find the bull.
I only hear the locusts chirring through the forest at night.

                                        

                                                   2. Discovering the Footprints

Along the riverbank under the trees,
I discover footprints!
Even under the fragrant grass I see his prints.
Deep in remote mountains they are found.
These traces no more can be hidden than one's nose,
looking heavenward.

3. Perceiving the Bull

I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild,
willows are green along the shore,
Here no bull can hide!
What artist can draw that massive head,
those majestic horns?

4. Catching the Bull

I seize him with a terrific struggle.
His great will and power are inexhaustible.
He charges to the high plateau far above the cloud-mists,
Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.

 5. Taming the Bull

The whip and rope are necessary,
Else he might stray off down some dusty road.
Being well trained, he becomes naturally gentle.
Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

6. Riding the Bull Home

Mounting the bull, slowly I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats the pulsating harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody will join me.

7. The Bull Transcended

Astride the bull, I reach home.
I am serene. The bull too can rest.
The dawn has come. In blissful repose,
Within my thatched dwelling
I have abandoned the whip and rope. 

8. Both Bull and Self Transcended

Whip, rope, person, and bull --
all merge in No-Thing.
This heaven is so vast no message can stain it.
How may a snowflake exist in a raging fire?
Here are the footprints of the patriarchs. 

9. Reaching the Source

Too many steps have been taken
returning to the root and the source.
Better to have been blind and deaf from the beginning!
Dwelling in one's true abode,
unconcerned with that without --
The river flows tranquilly on and the flowers are red. 

10. In the World

Barefooted and naked of breast,
I mingle with the people of the world.
My clothes are ragged and dust-laden,
and I am ever blissful.
I use no magic to extend my life;
Now, before me, the dead trees become alive. 

Six (Billion) Characters in Search of an Author

Luigi Pirandello was a noted Italian author and dramatist. In 1921 he wrote what would become one of the most famous plays of the 20th century: “Six Characters in Search of an Author” (Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore), a radically experimental comedy (?) , a landmark of modernist drama that foreshadowed the theater of the absurd. 

Briefly: as a company of Actors are rehearsing a play (one of Pirandello’s!), they are interrupted by a small group of people who come upon the stage and make the bizarre claim that they are Characters who were left unrealized when an artist couldn’t  complete their story. They are searching for an Author to give them an existence. They propose that the Director (of the play in rehearsal) do this, after they show him and the Actors who they are by playing it out on the stage. The Characters insist that they are more “real” than the actors who will portray them. The Father, the main Character, explains that he and the others want to achieve their full life by completing the story that now only exists in fragments in the author's brain. The Director reluctantly agrees to their request.

 

Pirandello said  that  the characters came to him as if alive and stayed in his presence “each with his secret torment and all bound together by the one common origin and mutual entanglement of their affairs....Born alive, they wished to live." And further, "I wanted to present six characters seeking an author. Their play has not managed to get presented--precisely because the author whom they seek is missing.... In these six, then, I have accepted the ‘being’ without the reason for being...."

If this sounds like it has metaphysical overtones, it certainly does. If God created the world, then He is the Author and we are the Characters. (Or are we the Actors?)  We are born alive, but wish to live – to find authentic life. We confront being in search of a reason for being, but for much of our lives we seem only to be acting, playing a part.  This seems to skirt both religion and existential philosophy. For if God is dead, as Nietzsche and other existentialists proclaim, then what of our search for an Author?  

But this is not just, or even basically, a metaphysical play; it has much to do with the theater, with illusion and reality.  It has, grandly, to do with the multiple dimensions of actors as actors, actors as the people they “really” are away from the theater, with the characters the actors portray as they enact the drama, with those characters who live independent of the actors and may be played by altogether different actors. It has to do with the Director (ah – who he?) and, finally, certainly, with the Author. And yet ultimately, it has to do with all of us, with the great human drama. I am reminded of C.S. Lewis trying to illustrate the gulf between creator and that which is created. He compared it to the author of a book vs. the world and the characters in the book.

At one time not long ago when I was writing this, the population of the world was frequently given as six billion in round terms. Naturally it has changed and is changing every day; maybe it’s seven billion or more now. What of it ? – These  are modest numbers compared to the total number of people who have ever lived on earth, which is roughly guessed at by some as 100-110 billion. (This number is fine with me, but the matter of estimating it I find fascinating. In addition to assumptions about rates of population increase and factors like pandemics and ice ages, there are many wonderful questions that arise. Who and when were the first people, and how many of them were there? Does hominid equal homo? Naturally we can’t count the australopithecines but what about Neanderthal? Etc.)  But in order to stay with Pirandello let’s go with the number six billion. 

So here we are: six billion characters in search of an author.Think about it. No,don't just think about it - read the play, or better, go see a performance. (Wait, have all our analyses omitted the rôle of the audience?)

RGB's Dream

Some time ago I had a strangely intriguing dream. It has never returned but I remember it often. Here it is for the reader's Freudian analysis.

George rang the bell. She opened the door in a bathrobe.

“You’re early.”

“Where is it?”

“You’re early.”

“Where is it?”

“I don’t have it.”

“You lying bitch.”

He pushed inside and made a quick survey of the apartment.

“What have you done with it?”

“I stuck it up my ass.”

“Okay.”

He went to the kitchen and came back with a butcher knife.

“I think I’ll have to do some exploratory surgery on a lying bitch’s ass.”

“That’s not a funny joke, George.”

“You’re partly right; it’s not a joke,” he said. He ripped off her robe; she was naked beneath it. She screamed and wrestled away from him. He slashed at her but missed and she ran out the door, still screaming.

She ran naked down the street alongside the parked cars, crying, “Help me! He’s going to murder me!” A car door opened; she ran smack into it and crumpled to the pavement.

Sipping a drink on the patio of a nearby restaurant, Martin saw the woman collide with the car door and knock herself out. He was astonished because she was the woman he had been hired to keep under surveillance, and  he had been about to mosey down the street toward her apartment building. Shouldn’t have ordered that last drink, he thought.