A Look Into Zen

Zen Buddhism is the poetic look at life and spirituality.  It began in Japan through the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha around 500 B.C.  It developed its own separate but equal philosophy of Buddhism, asserting that words and sentences are just composed of symbols and therefore have no meaning except that which is given by the speaker. Many Zen practices seem absurd to outsiders looking in, but the aim is to take a student of Zen philosophy to the space between the words, in much the same way a yogi tries to take his mind to the place between his thoughts in meditation. The unusual practices of Zen masters were handed down from Madhyamika Buddhism which was founded by Nargarjuna in the second century A. D. in India. Zen was also influenced by Taoism and Yogacara Buddhism. Yogacara Buddhism is also often referred to as the ‘consciousness only’ school.  It was a fourth century offshoot of Mahayamika Buddhism. The final goal of this branch of Buddhism is the same as the school of Zen: the complete elucidation of consciousness into wisdom.

One of the tools that Zen masters utilize to help bring consciousness to their students is the koan.  Koan translates roughly to mean, “the place where truth can be found.” It is a short axiom or phrase that is put forth as a question which cannot be solved by regular discursive thought. The intellect cannot solve the koan, it is the ‘space between the thoughts’ or the intuition which arrives at an answer.  A koan can be contemplated for many days, or even years, before a student arrives at an answer.  Usually the answer brings him to a higher level of awareness, or a great shift in her perception, such that the entire world takes on a new shape and color. Most koans seem to have an absurd word order or sense of action when first put forth. A very famous koan, for example asks, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” A great koan embodies a truth so large that it cannot be contained with words and sentences, but only hints at the truth that lies within it. A koan cannot be solved with the same consciousness that one begins with upon receiving the koan from the Zen master.  The student must make his mind as clear as the water upon which the koan floats.  Once the student's mind is clear enough, the truth of the koan will be revealed to her.

Another famous koan is the called MU, which is a combination of Japanese and Chinese characters. There is a famous story that goes along with the koan.  There was a well regarded Zen Monk from the province of Joshu.  One of his students happened by when a dog approached them both.  The Zen master asked his student, “Does that dog have Buddha nature?” The student simply replied, “Mu” which means “nothing.” The student was not denying that the dog had Buddha nature, for Buddha nature is in all sentient creatures, but he was stating, simply that the dog did not lack Buddha nature. The Mu response was neither a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.  It was the monk’s attempt at distancing himself from our contradictory nature, because in true consciousness, there is neither a “yes” or a “no.” There is only a reality beyond these opposing facets of reality as we understand it now. If this story is confusing to you, imagine how the mind stumbles and frets upon other famous koans, aching to reach a higher plane from which to understand their true meanings:

There was a University professor with great knowledge that wanted to learn more about Zen Buddhism.  He went to visit a Japanese Zen master named Nan-in during the Meiji era.  Nan-in served the professor tea but did not stop pouring.  The professor became very confused.  “Why are you allowing the tea to run everywhere!” he exclaimed. The professor became very angry.  Nan-in replied calmly to the professor, “Like this cup, you are full of your own opinions and speculations.  How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

Another example of Zen’s confusing nature at first blush we can look to Yamaoka Tesshu’s experience.  He was a young student of Zen and visited master after master trying to understand better.  He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku wanting to show his attainment of knowledge from traveling around visiting different Dojos.  The student said, “The mind, BUddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received.” Dokuon at first said nothing, and just sat quietly.  Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the student very angry. Dokuon said to the student, “If nothing exists, where did this anger come from?” Dokuon was pointing out to the student that he was wrong in his understanding.  If nothing existed, there would be no source of his anger, and no motive for his hypothesis.  The fact that there was some generating force behind his own declaration disproved his point.

And another story: Tosui was the Zen master who left the formalism of temples to live under a bridge with beggars. When he was getting very old, a friend helped him earn his living without begging. He showed Tosui how to collect rice and manufacture vinegar from it, and Tosui did this until he passed away. While Tosui was making vinegar, one of the beggars gave him a picture of the Buddha. TosuiAmida Buddha: This litter room is quite narrow. I can let you remain a transient. But do not think I am asking you to help me to be reborn in your paradise.” The beggar decided to help Tosui, but wants Tosui to know that the he is not helping him because of selfish reasons, or to acquire paradise through selfless service to others in need.

In these koans you can observe one of the most important teachings of the Buddha which was the “Middle Way.” The Middle Way rises well above "affirmation" and "negation." It does not distinguish between black and white, no or yes and up or down.  These viewpoints are much too simple.  It is in the path of the Middle Way that we can remove our dualistic ways of thinking. Nargarjuna opened the Middle Treatise with these words:

I salute the Buddha,
The foremost of all teachers,
He has taught
The doctrine of dependent co-arising,
The cessation of all conceptual games.
[The true nature of an event is marked by]
No origination, no extinction;
No permanence, no impermanence;
No identity, no difference;
No arrival, no departure. [11]


Zen Buddhism seems odd and nonsensical at first glance, but when the mind is elevated to a higher vantage point, the subtle lessons within a koan become “aha” moments for the spiritual aspirant. Nagarjuna also says, “Material form, voice, taste, touch, smell, and the various factors of existence are all merely like an imaginary city in the sky, a mirage, and a dream. [16]” We can learn to comprehend the true meaning of these types of statements through Zen Buddhism.