Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 73 The Dog Has No Buddha-nature [Seeking Monthly Tickets!]

A mountain breeze swept by, and the pines rustled in the wind, like a natural chant between heaven and earth.

Lu Beigu's gaze swept across the area and saw that the five-person group from Xianzhen had indeed arrived and were sitting together talking in hushed tones. Meanwhile, the other teams no longer had any intention of competing for first place; instead, they were all admiring the scenery from the mountaintop.

Looking straight ahead, the mountains, bathed in the slanting sunlight, cast endless shadows, but where they meet the horizon, only a faint line of desolation remains.

Looking up slightly, one can feel the vastness of the azure sky, with a few wisps of clouds stretching across it, making it appear even more open and expansive.

Zen Master Zuyin sat in the shade of a pine tree, meditating with his eyes closed.

His hands rested on his knees, his fingers calloused from years of holding a pen. Sunlight filtered through the pine branches, casting dappled shadows on his body, making him appear even more upright and sturdy like a pine tree.

The brown-robed monk gently tapped the chick, and everyone fell silent. The accompanying monks brought out several small tables that had been stored there beforehand, containing writing implements.

"The final challenge is to compose a verse." The brown-robed monk's voice was clear and resonant. "There is no order of precedence in this challenge. Each of you selected benefactors is to compose a verse within the time limit of one incense stick's burning. Once you have finished, Zen Master Zuyin will review it."

A verse is usually a four-character or five-character verse.

If I were to write, I could finish in a few strokes; the time it takes for an incense stick to burn is mainly used for thinking.

Moreover, what is written in the text is not so important; what matters is the Zen philosophy contained within.

Zen Master Zuyin also opened his eyes. His face was very thin, with a few shallow lines between his eyebrows as if carved by a knife. His temples were already frosted, but he did not look old at all. Instead, he exuded a sense of transcendence.

His expression was extremely peaceful, neither fierce nor deliberately compassionate, but like an ancient mirror, reflecting all things without being tainted by dust.

Everyone was waiting for him to announce the question.

However, Zen Master Zuyin only uttered five words that left everyone looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Dogs have no Buddha-nature."

Then, Zen Master Zuyin closed his eyes.

As soon as he finished speaking, a low commotion arose on the mountaintop.

"Does a dog have no Buddha-nature?" someone frowned and repeated, looking completely confused. "What kind of question is this?"

"Could it be a Zen riddle?"

The other person stroked his chin thoughtfully: "But this is too much."

Seeing this, the others began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Some people scratched their heads, some paced back and forth, and some simply sat cross-legged, closed their eyes, and pondered deeply.

The mountain wind, carrying the sound of pine trees, scattered fragments of conversation among the clouds and mist.

After looking at the case file, Lu Beigu also fell into deep thought.

He knew the story of "Dogs have no Buddha-nature," which, like "The Cypress Tree in the Courtyard," came from the mouth of Zen Master Zhaozhou Congshen of the Former Tang Dynasty.

The original text of the koan is very short. The Record of Zhaozhou states, "A monk asked, 'Does a dog also have Buddha-nature?' The answer was, 'No.'"

But this is a classic case of few words but big implications.

To those unfamiliar with the history of Zen Buddhism, this might seem like a nonsensical or even comical dialogue. However, Zen Master Zhaozhou Congshen's response directly refuted the classic doctrine in the Nirvana Sutra that "all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature," which was a major intellectual upheaval at the time.

Simply put, the meaning is that Zen Master Zhaozhou Congshen created a logical paradox by saying that "dogs have no Buddha-nature"—if the universality of Buddha-nature is accepted, then it contradicts the scriptures; if the existence of Buddha-nature is denied, then the foundation of Buddhism is destroyed.

This case has been debated from the early Tang Dynasty to the present day in the Song Dynasty.

As for one truly reliable solution, decades later, Zen Master Dahui Zonggao refined this koan into the koan of "nothingness," requiring Buddhist practitioners to "tear up this word 'nothingness,' like the Vajra King's precious sword; to even contemplate it will result in death."

"Buddha-nature is inherently empty, therefore the dog is naturally nonexistent."

"Whatever, let's just write it literally."

Amidst the murmurs, the incense stick had already burned down to almost half its original length.

The brown-robed monk stood quietly to one side, his gaze sweeping over the expressions of the crowd, but he did not stop the discussion.

Zen Master Zuyin remained seated with his eyes closed, dappled shadows of the trees swaying gently around him, seemingly oblivious to the noise.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Beigu picked up his pen, considered it carefully, and wrote down a verse.

"Time's up." The brown-robed monk's voice rang out quickly. The few people selected from the group handed in their written verses.

The brown-robed monk began to chant, and Zen Master Zuyin listened with his eyes closed, the jade bamboo beads slowly turning between his withered fingers.

Soon, they recited the verses of the former town.

"His golden body shines upon the world, cutting away all vines and entanglements."

The porridge is cold in Zhao Prefecture, but the lamp of the heart burns brightly on its own.

Upon hearing this verse, everyone on the mountaintop showed surprise.

Even the brown-robed monk nodded. Compared to the previous works that did not understand the Zen principles of koans, Xianzhen clearly understood the meaning of this koan.

The main point of this verse is to oppose the teachings of Zen Master Zhaozhou Congshen, arguing that even dogs possess Buddha-nature.

Not only is the writing good, but it is also quite logical and Zen-like, making it a fine verse.

Sure enough, Zen Master Zuyin, who had been keeping his eyes closed, slightly opened them, nodded slightly in the direction of Xianzhen, and spoke.

"To be able to directly point out the essence of Zen Buddhism's 'mind is Buddha' is truly extraordinary."

Xian Zhen bowed slightly, a slight smile playing on his lips.

The next few poems were not particularly outstanding, until the brown-robed monk unfolded the last piece of paper, looked at the five-character verse on it, and his brow suddenly twitched.

He hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat and read aloud.

"A dog can chew a bone, but it's hard; an old monk can chant sutras, but it's all in

If you ask where the Buddha is? He's there, woofing!

After the five-character verse was recited, the mountaintop suddenly fell silent.

It was as if even the sound of pine needles falling to the ground had suddenly become clearly audible.

Ji Yun was drinking water from his water pouch when he heard this and "poof" spat out a spray of water, the droplets drawing sparkling arcs in the sunlight.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Han San Niang covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling violently, the silver hairpin in her hair swaying wildly like a wind chime, and tears welled up in her eyes from smiling.

"Woof woof?"

Someone in the crowd repeated it unconsciously, their voice trembling.

This remark stirred up a hornet's nest, and laughter erupted throughout the entire mountaintop.

A young man in fine clothes laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, and his belt hook flew off with a "thud".

Zen Master Zuyin raised his eyebrows high, and the wrinkles on his face spread out like waves in a pond. This world-renowned monk was also laughing so hard that his eyebrows and beard trembled.

"Wonderful! Great!"

However, to everyone's surprise, after laughing, Zen Master Zuyin actually gave this absurd verse a very high evaluation.

"I have been practicing Zen for forty years, and this is the first time I have seen someone interpret 'a dog has no Buddha-nature' so vividly and thoroughly! Who wrote this verse?"

"I."

Lu Beigu stood there, his ears turning slightly red.

Actually, there's nothing wrong with what he wrote. On one hand, the Zen meaning in this verse is itself an explanation of the "dog has no Buddha-nature" koan. On the other hand, Zen Buddhism does often use similar absurd and unconventional methods to explain Buddhist principles. For example, "A monk asked Zen Master Yunmen Wenyan, 'What is Buddha?' Zen Master Wenyan replied, 'A dried turd.'" and "A monk asked, 'What is the pure Dharma body?' Zen Master Guisheng replied, 'A toilet peg.'" These are all famous koans in the history of Zen Buddhism.

But it's a little embarrassing to have it read aloud in public.

He originally composed this verse simply because he thought of the carefree attitude of Zen Master Zhaozhou Congshen when he said "Go have some tea," but he never expected it would cause such a scene.

"What were you thinking? Why did you write it this way?"

Zen Master Zuyin asked a question.

(End of this chapter)