Three Opening Koans

Introduction

Zen training commonly kicks off with the koan commonly known as Joshū's dog, which is the very first case presented in The Gateless Gate ( also known as The Mumonkan). In that koan, a Zen teacher is approached by a monk who is sincerely concerned with the question of enlightenment, and the Zen teacher responds with what seems to be a non-answer: "Mu." In order to be able to resolve this koan, allow yourself to be wholly and completely consumed by it. Say "Mu" in your mind during meditation, and draw it out so long that it occupies your thoughts and fills your perceptions: let your sight be filled with Mu, let all sounds be Mu, let all taste, touch, smell--all senses--be Mu. Drown yourself in Mu and be absorbed by Mu. Resolving Mu invites a shift in our experience of the world. And at the same time, we have all had glimpses of Mu throughout our lives without quite recognizing it. When we enter "the flow" through physical activity or perhaps routine tasks, when we get lost in music, or caught up in jubilation, or sometimes just in quiet and unsuspecting moments: a sunrise, vacuuming your car, seeing a bird in flight. We come out of those moments almost with a sense of surprise of time's passage and all the feelings of freedom that arose. Life was somehow lighter. Inside these experiences an invitation whispers. We must feel Mu rather than present an analysis or a reasoning. When we think about Mu, or when we attempt to understand it through reason and analysis, we end up creating a sense of separation or division. We tend to do this a lot in daily life. The process of separating the world into this-and-that creates all kinds of dilemmas for us: it can incline us towards feelings of alienation and confusion. Because of this separation, we begin to build all sort of opinions, and even beliefs, about how the world must be. Zen looks at these patterns of separation and proposes another choice. In the process of resolving Mu, we begin to dismantle our old approach to the world, but we do it in a wordless way, through direct action, instead of thought. In some senses, this approach seems quite simple: we don't get strong arms by thinking about working out; we do push-ups. Similarly, we don't experience the nature of awareness through thinking about it. We practice stillness. As this exercise deepens within us, we begin to change the way in which we notice things. You might sense a certain intensity of perception and emotions--including positive and negative. Just like physical exercise, you may go through frustration, doubt, insecurity, confusion--and yet by remaining determined in spite of these barriers, you experience the effects of the exercise. In physical exercise, you end up becoming acquainted with your body's inherent potential--it was all there, just kind of laying dormant and inactive until you unleashed that potential through direct action. With Mu, you are exercising the foundations of awareness itself, and you are potentiating it through this practice. You do both without thinking your way there, you progress through action. How do you actually Mu? First, it helps to understand that "Mu" is a nonsense word; in fact, it first appeared in Chinese and was pronounce Wu. So you could replace Mu with just about any sound, including Om, but for the sake of tradition, I suggest sticking with Mu. Begin by simply thinking the word Mu as you meditate. Draw out the vowel sound so it lasts as long as possible in your mind. Imagine that sound permeating your whole body. Let the sound of Mu resonate through everything. Do this over and over and over with all the dedication of a long distance runner--resolving Mu can be a marathon. Then, when you rise from your cushion, put Mu into the motion, allow Mu to activate as a verb, let it flow into each step you take. Then in your day-to-day life, let Mu be an adjective, a quality, let it be both subject and object and the space between them. Let Mu permeate your traumas and triumphs, your every memory and aspiration. Look into the eyes of others and allow Mu to radiate from and through them as well. Let Mu permeate throughout the whole of existence, from timeless past to timeless future. Practice Mu without agenda and trust yourself to arrive at Mu. Mu is not obtainable. It is a return to home. The subsequent questions regarding the origin of Mu and the sound of one hand both emerge from this initial insight.