- A monk asked Joshu, “Does a dog also have Buddha-nature?” Joshu said, “No.” The monk said, “All sentient beings have Buddha-nature; why doesn’t a dog?” Joshu said, “Because he still has karmic consciousness.”
In helping the man this way, Joshu was sure kind, but I would do otherwise: if someone asked me whether a dog has Buddha-nature or not, I would just tell him that to say yes or no is in either case slander; if he still asked how so, I’d hit him even as he spoke.
Karmic consciousness means consciousness conditioned, bound, and impelled by habit energy. Don’t assume he’s not talking about you. As long as one has impulsive consciousness and is in the grip of mental habit, one cannot realize the enlightened nature.
To say yes or no is in either case slander—To say yes is slander because it denies or ignores the need for effort and cultivation to clarify the mind and reveal the Buddha-nature.
To say no is slander because it denies or ignores the possibility of enlightenment inherent in everyone. If he still asked how so, I’d hit him even as he spoke—this ‘hit’ is to stop the speculating mind that rambles on with questions and doubts, in order to draw the attention to the immediate mind itself.
wdymNote: stopping for tonight, but damn, the head scratcher patriarchs of the status que got nothing on Dogen. Also im probably not going to be popular in r/zen.
Submitted July 20, 2022 at 03:29AM by wdymANKLES https://ift.tt/TFhwfrt
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