Does a dog have buddha nature?

[Pouya]

 

What does mu mean? I know it's used in zen and I think it refers to actuality.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Pouya

[Rilles]

uuuh i dont know... moo? ?

[Pouya]

@Rilles its not that Mu for sure

 

[Leo Gura]

Dog is God spelled backwards

[nistake]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Dog is God spelled backwards

Mind = blown

[Nahm]

5 hours ago, Pouya said:

What does mu mean? I know it's used in zen and I think it refers to actuality.

Yes. The actuality of being is knowledge-less-ness, Not Knowing. 

[Shadowraix]

@Nahm Always found it interesting how these things tie together. No matter what you think those thoughts will never represent IT. Yet it is the only way we do anything regarding it.

Experience -> Concept -> Pass on and it helps others find it. Or rather stop finding it and just be it.

Its the most mind fuckery paradox makes my brain feel like its crashing lol

[Nahm]

@Shadowraix LOL Ya. There “knowing” is the convincing of self of “the knower”, while the thoughts themselves are also the “clay” itself. You are one sneaky being! 
 

[Inliytened1]

Dogs - animals - live in the now/present moment all the time

 

[Nahm]

7 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

Dogs - animals - live in the now/present moment all the time

 

The “knower” “knows” that.

[zeroISinfinity]

1 hour ago, Nahm said:

The “knower” “knows” that.

Doggo is me. 

Edited July 5, 2019 by zeroISinfinity

[outlandish]

10 hours ago, Pouya said:

What does mu mean? I know it's used in zen and I think it refers to actuality.

Mu means no, nothing, negation, "not have". It's multilayered in this koan, because on the very surface it can mean that no, a dog is not enlightened, or have the capacity for enlightenment, or buddha nature. But under that layer there is that buddha nature is not something that can be "had". And then it's that buddha nature itself is mu. And then, just mu.

Anyways it's not really an intellectual concept, so it's missing the point to discuss and explain it, especially since I've not realized mu in this context. There's nothing to realize.

[Aakash]

@outlandish it is possible for a dog to raise its consciousness and become enlightened, exactly like a human. Consciousness does not need humans to be conscious of itself, it can do anything it wants. 

Within the current structure of reality, the design of a human being is most effectively for maintaining the structure best, may change in the future. 

[outlandish]

@Aakash maybe, that's not what the koan is about 

[Aakash]

@outlandish what is the koan? I’ve never heard of it. 

[outlandish]

The koan is "Does a dog have buddha nature?"

In the story, a monk asks Joshu this question, to which Joshu responds: "MU!"

[Inliytened1]

@Aakash even though we as ego's do not have infinite intelligence - we have a much larger sliver than a dog.

One would need a certain level of finite intelligence to mystically shift to the infinite and discover they are God.

Dogs are just looking for their next meal.

But we can learn from their ability to live in the present moment at all times even though they don't know they're doing it. ( Or self aware of it)

 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Inliytened1

[Ibn Sina]

I read  it somewhere. The answer was " I don't know, but if you say yes or no to the question, you will lose your buddha nature".

I think this is a zen story.

[Leo Gura]

The answer not "I don't know".

The answer is, realize you and dog are both nothing.

[bejapuskas]

12 hours ago, Pouya said:

What does mu mean? I know it's used in zen and I think it refers to actuality.

Mu means that dogs don't have Buddha nature, but cows do.