Mystery, part 2 At a sesshin (Zen meditation retreat) in 2003, I asked the teacher to give me a koan. He recited: “A monk asked Zhaozhou in all earnestness, does a dog have buddha-nature. Zhaozhou said, 'MU'.” And then the teacher asked me: “What is Mu?” I happened to have read something about that little story. I knew that Zhaozhou was a Chinese master who lived in the seven and eight hundreds. I knew that “Mu” was a Japanese word that meant “no,” or “not have.” I also knew that the Buddha had been very clear that all sentient beings, including dogs, do have buddha nature, and that Zhaozhou knew that very well. So there’s this tempting intellectual puzzle: why would Zhaozhou say “no”? I said, “Mu is no.” Th... Mystery, part 2 At a sesshin (Zen meditation retreat) in 2003, I asked the teacher to give me a koan. He recited: “A monk asked Zhaozhou in all earnestness, does a dog have buddha-nature. Zhaozhou said, 'MU'.” And then the teacher asked me: “What is Mu?” I happened to have read something about that little story. I knew that Zhaozhou was a Chinese master who lived in the seven and eight hundreds. I knew that “Mu” was a Japanese word that meant “no,” or “not have.” I also knew that the Buddha had been very clear that all sentient beings, including dogs, do have buddha nature, and that Zhaozhou knew that very well. So there’s this tempting intellectual puzzle: why would Zhaozhou say “no”? I said, “Mu is no.” Th...