Often to read about Zen and Mahayana Buddhism is also to try to make everything we study subservient to thought (especially our thoughts) as if our thoughts about Zen and Buddhism are the ultimate arbiter. But going deeper into our study, we find that koans are never subservient to our thoughts. The same goes for much of what the Buddha and Zen masters taught.
The ultimate purpose of Zen is to see the essence or nature of thoughts which, to be sure, is beyond thoughts! Thoughts are constructs of this essence. As Zennists we can’t stop at thought. We have to go deeper.
In the example of a koan or a dialogue between a student and a Zen master, the teacher’s response to the student’s question is a response that the student's thoughts cannot comprehend or get behind. When a student asked Zhaozhou the question, “Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?” and Zhaozhou replied “Wú,” meaning has not, this was a response that came from the absolute (i.e., Buddha-nature) on Zhaozhou’s part which went beyond thought or the expression, Wú. No matter how much the student brought up Zhaozhou’s Wú, trying to make it subservient to his thoughts, he failed.
The Zen student is always unknowingly using the luminous Buddha-nature to generate thought which is a mere construct. A Zen master wants us to meet the real Buddha-nature face to face, not the one subservient to our thought.
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