Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism
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Like Cats and Dogs This page intentionally left blank Like Cats and Dogs CONTESTING THE MU K Ō AN IN ZEN BUDDHISM Steven Heine 1 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heine, Steven, 1950– Like Cats and Dogs : Contesting the Mu Kōan in Zen Buddhism / Steven Heine. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–19–983728–1 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–983730–4 (pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–983729–8 (ebook) 1. Kōan. 2. Zhaozhou, Shi, 778-897. I. Title. BQ9289.5.H436 2013 294.3'927—dc23 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper { CONTENTS } Acknowledgments vii 1. More Cats Than Dogs? A Tale of Two Versions 1 2. Would a Dog Lick a Pot of Hot Oil? Reconstructing the Ur Version 37 3. Fightin’ Like Cats and Dogs: Methodological Refl ections on Deconstructing the Emphatic Mu 74 4. Cats and Cows Know That It Is: Textual and Historical Deconstruction of the Ur Version 110 5. Dogs May Chase, But Lions Tear Apart: Reconstructing the Dual Version of the “Moo” K ō an 148 6. When Is a Dog Not Really a Dog? Or, Yes! We Have No Buddha-Nature 188 Notes 213 Sino-Japanese Glossary 239 Bibliography 251 Index 261 This page intentionally left blank { ACKNOWLEDGMENTS } Like Cats and Dogs represents my second monograph that deals entirely with a single k ōan case record. The fi rst book on such a topic, Shifting Shape, Shaping Text: Philosophy and Folklore in the Fox Kō an, published in 1999, examined the second case of the Gateless Gate collection produced in 1229 dealing with the story of a wild fox appearing within the monastery gates of master Baizhang to ask a probing question about karmic causality. The current volume on the Mu K ōan examines the fi rst case of the compilation of forty-eight ōk ans, which is a dialogue between master Zhaozhou and an anonymous disciple about whether or not a dog has Buddha-nature. In a subdialogue of one of the main versions of the kō an, Zhaozhou remarks that the dog does not have spirituality because of its awareness of karma. This publishing sequence was not done by design. Looking back, I am some- what surprised, since the scholarly development was by no means a matter of systematic career planning. Rather, my focus on the fi rst two cases is something that transpired in an unforeseen and unanticipated way some years apart. It was part of a more general continuing interest in examining the vast body of kō an literature in relation to various interpretations and understandings that have been put forth by scholars and practitioners for more than a millennium. Although I have commented elsewhere on the third case in the Gateless Gate concerning Juzhi cutting a novice’s fi nger, I have no intention (as of now) of writing an entire book on that theme. Perhaps I can best do such a sustained study of a particular kō an record if it deals with animals, whether real or mythical. The Cat Kō an, which is case 14 in the collection and also involves an act of violence, is briefl y discussed in these pages because part of the nar- rative is attributed to Zhaozhou, but this is not likely to become the topic of a full-length study. My next scholarly tome will probably be a critical analysis of the styles of rhetoric in the Blue Cliff Record , particularly as seen through Yuanwu’s prose comments on Xuedou’s verses. As explained here, this seminal text—arguably the most eloquent and comprehensive in scope of the major kō an collections produced in Song-dynasty China—does not contain the Mu K ōan, even though the work was composed a century before the Gateless Gate . In fact, the Blue Cliff Record was probably published too early, rather than too late, to include a reference to the case of the dog, which did not become prominent until the 1130s based on a range of sociocultural factors affecting the formation of Zen thought in Southern Song intellectual history. viii Acknowledgments The Blue Cliff Record does, however, contain the Cat Kō an, which is spread out over two cases (63 on Nanquan’s cutting the cat, and 64 on Zhaozhou’s quixotic response upon hearing the story). It seems that at the time of the for- mation of the classic collections, Zhaozhou was probably better known for this case than for the Mu Kō an, which is striking given the apparently overwhelm- ing importance of the dog dialogue for the k ōan tradition. Exploring the rea- sons for the oversight is one of the primary aims of this volume. Unlike Shifting Shape, Shaping Text , which deals extensively with the role of magical, shape-shifting foxes in monastic ritual as infl uenced by popular religiosity and folklore, here I limit my discussion of dogs to the way they are depicted in Zen literature. The reader will learn of canines that bark at the moon, howl and growl, chase and disgrace, run after mistaken prey or gnaw on rotting bones, or lick hot oil or spilled blood. However, I do not talk about dogs outside of their portrayal in Zen texts, such as those creatures that were used in ancient ceremonial sacrifi ces, in palace veneration, or as objects of worship (especially in Japan) or sources of food (in China). For me, the dog is some- thing that is good to think, not to eat. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that, as with the fox, the image of dogs in Asian religion and culture is complex and continually evolving. I recently learned that a Zen monk in Japan has taken the mimicking quality to new heights by training his pet to participate in the practice of temple rites by praying standing upright on its hind legs. This can be considered either a celebration or a mockery of canine behavior (http://thebuddhistblog.blogspot. com/2008/03/praying-dog-and-how-animals-teach-us.html). Like Cats and Dogs has been a long time coming, and I am grateful for brain- storming and feedback received from various colleagues and associates over the years, including Roger Ames, William Bodiford, Ruben Habito, Victor Hori, Seijun Ishii, Chris Ives, Richard Jaffe, Gereon Kopf, Miriam Levering, Shirō Matsumoto, Yuki Miyamoto, Michaela Mross, On-cho Ng, Takashi Odagiri, Steve Odin, Jin Park, Mario Poceski, Michael Quick, Morten Schlütter, Therese Sollien, John Tucker, Pamela Winfi eld, Dale Wright, Lidu Yi, and Jimmy Yu, among many others. I greatly appreciate the support of Cynthia Read and her staff, and also thank several student assistants who helped prepare the man- uscript for publication, including Jennylee Diaz, Maria Sol Echarren, Maria Magdaline Jamass, Kristina Loveman, and Gabriela Romeu. In particular, I express my warmest regards for translator and artist par excellence Kaz Tanahashi, who contributed the calligraphy for the book cover. Kaz fi rst sent me a digital version and then mailed the actual scroll while he was overseas in Europe. Unfortunately, this arrived when I was away on vacation and, left to stand outside my home by the postman, it was apparently stolen. When I told Kaz, he was kind enough to send another version but also asked, “Why would anyone want to steal nothing?” Acknowledgments ix I have also learned from an erstwhile supervisor what I playfully call the Yes Kō an. This developed when I persistently asked a simple either/or ques- tion about carrying out an important yet sensitive assignment—should I, or shouldn’t I?—and was fi nally texted, in a word, “Yes,” but without it being made clear which alternative was the one being affi rmed. Ooooh! Or, should I say, U/You? May readers fi nd within these pages the appropriate canine, or the one that will hunt best in relation to his or her style of learning about Zen teachings. Whether or not they will be able to meet Zhaozhou’s dog face to face, well, that is a horse of a different color. I am reminded of a fox hunting expression that refers to the lead dog catching the scent of the vulpine and giving out a “full cry.” Once the call is made, all the other dogs fall into line to pursue the prey with unifi ed vigor.