The Mirror of Zen

15

You should constantly raise your hwa-du in the midst
of whatever you do in daily life, ceaselessly investigating,
Why did Zen Master Chao-chou say that a dog
has no buddha-nature?" Eventually the path of reasoning
and the path of conceptual meaning will be cut off.
Though you eat, there is no taste, and you will feel
hemmed in on all sides. This is the point where
you can become a buddha or a Patriarch and all that.

Commentary

A monk asked Zen Master Chao-chou, "The Buddha said that
all things have Buddha-nature. Then does a dog have Buddha-
nature?" Chao-hou replied, "No" This one word is the front
gate of the Zen School. It is a tool to utterly destroy all wrong
views and false understanding. It is also the true original face of
all the Buddhas and the bone of all Patriarchs. Only after having
penetrated this gate can you become a buddha or a Patriarch.
An ancient eminence expressed the value of Zen Master Chao-
chou's "No" kong-an in this verse:

The fearsome sword of Chao-chou
Glitters like an ice needle.
Whoever dares to ask what it means
Their body will be sliced in two.