Wu-men tells his students to concentrate their whole minds on the concept of "Mu", which means more than just the common translation of "no". The character for Mu is "無" which when put into a simple internet translator brought up the following options: -less; not to have; no; none; not; to lack; un-
and when the same character is put into a Japanese translator brings up the following options: nothingness, nothing, naught, nought, nil, nix, zero
Which puts the question asked by the master into an entirely different perspective, and is probably why the translator of this passage didn't translate "mu" because, the definition in Chinese allows for a much deeper contemplation of the meaning of the koan. Thinking and pondering the meaning of 'nothingness' is something relatively deep, and goes back to things we've read before in this class. Because there is the concept of 'nothing' the concept of 'something' exists. If there wasn't a 'nothing' to counter the countless things we are dealing with all of the time than everything would lose its meaning. Because there is death, we realize there is life.
In any case the koan referenced in the writings is incredibly deep, and Wu-men address it by saying that first you need to eliminate all preconceptions you may have before pondering something. If anyone in this world could simply stop their biases and feelings of correctness, the world would be much more forgivable. However, the elimination of the knowledge we know is something, if not impossible, is incredibly difficult to do. We can not erase what our brains have already logged away, and so it's hard to learn and accept new concepts. Humans like what we have at the moment, it's understandable and orderly, but when something comes and shakes that up, we have no idea how to react because we're so set in our ways.
That certainty is most certainly something we have to analyze and try our hardest to erase, for the good of humanity.
And that's what I believe the writings of Wu-men are trying to tell people to do. It's the act of thinking you already know which is the key to your own destruction.
~~or something :)
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2 comments:
Hi Gabrielle,
I very much enjoyed your blog, and I certainly enjoyed your philological work with the word "mu" (Dogen was Japanese).
Not only that, but I found your *interpretation* of the importance of the concept of "nothingness" to be exactly right on, and very clearly expressed by you.
Good job...I learned something new, and was intrigued by your interpretation & thoughts.
Your Wu-Men blog was very thoughtful and perceptive. Since the word "Mu" has many meanings, including "nothing," I find the answer to the dog-Buddha consciousness very interesting because nothing is actually everything. And the dog is indeed a part of the nothing-everything.
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