25 Feb Koan 10

“Does a dog have Buddha nature?”

This is the first and perhaps most famous of 48 Zen koans compiled in the early 13th century in “The Gateless Gate.”

To the question, the Zen Master Zhaozhou responded: “Mu.”

Mu means “nothing.”

A dog is a dog. Buddha nature, enlightenment, is a concept.

Both are temporary illusions constructed by the mind and exist only in the now.

Before and after the now, all things (including a dog and Buddha nature) are one thing: nothing (mu).