Someone asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?”
“Yes,” replied Zhaozhou. “Then why did it jump into that bag of fur?”
“It knew what it was doing and that’s why it dogged.”
Another time someone asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?”
“No.”
“All beings have buddha nature. Why doesn’t a dog have it?”
“Because it’s beginning to awaken in the world of ignorance.”
So... conflict. The answer 'No' has a particular resonance with me, and so I am focused on that part of the koan. And it has inspired me to write some 'doggerel' too. ;-)
Here is one that I wrote:
When they howl, jostle, and bark, snark, snick or snee,
the dogs, oh those early morning dogs,
chase the clouds to new patches in the expanse of blue.
With quiet, the clouds settle, and with zen-like stillness
watch over, look down over, over see the agitated monk hoeing
east and west, north and south.
With a pause to wipe her brow’s sweat she glances up and
notices the clouds watching over her.
‘I’m looking for the bones of my ancestors!’
Quiet.
‘What?! Is that an error?’ she called up.
With no-answer stillness
she hears the scuffing and snorting sounds of dirt being tossed aside by a dog.
The monk turns to see behind her a dog digging enthusiastically
in one of the hoe tracks.
Then the dog paused.
He pushed its head down into the hole,
came up with a bone sticking out of his mouth.
Nope, two bones.
The dog paused to look at the human watching over him,
and with what looked like a smile, turned away,
ran away.
‘Just one! Just one!’ The monk called out, after the dog,
and gave the mutt chase, her hoe held high like the blunt lance of a de-horsed knight.
Thank you for sharing! I believe that it was Will Rogers who said, "If dogs don't go to heaven, I want to go where they go." I have had a canine best buddy for most of my life. Only recently have I learned how funny and enjoyable cats are.
I find your 'doggerel' enjoyable, mainly because I have found myself at times in similar circumstance as your monk. I have come across the term koan, but have not studied it. Only late in life have I developed an interest in Asian cultures.
I am glad you enjoyed my post, and hope that I may pique you interest again.
Cats are fun. The philosopher Montaigne was banned from the catholic church for 200 years because he speculated on the consciousness of cats. Paraphrased: how do I know whether or not it is the cat who is playing with me? :-)
Nice quotation from Will. You may find koans fun. I thought I understood their concept many years ago. It has only been in the last few months that I see how I was wrong and how interesting they are.
I am glad you enjoyed it. I was trying to emulate an old Welsh pattern of rhyming couplets. It was close but I did not quite hit the syllable count each time. But I thought it worked well with the story it told. I am no literature or linguist major, but have just been fascinated with how old and connected our languages are. These memorized patterns (from all parts of the world) were developed for people to tell their stories (histories) and to pass on their culture long before words were ever written down. I am being boring, for I know you probably already know these things. Thank you for taking a look.
I enjoyed 'Dawn Child'. Thank you for sharing.
A part of my enjoyment arose because you included dogs. That brought a smile to my face. Have you heard of 'koans'?
They are a Buddhist approach to figuring out how our lives are connected with the life of everything around us.
I'm currently in Mexico, and surrounded by dogs barking, yelping, howling and baying. And I came across the following koan:
https://www.pacificzen.org/library/koan/zhaozhous-dog-gg1-bs18/
Someone asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?”
“Yes,” replied Zhaozhou. “Then why did it jump into that bag of fur?”
“It knew what it was doing and that’s why it dogged.”
Another time someone asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?”
“No.”
“All beings have buddha nature. Why doesn’t a dog have it?”
“Because it’s beginning to awaken in the world of ignorance.”
So... conflict. The answer 'No' has a particular resonance with me, and so I am focused on that part of the koan. And it has inspired me to write some 'doggerel' too. ;-)
Here is one that I wrote:
When they howl, jostle, and bark, snark, snick or snee,
the dogs, oh those early morning dogs,
chase the clouds to new patches in the expanse of blue.
With quiet, the clouds settle, and with zen-like stillness
watch over, look down over, over see the agitated monk hoeing
east and west, north and south.
With a pause to wipe her brow’s sweat she glances up and
notices the clouds watching over her.
‘I’m looking for the bones of my ancestors!’
Quiet.
‘What?! Is that an error?’ she called up.
With no-answer stillness
she hears the scuffing and snorting sounds of dirt being tossed aside by a dog.
The monk turns to see behind her a dog digging enthusiastically
in one of the hoe tracks.
Then the dog paused.
He pushed its head down into the hole,
came up with a bone sticking out of his mouth.
Nope, two bones.
The dog paused to look at the human watching over him,
and with what looked like a smile, turned away,
ran away.
‘Just one! Just one!’ The monk called out, after the dog,
and gave the mutt chase, her hoe held high like the blunt lance of a de-horsed knight.
‘Just one!’
The blue continued to tango with the white
and the other dogs continued the music.
Again, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing! I believe that it was Will Rogers who said, "If dogs don't go to heaven, I want to go where they go." I have had a canine best buddy for most of my life. Only recently have I learned how funny and enjoyable cats are.
I find your 'doggerel' enjoyable, mainly because I have found myself at times in similar circumstance as your monk. I have come across the term koan, but have not studied it. Only late in life have I developed an interest in Asian cultures.
I am glad you enjoyed my post, and hope that I may pique you interest again.
crw
You're welcome.
Cats are fun. The philosopher Montaigne was banned from the catholic church for 200 years because he speculated on the consciousness of cats. Paraphrased: how do I know whether or not it is the cat who is playing with me? :-)
Nice quotation from Will. You may find koans fun. I thought I understood their concept many years ago. It has only been in the last few months that I see how I was wrong and how interesting they are.
All the best, with peace, love and gratitude.
This was a welcome change of pace from the Substack norm. Enjoyed floating along with the verse here.
I am glad you enjoyed it. I was trying to emulate an old Welsh pattern of rhyming couplets. It was close but I did not quite hit the syllable count each time. But I thought it worked well with the story it told. I am no literature or linguist major, but have just been fascinated with how old and connected our languages are. These memorized patterns (from all parts of the world) were developed for people to tell their stories (histories) and to pass on their culture long before words were ever written down. I am being boring, for I know you probably already know these things. Thank you for taking a look.
carl
Always interesting to hear what drives people to make what they make :)