"Does a dog have Buddha Nature?"
Chao Chou barked back: "Wu!"
Wu means no, but does no mean no?
According to the ancients,
there are eighteen major wus and
countless number of minor ones
before perfect enlightenment.
This does not necessarily mean
it will take a long time –
it may take no time.
Buddha said that all animals
possess the Buddha-nature.
So why did Master Chao Chou,
who was enlightened, say
a dog did not?
Consider this:
Amos arrived in the form of a dog.
Although we gave him the name "Amos",
he is essentially prior to any tag.
When mind assumes the form of Amos
it has suffered no decrease;
when it becomes a Buddha
it adds nothing to its bowl.
Amos does not think,
"I am this, I am that."
Such thoughts melt away.
He is crouching, relaxed, still.
Without pleasure or pain,
distraction or concentration,
learning or ignorance --
his nature is free of conditions.
Win or lose,
it makes no difference to him.
Alone in the forest or supermarket parking lot,
a god in heaven or a four-legged barker,
it makes no difference!
He is free of duality.
Wealth or pleasure,
duty or discrimination
mean nothing to him.
What does he care
what is accomplished or neglected?
Finding freedom in this life,
he takes nothing to heart
(at least not for long).
He has nothing to do
but to live out his life.
He lives beyond the boundaries
of desire, but would like to be
let out to pee when nature calls.
Delusion of the world,
meditation on the truth,
Liberation itself -
what are they to him?
You see the world
and you try to dissolve it.
But he has no need to.
Still, he always appreciates
a good meal.
When you are distracted,
you practice concentration.
But Amos is undistracted.
He has nothing to fulfill.
What is there left for him to accomplish?
He acts like an ordinary critter.
But inside he is quite different.
He sees no imperfection in himself,
no distraction, nor any need for meditation.
He is awake, fulfilled,
free from desire.
He neither is nor is not.
Sometimes he looks busy,
but he does nothing.
Yawning or barking, running or
just lying around, he welcomes
whatever comes his way,
and he is happy.
He is free, sniffing the wind
without complaint, from life to life.
He has gone beyond the world,
beyond joy and sorrow.
His mind is always cool.
He lives as if he had no body.
His mind is simple and pure.
He delights in the Self.
There is nothing he wishes to renounce.
He can touch his nose with his tongue!
Amos is relaxing now.
He is not devising strategies whereby
he might transcend himself.
The elements of nature,
the body and the senses --
what are they to him?
A sniff?
What are holy books,
or knowledge of the Self,
or the mind, even free of aromas?
What is emptiness or despair?
Or happiness, or freedom from desire?
He is always one without two.
He eats from his own bowl.
(Well, sometimes, from our hands.)
He is neither pre- nor trans-.
He came already spayed.
Knowledge or ignorance,
freedom or bondage,
what are they to him?
What is "I,"
or "mine,"
or "this"?
Amos is always one.
What does he care for freedom
in life or in death,
or for his present karma?
He is always without "I".
He does not object to being lived
by the unknown, nor taken
for a nice walk.
So where is the one
who acts or enjoys?
Who wags the tail, even while
knocking some things over?
And what is the rising
or the vanishing of perception
to Amos when he snores?
In his heart he is one.
What more can one ask?
Who seeks freedom,
or wisdom or oneness?
Who is bound or free?
In his heart he is one.
What is creation,
or dissolution?
What is seeking,
and the end of seeking?
Who is the seeker?
What has he found?
He is forever pure.
What does he care who knows,
what is known,
or how it is known?
What does he care for knowledge?
What does he care what is,
or what is not?
He is forever still, until
he hears things.
He's still working on
impulsiveness --
Practice never ends.
What are joy or sorrow,
distraction or concentration,
understanding or delusion?
He is always without thought.
What is happiness or grief?
What is here and now,
or beyond?
He is forever pure.
What is illusion,
or the world?
What is the little soul,
or God Himself?
One without two,
He is always the same.
He sits in his heart, even
licks his nose.
What need is there
for striving or stillness?
He sits and runs.
What is freedom or bondage when
there are cats to chase?
What are holy books or teachings,
but chewy toys?
What is the purpose of life?
He's got all his shots.
Who is the disciple,
and who is the master?
For he has no bounds, and
likes to ride in the back seat.
He is Shiva.
So are you.
So am I.
He would never run away.
What more is there to say?
Woof!
~Based on the Ashtavakra Gita
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