Mu (Non-Attained Buddha)
Jul 18, 2026 · 31 min · 7 segments
On the first night of the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, we take up the koan Mu, fall through the Heart Sutra, and affirm what it is to be a non-attained buddha.
Jul 18, 2026 · 31 min · 7 segments
On the first night of the Mountains and Rivers Zen Sesshin in Hobart, we take up the koan Mu, fall through the Heart Sutra, and affirm what it is to be a non-attained buddha.
So this practice of not knowing really comes with a discipline, in fact, of saying no to our knowing.
Whenever we think that we have a solution or we have an interpretation that we believe might be durable in some way, we just simply say no, no to this.
And this no is a cherished syllable, a cherished move, actually, in our tradition.
And it is, of course, why on the first night of session we always take up this word no as our focus of study.
And we always do this with the great Koan case that comes down to what's from Zhao Zhou in the 9th to 10th century, who was once asked by a monk who was part of his assembly, does a dog have Buddha nature or not? And Zhao Zhou said, no, no.
This wonderful move of the heart that allows beauty to actually find its home in us, as us.
So tonight I am going to honour our tradition, as I must, by taking up this case again.
And I'm going to do it in the spirit of asking all of us to inquire deeply into how is this no, this response that Charjo offers to this monk, not a kind of solution, but a great solution.
pulling away of the rug of anything that we might be short of so that we can once again be in the flow of the Dharma itself.
Well, one of the beautiful things about receiving this syllable, mu, is that it doesn't come with an instruction manual.
I've noticed that when I buy things these days, they come with really big instruction manuals.
There was so much that we're supposed to read and understand before just looking at the time.
And this feels utterly appropriate to a life, does it not? Because life doesn't come with an instruction manual.
So this practice of not knowing really comes with a discipline, in fact, of saying no to our knowing.
Whenever we think that we have a solution or we have an interpretation that we believe might be durable in some way, we just simply say no, no to this.
And this no is a cherished syllable, a cherished move, actually, in our tradition.
And it is, of course, why on the first night of session we always take up this word no as our focus of study.
And we always do this with the great Koan case that comes down to what's from Zhao Zhou in the 9th to 10th century, who was once asked by a monk who was part of his assembly, does a dog have Buddha nature or not? And Zhao Zhou said, no, no.
This wonderful move of the heart that allows beauty to actually find its home in us, as us.
So tonight I am going to honour our tradition, as I must, by taking up this case again.
And I'm going to do it in the spirit of asking all of us to inquire deeply into how is this no, this response that Charjo offers to this monk, not a kind of solution, but a great solution.
pulling away of the rug of anything that we might be short of so that we can once again be in the flow of the Dharma itself.
Well, one of the beautiful things about receiving this syllable, mu, is that it doesn't come with an instruction manual.
I've noticed that when I buy things these days, they come with really big instruction manuals.
There was so much that we're supposed to read and understand before just looking at the time.
And this feels utterly appropriate to a life, does it not? Because life doesn't come with an instruction manual.
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