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Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism Illustrated Edition
by Steven Heine (Author)
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ISBN-13: 978-0199837304
ISBN-10: 0199837309Why is ISBN important?
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Koans are dialogues that stand at the center of Zen Buddhist literature and are often used to provoke the "great doubt" in testing a trainee's progress. The Mu Koan consists of a brief conversation in which a monk asks Master Zhaozhou whether or not a dog has Buddha-nature. According to the
main version, the reply is "Mu": literally, "No," but implying the philosophical notion of nothingness. This case is widely considered to be the single best- known and most widely circulated koan record of the Zen school that offers existential release from anxiety to attain spiritual illumination.
In a careful analysis of the historical and rhetorical basis of the literature, Steven Heine demonstrates that the Mu version of the case, preferred by advocates of the key-phrase approach, does not by any means constitute the final word concerning the meaning and significance of the Mu Koan. He
shows that another canonical version, which gives both "Yes" and "No" responses, must be taken into account. Like Cats and Dogs offers critical insight and a new theoretical perspective on "the koan of koans."
Read less
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This is another book dealing with koan literature in the rapid succession of monograph publications by Steven Heine. It is a study on probably the most famous koan in the history of Chan/Zen Buddhism, the so-called " Mu Koan."... Heine traces many versions and commentaries that emerged over time in
China and Japan ... the treatment of a wealth of koan and commentary literature constitutes a great value of the publication."--Journal of Chinese Religions
"Steven Heine's latest book on the history of koans, Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism, is his second monograph dedicated to a single koan case record....In Like Cats and Dogs Heine again raises relevant questions about predominant assumptions with regard to a koan well
known to both practitioners and scholars."--Philosophy East and West
"[Heine]'s done it again - produced a fine piece of scholarship on a really important topic for Zen practice, provides many juicy historical tidbits and context, a fine sampling of original sources (this time including some material from the Korean tradition - often overlooked in Zen studies, it
seems to me) some translated here for the first time, and advances a provocative revisionist theory of the history of Zen while also rolling some inspired Dogen study into the mix." --Wild Fox Zen, Patheos
"Despite the popularity of koan stories in Western Buddhist scholarship, the complexity of their formation and the different ramifications in subsequent developments of the tradition in China, Korea, and Japan have been frequently overlooked. In Like Cats and Dogs, Steven Heine fills this gap by
engaging philosophical, soteriological, historical, geographical, and many more layers of the koan tradition with a sustained focus on the famous Mu Koan. His writing is clear and reading this is most enjoyable. Readers will be pleasantly surprised by the transformation that this book brings to
their understanding of Zen Buddhism and koan practice." --Jin Y. Park, author of Buddhism and Postmodernity: Zen, Huayan, and the Possibility of Buddhist Postmodern Ethics
"Steven Heine's Like Cats and Dogs examines the history of the famous Mu koan...This classic puzzle becomes even more puzzling when the broader textual record is taken into consideration." --Buddhadharma
About the Author
Steven Heine is an authority on East Asian religion and society, especially the history of Zen Buddhism and its relation to culture in China and Japan. He has published two dozen books.
Product details
Publisher : Oxford University Press; Illustrated edition (November 26, 2013)
Language : English
Paperback : 266 pages
ISBN-10 : 0199837309
ISBN-13 : 978-0199837304
Item Weight : 13.7 ounces
Dimensions : 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inchesBest Sellers Rank: #2,771,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)#1,714 in Zen Philosophy (Books)
#2,234 in Zen Spirituality
#7,583 in Religious Studies (Books)Customer Reviews:
5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating
Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism Illustrated Edition
by Steven Heine (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating
ISBN-13: 978-0199837304
ISBN-10: 0199837309Why is ISBN important?
$156.00
Paperback
$29.40
Other Sellers
See all 3 versions
Buy new:
$29.40
Usually ships within 6 to 10 days.
Ships from and sold by TheWorldShopUSA.
List Price: $41.95 Details
Save: $12.55 (30%)
$3.49 delivery July 11 - 26. Details
Deliver to Sejin - Campbelltown 5074
Qty:Qty:1
Add to Cart
Buy Now
More Buying Choices
5 New from $29.40 1 Used from $33.58
New & Used (6) from $29.40
See All Buying Options
Koans are dialogues that stand at the center of Zen Buddhist literature and are often used to provoke the "great doubt" in testing a trainee's progress. The Mu Koan consists of a brief conversation in which a monk asks Master Zhaozhou whether or not a dog has Buddha-nature. According to the
main version, the reply is "Mu": literally, "No," but implying the philosophical notion of nothingness. This case is widely considered to be the single best- known and most widely circulated koan record of the Zen school that offers existential release from anxiety to attain spiritual illumination.
In a careful analysis of the historical and rhetorical basis of the literature, Steven Heine demonstrates that the Mu version of the case, preferred by advocates of the key-phrase approach, does not by any means constitute the final word concerning the meaning and significance of the Mu Koan. He
shows that another canonical version, which gives both "Yes" and "No" responses, must be taken into account. Like Cats and Dogs offers critical insight and a new theoretical perspective on "the koan of koans."
Read less
Report incorrect product information.
Editorial Reviews
Review
"This is another book dealing with koan literature in the rapid succession of monograph publications by Steven Heine. It is a study on probably the most famous koan in the history of Chan/Zen Buddhism, the so-called " Mu Koan."... Heine traces many versions and commentaries that emerged over time in
China and Japan ... the treatment of a wealth of koan and commentary literature constitutes a great value of the publication."--Journal of Chinese Religions
"Steven Heine's latest book on the history of koans, Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism, is his second monograph dedicated to a single koan case record....In Like Cats and Dogs Heine again raises relevant questions about predominant assumptions with regard to a koan well
known to both practitioners and scholars."--Philosophy East and West
"[Heine]'s done it again - produced a fine piece of scholarship on a really important topic for Zen practice, provides many juicy historical tidbits and context, a fine sampling of original sources (this time including some material from the Korean tradition - often overlooked in Zen studies, it
seems to me) some translated here for the first time, and advances a provocative revisionist theory of the history of Zen while also rolling some inspired Dogen study into the mix." --Wild Fox Zen, Patheos
"Despite the popularity of koan stories in Western Buddhist scholarship, the complexity of their formation and the different ramifications in subsequent developments of the tradition in China, Korea, and Japan have been frequently overlooked. In Like Cats and Dogs, Steven Heine fills this gap by
engaging philosophical, soteriological, historical, geographical, and many more layers of the koan tradition with a sustained focus on the famous Mu Koan. His writing is clear and reading this is most enjoyable. Readers will be pleasantly surprised by the transformation that this book brings to
their understanding of Zen Buddhism and koan practice." --Jin Y. Park, author of Buddhism and Postmodernity: Zen, Huayan, and the Possibility of Buddhist Postmodern Ethics
"Steven Heine's Like Cats and Dogs examines the history of the famous Mu koan...This classic puzzle becomes even more puzzling when the broader textual record is taken into consideration." --Buddhadharma
About the Author
Steven Heine is an authority on East Asian religion and society, especially the history of Zen Buddhism and its relation to culture in China and Japan. He has published two dozen books.
Product details
Publisher : Oxford University Press; Illustrated edition (November 26, 2013)
Language : English
Paperback : 266 pages
ISBN-10 : 0199837309
ISBN-13 : 978-0199837304
Item Weight : 13.7 ounces
Dimensions : 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inchesBest Sellers Rank: #2,771,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)#1,714 in Zen Philosophy (Books)
#2,234 in Zen Spirituality
#7,583 in Religious Studies (Books)Customer Reviews:
5.0 out of 5 stars 1 rating
Like Cats and Dogs: Contesting the Mu Koan in Zen Buddhism
by Steven Heine
3.75 · Rating details · 4 ratings · 1 review
Koans are dialogues that stand at the center of Zen Buddhist literature and are often used to provoke the "great doubt" in testing a trainee's progress. The Mu Koan consists of a brief conversation in which a monk asks Master Zhaozhou whether or not a dog has Buddha-nature. According to the main version, the reply is "Mu": literally, "No," but implying the philosophical notion of nothingness. This case is widely considered to be the single best- known and most widely circulated koan record of the Zen school that offers existential release from anxiety to attain spiritual illumination.
In a careful analysis of the historical and rhetorical basis of the literature, Steven Heine demonstrates that the Mu version of the case, preferred by advocates of the key-phrase approach, does not by any means constitute the final word concerning the meaning and significance of the Mu Koan. He shows that another canonical version, which gives both "Yes" and "No" responses, must be taken into account. Like Cats and Dogs offers critical insight and a new theoretical perspective on "the koan of koans." (less)
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Published November 7th 2013 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published January 1st 2013)
ISBN0199837287 (ISBN13: 9780199837281)
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Kevin K
Mar 31, 2019Kevin K rated it liked it
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In the 1980s, I read some popular works on Zen by D. T. Suzuki and others, and was always mystified by the "Mu Koan." The story is simple: a monk asks the master (Zhaozhou) whether a dog has a Buddha-nature, and the master answers: 無 (wu Chinese, mu Japanese), meaning "No" or "Nothing." Perhaps the most famous of all koans, this is often touted as the best tool for achieving enlightenment.
I never understood the point of the Mu Koan, so I read this book hoping for some insight. My first impression was: Wow! English-language Zen scholarship has really advanced since the days of Suzuki. The field has gone global, and entered a sort of "big data" ferment. In the 80s, Zen was regarded (in the West) as a Japanese phenomenon, but of course Zen was originally a Chinese creation (called Chan) imported by Japanese monks in the Song/Kamakura period. There are also variants of Zen in Korea and Vietnam. Today's Zen scholars are extremely learned—fluent in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean—and have access to tremendous textual resources, particularly in China. I can read Japanese, and appreciate Chinese (to some degree) due to my knowledge of Chinese characters, but this book was often way too scholarly for my needs. Nevertheless, it has many interesting nuggets of information, and is worth reading by the non-scholar interested in Zen (although you may want to skim a lot).
What is "Buddha-nature" (仏性)? It's complicated, but to a first approximation, it's the ability to be enlightened. Some sects of Buddhism hold that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature, so this is where the monk's question comes from. He's asking: Does a dog have the ability to be enlightened? The natural answer would be "Yes," in light of the doctrine just mentioned. So, in one way, Zhaozhou's "No" is just being perverse in the Zen fashion (like Linji/Rinzai, who famously said "If you meet a buddha, kill him"). It's as though the monk asked "What is 2+2?" and the master answered "5." The underlying point is presumably: "Don't waste your time on dumb, intellectual questions. The answer is within your self, in direct meditation and awareness, not some doctrine you read in a book." 無 can also be regarded as what Heine calls the "emphatic Mu." More than just a simple "no," this mu is a rejection of all discursive thought, language, duality, multiplicity, rationality, and even thoughts of non-being or the void. It is said to function in meditation as a sort or "hot iron" or "sword" to cut through worldly delusion. Here we see the profound influence of Taoism on Chan/Zen, a point that deserves a lot more emphasis.
An interesting feature of Heine's book is its broad survey of the historical evolution of the Mu Koan. In some versions, the reply is both "Yes" and "No," with further explanations of each (often nonsensical). This historical treatment cuts through the intimidating veneer of Chan/Zen, and naturalizes it as just another evolving, human project. Indeed, Chan in Song China strikes me as a sort of entrepreneurial activity. The "product" of enlightenment (the genuine experience!) was highly sought after by lay disciples from the scholarly and bureaucratic classes. Unfortunately, sitting in meditation for years on end is hard to fit into a layperson's schedule. So there was pressure to speed up the enlightenment process, and Dahui responded by stressing the Mu Koan as a more streamlined path to enlightenment.
Even so, Chan faded away in China (although it has been sporadically revived). It merged with Pure Land Buddhism—an even more layman-friendly sect centered on repetitive chanting of the nembutsu. That seems natural; there is a certain resemblance between concentrating on the word 無 in meditation, and chanting the nembutsu phrase 南無阿弥陀仏 in prayer.
This book made me wonder: What is the point of enlightenment? It seems to yield no practical advantages. Enlightened people aren't any smarter or more talented, etc. There doesn't seem to be any major payoff for the years of sitting (aside from a certain "experience" value of enlightenment). One wonders if the whole thing isn't a scam, or a game of make-believe, or a physiological event that happens to your brain when you deprive and badger it enough, rather like isolation tank experiences. I don't want to disparage Chan/Zen as a whole, but the "fake guru" pretending to be enlightened is an age-old racket, and people have a very reliable tendency/need to believe in such people. So it seems prudent to be skeptical. The fact that Chan dwindled and died out heightens such suspicions. If Chan enlightenment has such great value, it seems odd the tradition would lapse. The model of entrepreneurial religion seems a better explanation for Chan's gradual fusion with the Pure Land Sect.
Which is not to say that Chan/Zen/Taoist philosophy has no value. We should reject duality, rationality and language a lot more often. Zen also offers many practical lessons for daily life, and its minimalist aesthetics are superb. The question is what a purported "enlightenment" adds to a more everyday understanding of such principles. (less)
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