the Mu koan; "does a dog have Buddha nature?"
A well-known Zen kōan (公案) in which the master Zhaozhou answers "Mu" (無) to the question of whether a dog has Buddha-nature. Used in Zen practice to transcend dualistic thinking.
See also: 公案
The Mu koan is one of the representative kōans of Zen.
公案 is the general term for a Zen kōan, while 狗子仏性 refers specifically to this famous case.
Standard kanji form for this Buddhist term.
Variant using the older form 佛 for 仏; marked as out-dated kanji usage.
From Chinese 狗子佛性 (gǒuzi fóxìng), literally 'dog Buddha-nature'. The term is a direct borrowing used in Japanese Zen Buddhism.