The Buffalo-Tail Riddle
Have you ever had small pebbles inside your shoes? You try pretending to ignore them, but just can’t pretend so. And it seems like it will stay there forever. In today’s Koan, it is not the pebbles that will irritate you, but it is a tail, a mysterious tail, that just won’t go through the window.
There is no particular person in the spotlight for today’s Koan. It asks why a buffalo’s body goes through a window while its tail can't . That’s the whole story.
This one is said to be one of the most difficult Koans of all, which means it is difficult to really nail it down clear understanding (not merely an intellectual one, btw). To babble about it a bit, it might be that it’s called one of the most difficult because the Koan presupposes you have your eyes already very clearly open; that you have awakened to the reality that there is no you, no others, no mountains, no rivers, no “things,” no “nothing,“ no, no, no, while there IS you, others etc, etc.
But for today’s post, I’ll retell this one by rephrasing the question into “What needs to go through the window?” When going through the window means going completely beyond our dualistic view of the universe, the question is, does it something that has to be accomplished? Then, how come does it have to be done? Although I’m a bit cautious about such New Age kind of answers like “No, you don’t need anything to go through it! Cuz you’re already perfect! Blah, blah, blah …,” this particular question seems to me valuable for those who have their eyes open as well as closed towards truth.
By now, if you are familiar enough with my blog posts, you’ll be able to predict the secret mantra that I’m about to reintroduce, in relation to the previous question “What needs to go through the window?” The mantra (which is not a mantra at all in an ordinary sense) is “What is this?”
Let’s get a bit more practical about this. Take a look at anything around you (it would be better if that’s just one, single chosen object) and very lightly and softly put focus on it. You might find yourself straining a bit too much, but don’t strain yourself further by trying to relax. Don’t worry if you lose focus and start having an internal dialogue with yourself about the dinner you had thirty minutes ago. When you notice that, again put a soft focus on the chosen object. Repeat that process. As you keep looking at it, a strange feeling may emerge and may make you wonder whether the object of your choice is really “that thing“ that you’ve taken for granted that it is what it is. Now, take your eyes away from the object, and look at it again. Well, again, it’s the same old X that you chose!
Then, try experimenting going back and forth between that particularly strange feeling and the ordinary, intellectual understanding that the apple is an apple, as everyone calls it. Then, ask “What is this?" Actually, which is an apple? The former, or the latter? Or both? Or neither? The aim here is to go beyond all duality, and see it from where there is not even a slight duality of “dual” and “non-dual.” Don’t make this a play of words. If you want to see, see; look, look, and look, till it reveals itself to you. Then, as you clearly see the “ox” this way, you’ll also have a rather visceral understanding of what an ox is as well as what its tail is.
How are they different? Are they different at all?
I might have asked too many questions in this post. Be intuitive in picking the question(s), and remember to try the experiment referred above. See what comes out.