Joshu’s Mu Zen Story
- Dec 11, 2025
- 2 min read
Today we enter… Joshu’s Mu. A story that looks like a single word, but it is a doorway that erases the floor beneath your feet.
This is not gentle. This is one of Zen’s lightning strikes.
Let’s step inside — slowly, bravely.
Let the Story Unfold
A monk asked Master Joshu:
“Does a dog have Buddha-nature?”
Joshu said:
“Mu.”
That’s it. One syllable.
The monk bowed and walked away, but the word followed him like a shadow he could no longer step out of.
For months he sat with it. For years he wrestled with it. Until the mind that wanted an answer collapsed into the silence from which Mu was spoken.
Sit With the Meaning
Mu is not “no.” Mu is not an opinion. Mu is not a correction. Mu is a sword.
It cuts away the entire question. It refuses to let the mind hide in philosophy, logic, doctrine, or debate.
The monk wanted something graspable. Joshu gave him a fire he could not hold.
Mu burns everything: concept, certainty, identity, the part that wants to understand,
the part that wants to be right, the part that wants spiritual achievement.
Mu is not an answer. Mu is the place where answering dies.
And sometimes,the death of the questioner is the beginning of awakening.
Turn Inward With Your Parts
Is there a part of you that wants clear spiritual answers so it can feel safe?
What happens inside when a question is met with silence, paradox, or refusal?
Which protector tries to “figure things out” instead of allowing direct experience?
Can you sense a younger part afraid of being wrong or not knowing enough?
Let Expression Rise
IFS Journaling
Write from the part that needs certainty. Ask it what Mu feels like to it. Does it feel threatening, confusing, freeing?
IFS Parts Art
Draw “Mu” as an image — not a word.What shape does it take in your system? A flame? A void? A door?
Somatic IFS
Sit with your spine long. On the inhale, invite the question you’ve been wrestling with.
On the exhale, whisper Mu and feel what falls away.
If none of this feels right…just sit with the story Let Mu do the un-doing.
Stay here with your parts as long as you like, and we’ll meet again in the next story.
Continue Exploring the Zen Stories
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