Mu (philosophy)
Mu ( jap. 無 / む ) or wú ( chin. 無 / 无 ) is a word that can be roughly translated with not (s) or without in German . It is typically used as a prefix to indicate the absence of something (e.g. Japanese 無線 / む せ ん , musen or Chinese 無線 / 无线 Pinyin wúxiàn, "wireless"). However, the word mu also exists on its own.
Linguistic history
The sign mu , which among other things represents one of the key terms of the Buddhist, especially the Zen school, namely the void , is spoken in modern standard Chinese as wu , Japanese mu. The early Sinitic pronunciation was about myag. At that time it stood for "many (40) people in the forest".
In the earliest known form (approx. 1100 B.C.E.) with today's meaning, however, such a sign represents a dancing figure with long tassels hanging from its sleeves, i.e. a shamanic dance. In the form written today it is composed of components for a kinematically indeterminate object about fire, with which it originally had nothing to do. Only at a later time were two identical words adopted for this sign, although the underlying philosophical meaning was retained.
"Mu" in Koans
Mu is a famous answer in Koans and other questions of Zen Buddhism and directs the questioner to the nature of his own mind from which the question sprang. One of the key kōans of Zen is the so-called Kōan Mu (Does a dog have Buddha nature ?) By Master Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (Japanese Jōshū Jūshin ), it reads:
| Japanese | Joshu | Osho | chinami ni | so | to | kushi | ni | chain | Busshō | ari ya | matta | inai ya? | Joshu | iwaku | "Mu". |
| literally | Joshu | priest | comes to him | (a) monk | asks | dog | dem / an (dative) | maybe | Buddha nature | Has? | or | not has? | Joshu | answers | "Mu" (nothing / there is nothing). |
A monk came to Priest Jōshū and asked him: "Does a dog have Buddha nature or not?" Jōshū replied, "Mu (nothing / there is nothing)."
The answer “Mu” is, so to speak, an answer and a non-answer at the same time. A simple possible interpretation of “Mu” as an answer would be: “This question arises from a dualistic mind, does not actually make sense (or is therefore wrongly posed) and therefore it makes sense that it cannot be answered with yes or no ”, or for example:“ From an infinite number of points of view one could introduce a thesis to answer your question, all possibilities are not mutually exclusive, so ultimately arise more from the imagination and do not get you any further ; further blind you ”.
Douglas R. Hofstadter goes into his famous book Gödel, Escher, Bach on the word Mu as an answer in Zen Koans and thus contributed to its spread in the western world.
“Wu” as emptiness of the mind
Wú ( Chinese無 / 无) is also a term used in Chinese philosophy and Wushu ( Chinese武術 / 武术 wǔshù, "martial art") for the emptiness of the mind. The syllable Wǔ (武) in the word Wushu itself is not identical to the Wú (無) dealt with here , but only appears to be homophonic at first glance , if one disregards the important diacritical marks in a tonal language such as Chinese leaves. In Wú ( 無 / 无 , the nothing, the void) the emphasis on the vowel is in the second Pinyinton , whereas the emphasis on the vowel in Wǔ ( 武 , the martial arts) is in the third Pinyinton , which is for the connoisseur of the language there is a difference in sound when listening.
In Wǔshù ( Chinese 武術 / 武术 ) one tries to reach the state Wú ( Chinese 無 / 无 ) both in training and in combat . To do this, an attempt is made to empty the mind of both thoughts and feelings . If the mind is filled with thoughts while learning, then it cannot absorb anything further, if in combat it is filled with thoughts or emotions, one cannot act in the sense of Wuwei ( Chinese 無為 / 无为 ).
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literature
- Stacey B. Day: MAN AND MU: The Cradle of Becoming and Unbecoming. Desiderata For Human Science . Published by Int Foundation for Biosoc. Dev & Human Health, NY 1997. LCCat Card No 97-072905. ISBN 0-934314-00-4 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mair, Victor H .; File on the Track and Dough [tiness]; Sino Platonic Papers, 20 (Oct. 1990), p. 11.
Web links
- Regarding Mu ( Memento from August 11, 2002 in the Internet Archive )
- The correct answer to the classic trick question “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”.
- Wumenguan