Masu's "Beyond the Hundred Negations"

A monk asked Master Masu, " Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?" Masu replied, "It does not." The monk then asked, "All sentient beings have Buddha-nature. Why does the dog not have it?" Masu answered, "Because it has karmic consciousness." Later, a monk asked Master Joshu the same question. Joshu answered, "It does not." Hearing of this, Masu remarked, "Joshu has gone beyond the hundred negations."

Reflection

Masu's statement that Joshu 'has gone beyond the hundred negations' praises a teaching that uses negation not as a position but as a tool. When Joshu answers 'It does not' to the dog's Buddha-nature question, he is not taking a side; he is cutting through the entire debate. The 'hundred negations' represent all possible conceptual frameworks. True Zen is not about denying or affirming but about being free from both.