A. Don’t be deluded by the word ’empty’ but try to experience through your whole body what it actually means. Saying that everything is empty doesn’t mean that everything is void and useless or nothing. This, on the contrary, means that it is unlimitedly useful and infinitely valuable beyond its labels. And the purpose of Zen meditation is to help people to realise the unlimited value of it that has been neglected so far because we are deluded by the labels. So, ancient masters would say, “Once you realise emptiness, all rubbish heaps turn into piles of treasure.”
Student: “Why should I try to keep my empty life without giving it up?”
Master: “When your life is empty, there is no life to give up.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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