A. There is a scripture that Buddha said on his deathbed so that he might teach his students how to see death. He said, “Take a close look at me. Those who think that I perish are not my students, but those who think that I don’t perish are not students as well.”
In Zen, Buddhism, we see everything as empty. When everything is empty, not only death but also birth is empty. This means that death is not death and birth is not birth. In other words, everything is to Emptiness as winds are to air. Birth is compared to a wind coming into being and death is to the wind stopping. What is certain is that air, the essence of wind, is still where it was, not disappearing, although the wind stops. The disappearance of a wind never means the disappearance of air that is the essence of wind.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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