Why is this so? Because you have come to understand that the four elements are like a dream, or a phantom. Followers of the Way, he who is now listening to the Dharma, he is not the four elements; he is the one who can use the four elements. If you can see it thus, then you are free in your going and staying.
Commentary:
‘Why is this so?’ means ‘How is it possible for you to walk on water as if it were land and on land as if it were water?’ ‘Because you have come to understand that the four elements are like a dream, or a phantom’ means that it is possible because we can realise that the four elements; earth, water, fire and wind which compose our physical body are empty. ‘He who is now listening to the Dharma, he is not the four elements; he is the one who can use the four elements’ implies that the essence of your being is not your physical body but the one who controls it. What is making your body read this article at this moment? ‘If you can see it thus, then you are free in your going and staying’ means that if you can see clearly what is controlling your body, you can be free to see everything in both ways, which is also known as transcending birth and death.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
#zen #meditation #zenmeditation #enlightened #enlightenment #zenfools #photography
Zen Fools 