Q. The Sutras say that whenever we accept the Buddha’s teaching, we can be saved by Him and go to Nirvana. Why can’t we just enjoy our lives as we please until we are old and accept the teaching when we are close to death?

A. The Buddha is not so foolish that he is deceived by your cunning calculation. The Buddha’s foolishness is wiser than your wisdom. Nirvana is not subject to worldly bargaining. Nor is it what can be obtained by the calculation of secular interests.

Whatever you may say about the Buddha, whatever you may think of the Buddha, and however you may accept His teaching, don’t delude yourself into thinking of intellectual understanding as accepting his teaching just because the Buddha never says that you are wrong. It is not because he is less wise than you but because you cannot hear him that he remains speechless. It was not because ancient masters were not as wise as you are that they expended so much time accepting the teaching.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenmeditation #enlightened #enlightenment #zenfools #photography