A. This implies that the Buddha’s teaching is so great that once one hears it, all one’s illusions turn into enlightenment. We can doubt why we still don’t attain enlightenment although we have heard so muchabout it for many years. We can find an answer to our question when we take into consideration the Buddha’s words ‘Not a word have I said’. This means that the core of his teaching is not in his words but beyond them and that we have struggled only with the words. Comparing his words to a dry tree branch, ancient masters would say that we should not try in vain to squeeze juice out of a dry tree branch.
Student: “How should I hear the Buddha’s words?”
Master: “Hear the whole and not the half.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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