Author: Zen Fools

A. Your question is similar to ‘What is Emptiness like?’. The Heart Sutra says that form is Emptiness and Emptiness is form. This means that Emptiness is like form. In the Avatamsaka Sutra the Buddha said, “My body appears all around the universe in various different shapes of all sentient beings and sounds like various words of all sentient beings and has various names of all sentient beings.” This means that all various shapes of all things are the way the Buddha appears. Seeing things as being different and separate from one another, just like seeing each wave in the ocean as being different according to its size and shape, is seeing things. Seeing all things as one, just like looking upon all waves as being the same oneness as water, is seeing the Buddha.

Student: “How can I see this mug as the Buddha?”

Master: “Seeing what can be broken is seeing the mug, and seeing what cannot be broken is seeing the Buddha.”

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When a monastic asked Majo, “What Dharma do all the Buddhas talk about?” he answered, “All the Buddhas talk about only one Dharma. Thus, the Buddha transmitted it to Mahakasyapa by with a hint. This Dharma is filling the whole universe. This cannot be understood through language and words.”

Student: “What is one Dharma?”

Master: “This cannot be understood through language and words.”

Student: “How can it be understood if not through language and words?”

Master: “‘This cannot be understood through language and words’ is also language and words.”

Commentary:

Language and words are not language and words unless you regard them as such.

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One day, Governor Wang came to visit Rinzai. When they happened to pass the monk’s hall, he asked Rinzai, “Do the monks in this monastery all study the Sutras?” “No, they don’t.” “Do they then learn meditation?” “No, they don’t.” “If they neither study the Sutras nor learn meditation, what then do they do?” Rinzai said, “All are training to become Buddhas or patriarchs.” The Governor said, “It is said that though gold dust is precious, in the eyes it becomes an eye disease. What do you think?” Rinzai remarked, “I almost took you for a common fellow!”

Commentary:

Rinzai’s answer ‘All are training to become Buddhas or patriarchs’ means that all of them were trying to attain enlightenment. The governor countered his answer beautifully by remarking, “Though gold dust is precious, in the eyes it becomes an eye disease.” This purports that no matter how precious it is to become Buddhas and patriarchs, clinging to the images of them prevents you from seeing things as they are, namely keeps you from becoming enlightened. Hearing this unexpected response, Rinzai praised him for his good view by commenting that he had taken Wang as a common layman who didn’t know what it symbolised to become Buddhas or patriarchs and found him beyond his expectation.

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A. The core of Buddhism is non-duality. Illusions are neither separate nor different from the Buddha. They are no other than the function of the Buddha. Because you are deluded by words and forms, you mistake the Buddha for illusions.

If you happen to expect the Buddha to appear as a holy and graceful form, you, misunderstanding Buddhism, are chasing after the illusion of the Buddha. This is why an ancient master remarked that being attached to the Buddha whilst hating illusions is as foolish as liking your palm while hating the back of your hand.

©Boo Ahm

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When a monastic asked Majo, “What Dharma do all the Buddhas talk about?” he answered, “All the Buddhas talk about only one Dharma. Thus, the Buddha transmitted it to Mahakasyapa with a hint. This Dharma is filling the whole universe. It cannot be understood through language and words.”

Student: “What is one Dharma?”

Master: “Shall I transmit it to you by hinting?”

Student: “Yes please.”

Master: “That’s it. Take it quickly.”

Commentary:

What can be given and taken is not one Dharma.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Rinzai heard that the second Tokusan used to instruct his monks saying, “Whether you can speak or not, either way thirty blows.” Rinzai told Rakuho, “Go and ask him ‘Why does the one who understands get thirty blows?’, wait until he beats you, then grab the stick, hit him back, and see what he will do.” Rakuho went and did as bid. On being asked, Tokusan at once struck out. Rakuho hit him back. Tokusan then returned to his quarters. Rakuho came back and told Rinzai, who said, “So far, I have suspected that fellow; but since it has happened like this, did you for yourself now see Tokusan?” Rakuho hesitated. The master hit him.

Commentary:

We should know what the second Tokusan meant by his question. He meant that we should be able to say words that cannot be done and do what cannot be said, namely, we should be able to recognise the Buddha, perform His acts and speak His words. The purpose of Rinzai sending Rakuho to him seems more to give Rakuho an opportunity to learn something from the second Tokusan rather than to test the second Tokusan. When Rakuho returned and told Rinzai how the second Tokusan had responded, Rinzai, sensing that Rakuho had failed to grasp the second Tokusan’s meaning of returning to his quarters, said words that cannot be done by saying, “So far I have suspected that fellow.” Aware that Rakuho was still lost, Rinzai asked him again more directly if he had seen Tokusan. What Rinzai really wanted to know was whether Rakuho had seen the true-Self of Tokusan. When Rakuho, missing Rinzai’s point, was at a loss for words, Rinzai showed the true-Self of Tokusan by hitting him.

Student: “What is the meaning of the second Tokusan’s returning to his quarters?”

Master: “He ran away scared of being hit again.”

Student: “You are kidding me, aren’t you?”

Master: “I am as serious as the second Tokusan was when he returned to his quarters.”

©Boo Ahm

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A. This idea can be very confusing since it seems to contradict our worldly concept of justice that a sin committed unconsciously, or by mistake is thought to be less serious than one committed consciously with intention. I am going to interpret this in two ways; a mundane one and a Buddhist one.

From a mundane perspective, let’s suppose that there is a red-hot iron ball from a furnace in front of a two or three-year-old child. He, attracted by its beautiful colour, is likely to grab it because he doesn’t know that this colour signifies fire. However, grown-ups would not think of touching it with their bare hands since they know it is dangerous. As a result, children get more injured than grown-ups because they act unknowingly.

From a Buddhist perspective, knowing implies the realisation that everything is empty. So, committing sin whilst knowing implies committing sin while knowing that sin is empty. To those who can see everything as empty, sin is empty as well. They don’t feel the same about committing sin as the unenlightened do. This is why Bodhidharma said that even a butcher whose job is to kill living things can escape from causation if he realises that everything is empty, that is, if he is enlightened.

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Master Chen asked a scholar who studied the Buddhist Sutras, “In a Sutra it is said, ‘Families use it daily and yet do not understand it.’ What is it that they do not understand?” The scholar said, “They do not understand the Way.” Chen said, “How do you understand the Way?” The scholar couldn’t respond.

Student: “What is it that we don’t understand while using it daily?”

Master: “The scholar called it the Way.”

Student: “However, he didn’t understand the Way.”

Master: “He was using it even when he didn’t understand the Way.”

Commentary:

Using it has nothing to do with understanding it or not.

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A scripture teacher came to see Rinzai. After exchanging pleasantries, Rinzai asked him, “What Sutras and Treatises do you lecture on?” The scripture teacher answered, “I have roughly learned the Treatise of The Hundred Dharmas.” Rinzai said, “One has mastered the Three Vehicles and the Twelve Divisions of the Teachings and the other has not; are they the same or do they differ?” The scripture teacher said, “For the one who has mastered, they are the same; for the one who has not, they differ.” Rakuho, who was standing behind Rinzai as his attendant, said to the scripture teacher, “What place is this to speak of sameness and difference here?” Rinzai turned around and said to the attendant, “And how do you understand it?” The attendant gave a Katsu. Rinzai went with the scripture teacher to see him off. On returning, he asked the attendant, “Did you do a Katsu at me a little earlier?” The attendant said, “Yes” — then the master hit him.

Commentary:

Bodhidharma said that if we couldn’t see the true-Self, we couldn’t escape from the reincarnation of birth and death and the suffering of the three worlds even though we could explain all the Sutras. For the same reason, Rinzai asked, “One has mastered the Three Vehicles and the Twelve Divisions of the Teachings and the other has not; are they the same or do they differ?” just to see whether or not the scripture teacher could see the true-Self. Unfortunately, the scripture teacher, failing to grasp Rinzai’s point, followed his words. The scripture teacher’s answer showed that he couldn’t recognise the true-Self hidden in words.

Then, Rakuho, sensing Rinzai’s meaning, lost no time in saying to the scripture teacher, “What place is this to speak of sameness and difference here?” Rinzai asked the attendant how he understood it to see if he really knew the point, and the attendant properly responded by giving a Katsu. After seeing off the scripture teacher, Rinzai tested his attendant again with the question ‘Did you do a Katsu at me a little earlier?’. This was a very tricky question although it appeared to be very commonplace, with which Rinzai took Rakuho by surprise. The attendant didn’t hesitate to respond by answering, “Yes”, by which he didn’t mean to affirm the question but just revealed the true-Self. Rinzai approved by hitting him.

©Boo Ahm

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A. Let’s suppose that you are suffering from a fatal illness. Fortunately, you found a doctor who can cure you of the illness. He is really skilled and talented in saving people from the illness you have, but has a bad reputation as a human: He is a cheat and playboy. You have no evidence for this and have never personally seen him behaving badly. What do you think you should do; refuse to see him because of his immoral reputation thereby losing your life, or be cured by him despite it? I think that you should be helped by him. When you go to see the doctor, you don’t go to see him to evaluate his morality but to be cured by him. What you need from him now is his ability to save you from your challenge and not his perfect morality.

In the same way, you should continue to see your master if he can teach you something that you need. The purpose of your going to him is not to respect him for his exemplary morality but to learn, or get what you need. What is more important here is the Buddha’s teaching, which says that we should not be deluded by words and form. When we see things as they are without being deluded by them, there is nothing that is not the Buddha.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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