Author: Zen Fools

One asked, “What is the true Buddha, the true Dharma, the true Way? Please explain.” The master said, “What you call the Buddha, that is your mind in its purity. What you call the Dharma, that is your mind in its radiance. What you call the Way, that is when in sheer light there is no obstruction anywhere. The three are one; but they are empty names and have no real existence. The man who truly travels the Way has no gap between one thought and another thought. Since Bodhidharma came from the West, he only looked for a man who would not let himself be deluded. Finally, he met the Second Patriarch, who at a single phrase attained enlightenment and realised the vanity of all the efforts that he had made so far.”

Commentary:

What is a mother, a wife, a teacher? A woman is a mother to her children, a wife to her husband and a teacher to her students at the school where she works. She can have additional names which identify her such as a daughter to her parents and a friend to her friends. No matter how many names she may be called by, the essence of her being never changes. Likewise, all the names used to express the true-Self are just imaginary labels, not reality, and this includes the label ‘true-Self’. This is why ancient masters would say to their students, “You are wrong if you open your mouth to express the true-Self”.

‘The man who truly travels the Way has no gap between one thought and another thought’ means that we should know everything we see and hear, not to mention all our thoughts, is one as emptiness. If we happen to think there is something that is not empty, the one as emptiness is divided into two; emptiness and what is not empty. Then, naturally gaps come into being between them. Furthermore, when we think that there are many things that are not empty, many gaps come into existence among them. The things that we think are not empty are no other than illusions, and so if there are any gaps between things or between thoughts, it means that we are deluded by illusions. That is why Bodhidharma only looked for a man who would not let himself be deluded.

Student: “How can we recognise the true-Self if it cannot be described with words?”

Master: “Nothing but it is seen when all words are removed.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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A. Buddhism has a similar scripture. The Avatamsaka Sutra says that the Buddha reveals himself through all the different forms of all sentient beings, all the different words of all sentient beings and all the various names of all sentient beings. Ancient masters would also say that all names are the names of the Buddha.

It means that all the things we see and hear in our daily lives are the shapes and the voices of God, and so all the names attached to them are God’s names. Using all names without realising this fact is misusing God’s name. If we don’t recognise God who is with us all the time, we cannot escape from the ocean of suffering, that is, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God. In other words, we should not make the error of forsaking God who is always with us while making futile effort to look somewhere else for Him.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Joshu was once asked by a monastic, “What is Joshu?”

Joshu said, “East gate, south gate, west gate, north gate.”

The monastic said, “I did not ask about this.”

Joshu said, “You asked about Joshu, didn’t you?”

Student: “What did Joshu mean by east gate, south gate, west gate, north gate?”

Master: “He opened the door for the monastic to enter and see him.”

Commentary:

Don’t try in vain to open the opened door.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Venerable ones, what are you chasing around after to the extent that the soles of your feet become callused as hard as a wooden board? There is no Buddha to seek, no Way to accomplish, no Dharma to be obtained. If you seek the Buddha with form from outside, he will not be like the true Buddha. Do you want to know your original heart? It is neither with nor separated from you. Followers of the Way, the true Buddha has no shape, the true Way has no foundation, the true Dharma has no form. These three blend together and harmonise into one. Who does not yet discern this is called a sentient being confused by Karma.

Commentary:

If you have an image of the Buddha and seek the Buddha in accordance with it, your effort is in vain because the true Buddha, being formless, is not like the Buddha you are seeking. Your mind that is not confined to your physical body, but boundless enough to leave room while holding the whole universe, is no other than the Buddha. In other words, there is nothing that is not the Buddha, and you are part of the Buddha. This is why it is neither with you nor separated from you. In fact, the Buddha, the Way and the Dharma are just different names of the true-Self and not separate from one another. So, the Avatamsaka Sutra says that the Buddha 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. And in the same Sutra a Bodhisattva says, “If I want to see the Buddha, I can see Him any time. However, he never comes to me nor do I go to Him.” This implies that seeking the Buddha, whilst forsaking what you see and hear now, is making fruitless effort.

Student: “Why can’t I see the Buddha while everything is the Buddha?”

Master: “Because you see things.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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A. There is a nice dialogue between an ancient master and his student: “Where is the Buddha when people are suffering in the chaos of revolt?” “He hides himself amidst flames during the chaos of revolt”. This says that although he is always with us as usual and has never left us, we don’t recognise him since we are deluded by flames, our illusions. In other words, we don’t recognise him since we have our eyes and ears covered with the labels, illusions of our own creation.

That’s why we should try to see and hear things without attaching any labels to what reaches our eyes and ears. It is not because he hides himself, or forsakes us but because people don’t recognise him that people are not relieved by the Buddha, or God from the suffering of the chaos of revolt.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Guishan sat on the teaching seat. A monastic came up and said, “Master, please expound the dharma for the assembly.” Guishan said, “I have already exhausted myself for you.” The monastic bowed.

Student: “Why did Guishan say that he had already exhausted himself for them although he had done nothing other than sitting on the teaching seat?”

Master: “The monastic bowed.”

Student: “I still don’t understand why he bowed, either.”

Master: “Your asking questions is no less good than his bowing.”

Commentary:

Rare and valuable talks are not Dharma talks.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Those who cannot distinguish good from bad produce the meaning of the Sutras based on their knowledge. This is like keeping a clod of dung in their mouths, spitting it out and feeding it to others and is as if the laity transmit secrets in a whisper. They are but vulgar tongue twisters who spend their whole lives for nothing and yet claim that they are monks and nuns. But when others ask them about the Buddha-Dharma, they shut up and have nothing to say. Their eyes are black chimneys, and their lips are shut up as if they were barred with rafters. That breed, at the coming of Maitreya, will be expelled to another world and will suffer the torments of hell.

Commentary:

As mentioned earlier, the core of Buddhism is not to pile up our knowledge or intellectual understanding but to take a clear look at the true-Self that the Sutras point to. All scriptures and phrases, however plausible and meaningful they may appear, are no more than just wrapping papers with explanation about the contents, the true-Self. Mistaking the wrapping papers for the contents and eating them is more harmful than helpful to us. The more we eat them the more we are harmed. Transmitting them to others is no better than feeding a clod of dung that one has kept in one’s mouth to them. ‘Their eyes are black chimneys, and their lips are shut up as if they were barred with rafters’ means that old monastics who have pursued enlightenment in this way, don’t have the eye of wisdom to see the true-Self and cannot even open their mouths when asked about the true-Self. Fearing that this should happen, an ancient master compared him who sought enlightenment through knowledge to him who tried to tie up a fierce tiger with a wet paper streamer. That’s why Rinzai said that those who seek in this way, even at the coming of Maitreya, would be expelled to another world and would suffer the torments of hell.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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A. When you see, or watch the earth, you are the earth as well. You are never separated from the earth when you see and hear the earth. A dreamer is a watcher because watching is also dreaming. This is why no one but you can watch your dream when you dream. If a dreamer were not identical with a watcher, others could watch your dreams.

What matters here is that your thinking ‘you are not just dreaming but watching the dream at the same time’ is also a dream. You should know that not only the dream you have during your sleep but also your life itself is no other than a dream. For example, when we see a certain thing with others in the same place at the same time, each of us has different perspectives about it from each other. Each of us doesn’t know what views each of the others has unless they tell us their views about it. It’s because each of us dreams differently. This is why the Buddha said that our lives are dreams. To realise who the dreamer is, is to attain enlightenment.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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

An ancient master Doh-oh would ordinarily say, “Fine! Fine!” But on his deathbed he cried, “Ouch! Ouch! I feel awful. Bring me meat to eat and wine to drink. The King of Hell is coming to catch me.” His assistant monk asked him, “You would say ‘Fine! Fine!’ all the time before. Why do you cry that you feel awful now?” The master responded, “Tell me whether I was right then, or now?” The monk said nothing, and the master, pushing his pillow away, passed away.”

Student: “Which is right ‘Fine! Fine’ or ‘Ouch! Ouch! I feel awful’?”

Master: “Dad is not different from father, and mum is not different from mother.”

Commentary:

Difference makes calamity.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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

The reason why students of today don’t attain enlightenment is that they are deluded by names and try to attain it by depending on them. They copy the words of late old monks into a big book, wrap it up in three or four layers of cloth and treasure it in the belief that it is the subtle secret. What a great error! Blind idiots, what juice are you looking for in those dry bones?

Commentary:

‘They are deluded by names and try to attain it by depending on them’ means that people try to approach enlightenment by acquiring a lot of knowledge. This is why they are attached to the Sutras or the words of late old monks. Even today, there are people who memorise a whole Sutra from cover to cover and some who copy a Sutra thousands of times. In fact, the historical Buddha cautioned his disciplines not to cling to his words by saying, “Not a word have I said so far.” It is not by piling up or accumulating knowledge but rather by grasping a single word or a phrase that we can attain enlightenment. So, Rinzai compared seeking enlightenment through knowledge to looking for juice in dry bones.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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