Author: Zen Fools

A. We say that you can hear and see what you could not before. Buddhist scriptures, or the koans, Zen questions that previously sounded like nonsense can start to sound reasonable. Ordinary sounds you are used to hearing can sound quite different; positive, fresh and new. For example, your spouse’s calling you ‘Darling’, your dog’s barking, or a bird’s chirping sometimes sound so impressive that you can burst into tears. You can have similar experiences when you see things. With such changes, you can feel that your life is more stable than before.

However, you should not cling to new experiences but leave them alone, no matter how nice they are. Trying to have the same experience again is the last thing you should do since that would be to run counter to your practice. Just keep practising as usual.

©Boo Ahm

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A student asked his master “What is the Buddha?” The master replied that he did not know. The student asked, “If you do not know this then what do you know?” The master replied, “I do not know what the Buddha is, but I know the flower in the garden.”

Student: “What did the master mean by this?”

Master: “He made a kind and detailed answer.”

Student: “Why did the master say that he didn’t know?”

Master: “Because you drink only water and leave milk alone.”

Commentary:

Do not mistake a large cheque that can change your life for a piece of toilet paper.

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To explain it from the point of the Sutras and Treatises, the Dharmakaya is the fundamental. The Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya are the functions.

Commentary:

It is said that the Buddha consists of the Dharmakaya Buddha, the Sambhogakaya Buddha and the Nirmanakaya Buddha. However, they are neither separate nor different from each other but just one, the Trinity.

For better understanding, let us compare the Buddha to the Earth. The Dharmakaya Buddha can be compared to the Earth, and the Sambhogakaya Buddha can be compared to actions, movement and the Nirmanakaya Buddha can be compared to forms such mountains, rivers, oceans, rain, air, trees, people, animals and so on, which keep appearing and disappearing endlessly in the middle of ceaseless changes and movements. In other words, the changes and movements of these things are the function of the Earth. That is why the Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya are the functions of Dharmakaya.

The Buddha in Buddhism means a perfect being, an entity that contains everything, including the universe, without exception. Then, everything we see and hear is all the Buddha, and we can see and hear nothing else but the Buddha. Even we ourselves are the Buddha and what we say is the Buddha’s talk, how we look is the Buddha’s form and how we act is the Buddha’s function. However, we have not realised this truth because we are deluded by illusions.

©Boo Ahm

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A. It might sound unrealistic, but it is very realistic and is an essential attitude we Buddhists should take. There is a saying that if you attain enlightenment, all the universe also attains enlightenment along with you. This means that when you get enlightened, everything looks and sounds perfect and you realise that everything is the true-Self, the Buddha.

This is why ancient masters would say that if there is even a single tiny thing remaining as a sentient being, you are far from being enlightened. So, ‘to uphold a bodhisattva’s intention to support every sentient being to free themselves until the end of time’ should be interpreted as ‘to uphold your intention to attain enlightenment until the end of time’.

©Boo Ahm

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Nanquan said to the assembly, “I don’t know about the existence of all the buddhas in the three worlds, but I do know about the existence of badgers and white oxen.”

Student: “Nanquan is a master. Why doesn’t he know about the existence of all the Buddhas while knowing about the existence of badgers and white oxen?”

Master: “You are a practitioner. Why don’t you know me whilst knowing badgers and white oxen?”

Commentary:

Seeing a single thing right before you is seeing everything right.

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One asked: “What is the Land of Three Eyes?”

The master said: “I enter with you the realm of utter purity, wear the robe of purity and expound the Dharmakaya Buddha. Or, we enter the realm of non-differentiation and expound the Sambhogakaya Buddha. Or again, we enter the realm of deliverance, wear the robe of radiance and speak of the Nirmanakaya Buddha. The Land of Three Eyes depends on changes.”

Commentary:

‘Enter the realm of utter purity’ means to enter the Pure Land, or become the Buddha. ‘Wear the robe of purity’ means to live free from illusions. ‘Enter the realm of non-differentiation’ means to stop discriminating. ‘Enter the realm of deliverance’ implies to attain enlightenment, ‘Wear the robe of radiance’ means to act without being deluded by illusions, or without clinging to any illusions.

By saying the Land of Three Eyes, Master Rinzai meant the three Buddhas: the Dharmakaya Buddha, the Sambhogakaya Buddha, and the Nirmanakaya Buddha. Although there are various explanations and names, they are, in fact, just one and what it is referred to as depends on your view. That is why the master said that the Land of Three Eyes depends on changes, by which he meant our changing perspectives.

Therefore, his point is that we can attain enlightenment, or become the Buddha by ceasing to be deluded by illusions through stopping our discrimination. Then, where we are is the Pure Land, and our speech expounds the Buddha, and our action is the radiance of the Buddha.

©Boo Ahm

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A. Do not be confused into thinking that there is nothing at all. If there were nothing at all, what would it be that is asking this question now? Can you say that there is no you, while you are typing this question? If there is nothing and no one, then who is asking, or typing this question? The purpose of Zen meditation is to realise what is asking this question. To realise it is no other than to attain Nirvana and to be liberated.

In order to realise it, you should not be deluded by words such as ‘soul’, ‘God’, ‘Nirvana’ and so on. They are just imaginary labels and not real. That is why masters would say that there is no soul, even no Buddha and that we should kill the Buddha if we see him. When you are free from being fooled by words, you can realise what Nirvana is through experiencing it in person.

©Boo Ahm

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Longya was once asked by a monastic, “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from India?”

Longya said, “I will tell you when the stone tortoise speaks.”

Student: “Hearing a tortoise speak makes no sense since it never speaks. What did Longya mean?”

Master: “Reading the sutras makes no sense, either because the Buddha said that he had said nothing.”

Commentary:

Hearing the tortoise speak is hearing what the Buddha did not say.

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A thought gives rise to the Three Worlds and turns into six illusions according to casual conditions. What is functioning at this moment is lacking nothing. In a split second you are free to enter the Pure Land and the impure land, enter Maitreya’s castle and enter the Land of Three Eyes (see Rinzai 87), which are no more than empty names.

Commentary:

’A thought gives rise to the Three Worlds and turns into six illusions according to casual conditions’ means that if you make an illusion, it bears or turns into countless illusions in no time according to what you see and hear. However, once you have realised what is functioning at this moment, you come to know that there is nothing else but that and it appears to be many because it is divided into multiple forms by the names, imaginary lines created by you. Then, not only can you be free to enter the Pure Land and the impure land and enter Maitreya’s castle and the Land of Three Eyes without moving even a step in a split second, but also be free to destroy and build them in a split second without moving any of your fingers since they are all just names.

Student: “What is functioning at this moment?”

Master: “What is asking the question?”

Student: “What is the Pure Land?”

Master: “Take a close look beneath your feet.”

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A. You seem to misunderstand Buddhism. If the fundamental premise of Buddhism were to remove all desires as you said, how could Buddha have had the desire to devote himself to help sentient beings? Without desire, how could we participate in charity activities and raise funds to aid war victims? Whatever we may do, the purpose of our doing is to meet our desires regardless of whether they are moral or not. Going to see a doctor when we are not well is also a kind of desire to stay alive. How could we live our lives without desire?

The Fundamental premise of Buddhism is not to remove all desires but to realise that everything, including desire, is empty. When we have realised that our desires are empty, we do not have to be so attached to them that we will harm others to meet our desires. We are not so proud and arrogant that we look down on others even if we succeed in meeting our desires. We need not feel frustrated when we fail to meet them.

In other words, Buddhist teaching is not that we must not have any desire, but that we should not be enslaved by our desires by realising that not only all our desires, but the objects of our desires are also empty.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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