A. Master: “If you describe it, you are wrong.”
Commentary:
If you cannot describe it, you are also wrong.
What he does speaks louder than what he speaks.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Category: emptiness
Q301. What is the difference between form and emptiness?
A. No difference at all. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. Whether it is form or emptiness is in the eye of the beholder. The problem is that we are so addicted to seeing things only as form that we can’t see them as emptiness.
It is like seeing a golden lion only as a lion without knowing that it is gold. The purpose of Zen meditation is to be able to see both the lion and gold, or form and emptiness, at the same time and to realise that the essence of the lion is gold, and that the essence, gold, never changes even if the form of the lion is changed into whatever other form.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q300. Student: “What is the true self like?”
A. Master: “It is not the shape of male or female.”
Commentary:
Don’t measure others by your yardstick.
It is the shape of male and female.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathawa
Q296. How is it possible to remove all at once and not gradually the illusions that we have made up for decades?
A. Our practice is like trying to brighten an old room that has been dark since it was made, even though it is installed with a nice electric light. We are looking for the light switch of the old room that has never been lit so far. The key problem is that we have no idea of the switch; where it is and what it is like, because we have never used it, or even seen it before. We can be said to be fumbling for the switch in the dark room. It may take time to find it, but it doesn’t take time to lighten the room once you find the switch. The moment you switch on the light, all the darkness will disappear. Likewise, all illusions disappear at the moment you attain enlightenment.
Student: “How can I remove all the illusions in an instant that I have made up for decades?”
Master: “It takes no time and no effort to remove them because they are empty.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q295. Shouldn’t I remove not only illusions but also the true-self since illusions are the true-self?
A. Of course, you should remove the true-self, too if you can. You should remove not only the true-self but also your mother and father. Only when have you removed all of them can you see the true-self and the true form of your parents.
Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross in my way, will not be worthy of me.” Ancient Masters also said, “If you are to see the Buddha, kill Buddha.”
Why did Jesus tell people to hate their parents while saying that we should love our neighbours as ourselves? Why did Masters talk people into killing Buddha while teaching how to see Buddha? Both advised us to remove names, which are just imaginary lines.
When we say ‘the true-self’, the name ‘true-self’ is not the true-self but only a label used to express the true-self. The more important a thing is to you, the more difficult its name is to remove. So, Masters would say that the more reasonable a comment sounds, the more firmly it will stick to you.
You should remove all names, or labels, whatever they are and no matter how important they look to you.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q294. Student: “It is said that everything is empty to the enlightened. Is Bodhidharma enlightened?”
A. Master: “Empty.”
Commentary:
What counts is not whether Bodhidharma is enlightened but whether you are.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q292. During practice I can keep my mind silent without any thoughts but I can neither stop thinking nor keep my mind calm when not practising.
A. Trying to keep your mind calm by stopping thoughts from arising without knowing where they are from, is like trying to remove weeds by cutting their leaves, while leaving their roots intact. Just as you will be bothered again by new weeds from the remaining roots sooner or later, so you cannot get permanent calmness without realising the root of your thoughts, or illusions. Then, the silent state with no thoughts becomes another illusion.
Masters’ words “keep your mind calm by stopping thinking” has two meanings: One is before enlightenment and the other is after enlightenment. The former is to have less thoughts by focusing all your attention to your question. The latter, the end of Zen, doesn’t mean literally to stop thinking but not to be deluded by thoughts through realising the truth that everything is empty. Once realising the truth, your mind becomes calm by itself regardless of whether you think or not, because you are not deluded by your thoughts. Masters would say, “You may have as many weeds as you want, but never let them take root.” Then you can enjoy calmness all the time no matter how many thoughts you may have because you are aware that they are empty.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q291. Student: “How can I become one with the universe?”
A. Master: “You should melt everything and make it you.”
Student: “How can I do it?”
Master: “Make yourself melt into air.”
Commentary:
When there is no ‘I’, there is nothing that is not ‘I’.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q290. I have made it a rule to read the Diamond Sutra and Zen books every day for over ten years. Is this a good way?
A. It is said that going one kilometre by studying books is not as good as going one metre by practising. It’s because the former adds to illusions whereas the latter decreases them. The former regresses rather than advances us in Zen meditation. So, ancient masters would say, “Trying to attain enlightenment through books is like trying to pick the moon with a pole.”
Instead of spending so much time reading the Sutra and Zen books, I would like to advise you to allocate 90% of this time to practising meditation. The remaining 10% of this time can still be used for reading.
Whatever you do, wherever you are, you are practising well only if you keep questioning what is making you do what you are doing. Reading the Sutras for ten hours is not as good as drinking tea, or washing the dishes for an hour with the question in your mind.
Master: “What did you do last night?”
Student: “I read the Diamond Sutra.”
Master: “How much did you read?”
Student: “I read three pages.”
Master: “You didn’t see the Sutra, let alone read it. The true Sutra has no pages.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q289. Why should we give without expecting anything in return?
A. When you give help to someone, you should not expect anything in return for it but rather forget it. If you do expect anything, then it is not help but business disguised as help. This may result in your harming yourself later.
If you remember the favour you bestowed on someone and expect something in return, you are more likely to feel disappointed, or even betrayed by his refusal when you ask him for help than you would be if you did not give him any help. You are also likely to be less grateful when you are helped because you are apt to take his help for granted, rather than thank him for it, while thinking of it as repayment of the debt he owes you for your help. In the end, your help will cause you anger or unhappiness, or deprive you of happiness. It’s like your hurting yourself.
So, ancient masters always advised people to do without doing. When you realise that everything is empty and think that your help is also empty, you can be said to help without helping. As an expedient means to teach how to do without doing, they would say, “Don’t even let your right hand know what it did, not to mention your left hand.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Zen Fools 