A. Master: Not ill.
Q. Student: What is it that is not ill when you are ill?
A. Master: Ouch! Ouch!
Commentary:
Master reveals himself naked when he who is not ill cries, “Ouch! Ouch!”
Why don’t you see him instead of hearing “Ouch! Ouch!”?
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. Hasten past where you are not.
Don’t stay where you are.
Commentary:
Shall I move now or not?
Watch carefully what you are stepping on.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. Everyday mind.
Commentary:
What is everyday mind?
Don’t say you don’t know it.
Happiness, sadness, anger, cooking, chatting, drinking and so on.
Everything is from it.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
Master: Two plus three is five.
Student: I know that, too.
Master: Then you are a master, too.
Student: I didn’t ask you about numbers.
Master: I didn’t talk about numbers, either.
Commentary:
Master is pointing to the moon with his finger.
Why aren’t you looking at the moon but the finger?
If I were the student, I would say, “You are wrong, sir. Two plus three is seven.”
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. Master: A piece of cake.
Student: How does it taste?
Master: Bitter.
Student: What happens when we eat it?
Master: All die.
Commentary:
How mysterious!
It tastes bitter and kills all.
Why do people struggle to eat it?
When all die, all illusions die.
When all illusions die, you are eternity itself.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. The East gate, the West gate, the South gate and the North gate.
Commentary:
Don’t be pulled around to the four gates in vain. His answer is so detailed as to make people confused.
If I were asked the question, I would say, “Take a close listen.”
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. It is not because things don’t show themselves as they are, but our eyes and ears are veiled by illusions that have been accumulated since our birth.
I remember reading an article about implanting false memories. It said it is possible to manipulate and create false happy memories in mice during sleep, adding that they succeeded in creating false and happy memories in mice. The fact is that numerous information or knowledge has been implanted in us and the process is ongoing even at this moment; it will continue to our death and remain in us in the name of memory.
Memories become verbalised or are turned into languages for expression and conveyance, which makes languages essential to our life. Over time, we are so used to our languages that we can’t stop identifying words with our memories. A word always reminds us of a set memory associated with the word, which we are so accustomed to that we take words for reality. For example, a lady was so shocked to hear the terrible news that her daughter, studying abroad, had been killed by a car accident that she passed out and got sick in bed. A few days later, the news turned out to be wrong and she found that her daughter was in fact alive and could be around as usual soon. The lady was shocked and fainted because she took the words about her daughter for reality regardless of the truth. This is a good instance that shows how we mistake words for reality. In short, to identify words with reality is called ‘illusion,’ ‘form,’ or ‘boundary’ in Zen.
In our life, we not only get illusions implanted in ourselves but also implant them in others, and we often manipulate them in order that we may implant the ones that seem favourable to us. What counts here is that, when making our decisions, or choices, like whether a certain illusion is favourable to us or not, we depend on the illusions implanted in us. In a word, illusions create illusions, and we are so addicted to illusions that we cannot tell them apart from our reality, that is to say, we are trapped in the world of illusion. The purpose of Zen is to free people from the trap of illusion.
Of course, our life requires a lot of illusions and our education might mean to provide students with illusions that are thought to be necessary and useful in their future. Who dares to deny the fact that all the civilisations modern people enjoy rest on illusions? However, languages can be an obstacle in seeing things as they are, and conveying memories as they are, just as water gets in the way of a ship’s speeding up – though it is essential in the ship’s moving.
The purpose of Zen, it can be said, is to enable people to enjoy both the world of illusion and the world free of illusion at once.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
Master: “Did you have lunch?”
Student: “Yes, sir.”
Master: “Why don’t you wash your dish?”
Commentary:
The master was very kind but too talkative.
If I had been the student, I would have thrown my dish at him.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
Whether a new born baby or an old person,
There is no one but answers your question.
Whether dead or alive,
There is no one but answers your question.
Whether a young flower or a broken bike,
There is nothing but answers your question.
Your eyes, your ears and even your mouth are full of the answers.
Oh, not hearing the answers is as difficult as hearing them.
Hearing and seeing nothing, you would be said to know the answer.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. In fact it is beyond description and can’t be reached through words, but it is not separate from words and can’t be explained without words. When reading a text, or hearing a talk about it, you should take it as more than words.
It is called the truth, the mind, the true nature, the true self, or the Buddha in Buddhism. In Christianity, it is referred to as the truth, the spirit in you, the word, the lord, or God – as John 8:32 says, “Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Everything, whether living or non-living, or whether saints or sentient beings, belongs to nothing but the truth. The truth is neither blue nor yellow, and has neither any frame nor any form. It is neither existing nor non-existent, and since it is boundless like the empty air, not only does it have no inside and no outside but also it can’t be measured. It is with us all the time, and we can’t escape it even for a moment.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
Zen Fools 