A. Master: “Because you try to see it.”
Commentary:
Cut the tendon in the air and you can see it clearly.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Category: Meditation
Q263. What is emptiness?
A. Emptiness is not void but being both existent and non-existent at the same time, as it were, before division into ‘being existent’ and ‘being non-existent’. That is a state or an appearance without any imaginary lines. When asked what emptiness is like, some masters would say that it is full and others that it is active. All you can feel is emptiness. Even your body is emptiness. There is nothing that is not empty. If you follow emptiness, you will forsake it.
Student: “What is emptiness?”
Master: “Don’t forsake it.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q262. The phrase ‘Striving to reach London while staying in London’ doesn’t make any sense to me. What does it mean?
A. The purpose of Zen meditation is to experience emptiness in person. London is a symbol of emptiness and reaching London means to experience emptiness. It means, in other words, that we are trying to experience emptiness while being emptiness itself. Reaching emptiness is realising the truth that we ourselves are emptiness, not reaching it by moving towards it.
In order to see whether you grasp these words clearly, ask yourself the following question.
Student: “How do you feel when you realise emptiness?”
Master: “I’ll be wrong if I answer your question.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q261. Master: “When a guest comes, you should take care of him, but when a thief comes, you should turn him away.”
A. Student: “How shall I take care of a guest?”
Master: “Don’t welcome him.”
Student: “How should I turn away a thief?”
Master: “Don’t reject him.”
Commentary:
If there is anyone you should serve or fight against, you are still being deluded by illusions.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q260. Why do you think that some Christians and Catholics deny and even detest homosexuals?
A. If they think that God is always perfect and everything is created by Him, they should accept the fact that homosexuals are created by God as well. To deny them is to deny God. If God, as they say, is perfect, He never makes a mistake. Then everything made by Him is perfect. To speak ill of homosexuals for being what they are is to find fault with what is created by God and blame Him for His error. That means that they don’t believe in God’s perfection.
When God made homosexuals what they are, He had His intention. What they are is the exact expression of God’s intention. The reason why they deny and detest homosexuals is that they are still lacking faith in God and don’t know His intention. Finding fault with and even cursing the perfect work by the greatest artist reveals their inability to appreciate His masterpiece, which runs counter to their belief that God is perfect.
Instead of showing their own self-contradiction, they had better try to know what God created homosexuals for.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q259. How can I grasp the core meaning of the Sutras?
A. What do you think the core teaching of the Sutras is? It is enlightenment. What all the Sutras say is nothing but how to attain enlightenment and what enlightenment is like, nothing else. If you are to grasp the core teaching of Buddha, don’t look for it in the Sutras. The Sutras are only like a map or an arrow pointing to your destination. They are not the place itself that you want to reach.
Don’t think of Zen meditation as being apart from the Sutras. Zen meditation is an expedient means to grasp the core teaching of the Sutras. The Sutras are maps and Zen is to move towards the destination indicated by the maps. So, the best way to grasp the core meaning of the Sutras is to experience what the Sutras say through practice.
Student: “How can I grasp the core meaning of the Sutras?”
Master: “Discard all the Sutras.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q258. Master: “When a guest comes, you should take care of him, but when a thief comes, you should turn him away.”
A. Student: “What is a guest?”
Master: “Just passed by.”
Student: “What is a thief?”
Master: “A guest.”
Commentary:
What you think is a guest is a thief, and what you think is a thief is a guest.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q257. I have been a Christian for over 20 years and believed that God is perfect. Why does He make my life so troublesome?
A. If you have true faith in God and His perfection, you should not think that your life is troublesome. Thinking that your life is problematic is contrary to the truth that God never makes any mistakes since He is perfect. When He made you what you are, He had his intention. What you are is the exact expression of his intention. The reason why you think that your life is spoiled and troublesome is that you don’t understand his intention. Instead of blaming God for making your life troublesome, you had better try to know what God intends you to be like.
Student: “Why does God make my life so hard?”
Master: “Why don’t you ask God in person?”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q256. What does ‘being like a mirror’ mean?
A. An ancient master said, “Everybody has a mirror. An unenlightened person’s life is like a monkey looking in a mirror, but an enlightened person’s is like a mirror looking at a monkey.” A monkey, when looking in a mirror, mistakes its reflection as another monkey and tries in vain to do something with it. However, a mirror, when something or someone is before it, just reflects the thing or the person as it is or as they are. It neither names, evaluates nor loves or hates it or them. In other words, it never discriminates. So, ‘being like a mirror’ represents the undiscriminating mind of the enlightened.
Student: “How do you feel when you are like a mirror?”
Master: “I become a big liar if I answer your question.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q255. Student: “How can I distinguish the true-self from an illusion?”
A. Master: “What you think is the true-self is an illusion and what you think is an illusion is the true-self.”
Commentary:
Both the true-self and an illusion are illusions.
It is the true-self that tries to distinguish the true-self from an illusion.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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