Photography – Page 7

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Q304. My life is still full of troublesome problems even though I practice Zen meditation. How can I be perfectly free from them?

January 10, 2017January 10, 2017 Zen Fools

A. There is no one who has no problems at all in the world. For a joke, it is said that even Buddha and God have a lot of troubles all the time because people don’t follow them and do a lot of bad things against their teachings. If you were perfectly free from troubles, the monotony of life might be your serious trouble.

You should know that Zen practice doesn’t change what happens to you but your view of what happens to you. As mentioned repeatedly earlier, everything is empty and neutral. Whether it is good or bad, useful or harmful, is in the eye of the beholder. Try to see everything as neutral even though you have not realised the truth. Why don’t you see your problems as good omens of good fortune to come? Why don’t you think that you are paying in advance for what you will enjoy later? When your view is changed, your thoughts are changed. When your thoughts are changed, your acts are changed. When your acts are changed, what happens to you will also be changed.

Student: “How can I get rid of enemies?”

Master: “Why don’t you make them your friends?”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, Koan, master, Meditation, Photography, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q303. Student: “How can we describe the true-self exactly?”

January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 Zen Fools

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

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, master, Meditation, Photography, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q302. Do masters still have the same emotion as we do?

January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 Zen Fools

A. They feel things in the same way sentient beings feel: They are hungry when they don’t have food, feel cold in winter and hot in summer. They are angry at the sight of unjust things, feel happy when seeing good things and feel sympathetic with poor people or animals in suffering. Without such feelings, how would they have compassion for sentient beings?

The difference between the enlightened and sentient beings is how to accept or deal with such feelings. Sentient beings are controlled by such feelings because they don’t know the truth that everything is empty, while the enlightened never let such feelings run their life since they are aware of the truth. How the enlightened handle such feelings is compared to a clean mirror. A mirror reflects black colour when a black thing comes and red colour when a red thing comes, but it never becomes black or red. In other words, they can see things as if seeing a movie. While seeing a movie, they feel sad, happy and angry, but they come back to their usual emotion after the movie.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, illusion, Meditation, Photography, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q301. What is the difference between form and emptiness?

January 4, 2017January 4, 2017 Zen Fools

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

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, Koan, master, meditaion, Photography, root, self, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q300. Student: “What is the true self like?”

January 2, 2017January 2, 2017 Zen Fools

A. Master: “It is not the shape of male or female.”

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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

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, master, Meditation, Mind, moment, Photography, root, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q296. How is it possible to remove all at once and not gradually the illusions that we have made up for decades?

December 22, 2016December 22, 2016 Zen Fools

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

Bible, Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, illusion, Meditation, Photography, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q295. Shouldn’t I remove not only illusions but also the true-self since illusions are the true-self?

December 20, 2016December 20, 2016 Zen Fools

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

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, master, Meditation, Photography, Practice, root, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q293. Is it possible to transmit enlightenment to other people?

December 16, 2016December 16, 2016 Zen Fools

A. ‘Transmit enlightenment’ and ‘Transmit dharma’ are very common sayings in Zen. These, however, are very incorrect expressions that can bring about misunderstanding. Enlightenment is neither a physical matter nor a type of knowledge that we can give and take in the way that we can do with gold, or the four rules of arithmetic.

Suppose that there is a person who, not knowing that he is already part of the Earth, wishes to go to the Earth. As a result of your efforts to help him, one day he realises the truth that he is part of the Earth that he has been so anxious to reach. You can say to him, “At last you have now realised the truth that you are part of the Earth.” Likewise, saying ‘You’ve now realised dharma,’ usually while giving a symbolic thing like a piece of writing or a robe, is said to be the transmission of dharma. The bowl and robe given to his student by Bodhidharma is a good example of this. Therefore, ‘Transmit dharma’ doesn’t mean to transfer dharma but rather to approve a student’s realisation of dharma.

Student: “How can I receive enlightenment?”

Master: “You should have no hands.”

©Boo Ahm

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, master, Meditation, Mind, Photography, Practice, student, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

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.

December 14, 2016December 14, 2016 Zen Fools

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

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, Koan, master, Meditation, Photography, Practice, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q291. Student: “How can I become one with the universe?”

December 11, 2016December 10, 2016 Zen Fools

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’.