present – Page 2 – Zen Fools

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, Koan, master, Meditation, Mind, Practice, present, Religion, root, self, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q173. Where do we go after we die?

March 10, 2016March 10, 2016 Zen Fools

A. If you are anxious to know where you will go after death, you should know where you are now. How could you expect to know your future which is invisible, not knowing the present right before your eyes? Once you know where you are standing now, you can know not just where you will go after death but also where you were before you were born. In order to know where you are, you, first of all, should know what you are. How could you know where you are, not knowing what you are?

Your true-self is not born and does not die. It has always been and will be the same without any change forever. It never changes at all. You are eternity itself. Death and birth are only illusions. The problem is that you are not aware of this truth because you can’t see things as they are. The end of Zen meditation is to experience the truth through your body.

Do you want to know where you will go after your death?
Watch carefully what you are stepping on.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, Meditation, Mind, mindful, mindfulness, Practice, present, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q139. Do you think that all kinds of meditation can lead to enlightenment like the saying, ‘All roads lead to Rome’?

November 17, 2015November 17, 2015 Zen Fools

A. It is true that all roads lead to Rome. However, why have most people who have tried to reach Rome failed to do so? Even if we take the right road but go in the wrong direction we will never get to Rome. Only when we take the right road in the right direction can we reach Rome. If we go in the wrong direction, then the harder we try the further we will get from Rome.

Which road we should take doesn’t matter since all roads lead to Rome. However, in order to take the right road in the right direction, we should first of all know exactly where we are. The most important and the first thing to do in order to reach your destination, is to find out where you are standing when you are lost in a strange place. When you can realise your location, then your destination, Rome will reveal itself.
©Boo Ahm

Buddhism, Enlightenment, illusion, Meditation, moment, now, present, root, Zen

Q128. How can I live now?

October 22, 2015October 21, 2015 Zen Fools

A. In brief you can live now if you do away with ‘now’. ‘Living now’ mentioned here means living out of the trap of illusions. You should realise the word ‘now’ is an illusion. Only when the illusions of present, past and future disappear can you live now. As long as you keep the illusion of now, you can never experience ‘living now’.

When the thought of ‘present’ or ‘now’ occurs to you, trace your thinking back to its root where it comes from. As mentioned earlier, everything is from the same root. Once reaching there, you will realise not just that you are the root itself but also that everything including present, past and future is nothing but an illusion created in and by you, the root. Then you will perceive that you are eternity itself. That is to live now all the time.

How can I live now?
Get out of now.
How can I get out of it?
Take a close look at its root.