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
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
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
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
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
A. There is no fixed best posture for Zen meditation even though sitting upright is commonly said to be the best posture, especially for novices. The best posture is the posture that can enable you to focus all your attention to your question.
Student: “What is the best posture for Zen practice?”
Master: “Don’t sit. Don’t stand. Don’t lie down.”
Student: “What posture shall I take then?”
Master: “Any posture that helps you focus on the question is the best because your true-self neither sits, lies, nor stands.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “It’s in the Buddha hall.”
Student: “Isn’t it just a statue made of clay?”
Master: “Yes, it is.”
Student: “What is Buddha then?”
Master: “It’s in the Buddha hall.”
Commentary:
It is a top secret.
Keep away all your acquaintances when looking and listening.
Look and listen by yourself.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A.Fear is a very natural and instinctive feeling we have in order to protect ourselves. Its role is to warn us of danger that has or will come so that we may get ready to cope with it. It is like a sentry. If it were not for the feeling of fear, we would take less care of ourselves and therefore be more likely to lose our lives earlier by taking more reckless actions and having more accidents. In that sense, fear is very essential and useful for our survival.
However, sometimes fear itself can be more dangerous and harmful than the danger that it warns us of. In other words, you are more threatened by your sentry than by the danger itself. This is a good instance of showing how we are deluded by illusions.
Therefore, the best way to deal with it is to try to see fear as it is by tracing it back to its root, keeping in mind that everything is an empty illusion.
Student: “Sir, I am very afraid. How can I remove my fear?”
Master: “Bring it to me and I will keep it.”
Student: “I can’t find it anywhere.”
Master: “Then your fear is already removed.”
A. It has neither a figure nor a root, but it is active all the time without staying anywhere. When you go, it makes your body go, when you sit down, it makes your body sit down, and whatever you do, speaking or keeping silent, it makes your body do it.
Although it moves in countless ways, it has no fixed rule. The harder you look for it, the farther away it is, and the harder you try to obtain it, the more you forsake it. It is with you at this moment as usual, and you can’t separate from it even for a second. The problem is that you don’t recognise it. So, it is called an open secret.
What is it that is making your body read this writing now? Once you realise what on earth it is and what it is like, you will have completed your practice.
Student: “What is the true-self?”
Master: “Pardon?”
Student: “What is the true-self?”
Master: “Nothing else other than it.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “It is not difficult to say, but I wonder if you will believe what I say.”
Student: “Of course, I will believe what you say.”
Master: “I am your son.”
Commentary:
Master’s answer breaks all the world into pieces.
Who is master’s mother when he is older than his father?
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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