Category: Uncategorized

Q. Is it possible for someone who does not know Buddhism or Buddha to experience the true-Self?

A. Of course, it is. To experience the true-Self is nothing special. The true-Self is not the exclusive possession of any single religious group. Instead, it is the root of not just all religions, but also all the universe itself. Each religion has given it different names such as God, Allah, Buddha and so on. The true-Self is another name of Buddha.

To experience the true-Self means that Buddhists experience what Buddha, the object of their worship is, that Christians experience what God, the object of their worship is and that unbelievers experience what the essence of their being is. This is referred to as attaining enlightenment in Buddhism and receiving the Holy Spirit in Christianity.

We should remember that the purpose of all religions is not to make people enslaved by gods created their imagination but to help them to realise the very essence of their being. A religion is just a means to realise this and nothing more.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenfools http://ow.ly/i/CDosY

Huineng Doesn’t Understand

Zen master Huineng of Mount Caoxi was once asked by a monastic, “Who has grasped the significance of Huangmei, the Fifth Patriarch?”

Huineng said, “Those who understand the Buddhadharma have it.” The monastic said, “Do you have it, Master?” Huineng said, “No, I do not have it.” The monastic said, “How come you don’t have it?” Huineng said, “Because I don’t understand the Buddhadharma.”

Student: “How come master Huineng didn’t have the significance of the Fifth Patriarch, Huangmei?”
Master: “Because he knew what the significance is.”
Student: “What is the significance?”
Master: “It is not what can be gained or lost.”
Student: “Why did Huineng say that he didn’t understand Buddhadharma?”
Master: “Because you misunderstand him.”

Commentary:
Having a precious thing, however precious it may be, is not as good as having nothing.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenfools http://ow.ly/i/CzObo

Hsin Shin Ming: “22. If there is even a trace of right and wrong, the mind is lost in confusion.”

As mentioned before, the truth, the true-Self is oneness as emptiness. There is nothing that is not the truth. Oneness, or emptiness, is the state without any labels or imaginary lines. Any trace of right and wrong means making discriminations, which is drawing imaginary lines, or labelling ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. ‘The mind is lost in confusion’ means being deluded by illusions. So, the scripture means ‘If you make even a little discrimination, you become deluded by illusions’.

However, you should not mistake this scripture as meaning that you should not discriminate between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ at all in your life. If you are attached to not discriminating between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in order to avoid making right and wrong in your life, that itself is to make another trace of right and wrong. This is because you think that judging ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is wrong, and not making such a judgement is right.

Having no trace of right and wrong is not to stop judging ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but knowing that your judgement is empty in essence. Don’t hesitate, but feel free to judge ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Hesitating, or avoiding, judging ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is the evidence that your mind is in confusion. No matter how many traces of right and wrong there may be, they don’t matter at all if you know that they are all empty.

Student: “How can I have no trace of right and wrong?”
Master: “You should know that right is not different from wrong, but one with it.”

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenfools http://ow.ly/i/CvdMi

Q. What does ‘leave home’ mean?

A. ‘Leave home’ usually means to become a monk or a nun because one is supposed to stay in a temple for good after becoming a monk. However, the real meaning of it is to attain enlightenment.

Our worldly life is compared to a burning house that will collapse sooner or later. Sentient beings are likened to children who are involved in playing in the house without knowing the fact that the house is burning and that it will fall down soon. ‘Leave home’ means to get out of the burning house, which means to attain enlightenment.

The purpose of Zen meditation is to get out of the burning house, whether we are monks or laymen. If you are enlightened, you have left home even though you may live as a layman in mundane world. If you are not enlightened, you are still in the burning house even though you are living a monastic life in a temple remote from worldly life.

Student: “How can I get out of the burning house?”
Master: “Don’t move even a step.”

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/Cr7lO

Niutou and the Fourth Ancestor

Nanquan was once asked by a monastic, “Before Niutou met the Fourth Ancestor, why did hundreds of birds hold flowers in their beaks and offer them to him?” Nanquan said, “With each step, Niutou climbed the Buddha ladder.” The monastic said, “Why didn’t the birds offer flowers after Niutou met the Fourth Ancestor?” Nanquan said, “Even if he had not climbed the Buddha ladder, he’s still on Master Nanquan’s single road.”

Student: “What did Nanquan mean by saying, ‘With each step, Niutou climbed the Buddha ladder’?”
Master: “He meant that Niutou was serving Buddha.”
Student: “What did Nanquan mean by saying, ‘Even if he had not climbed the Buddha ladder, he’s still on Master Nanquan’s single road’?”
Master: “He meant that Niutou killed Buddha.”

Commentary:
However precious a thing you may have, it is not as good as having nothing.
However great a thing you may say, it is not as good as keeping silent.
It’s because Buddha dislikes saying and having things so much that he runs away the moment you have or say even ‘Buddha’.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/CnNxF

Do we have to be bound by rules after enlightenment?

As mentioned repeatedly earlier, enlightenment is to be able to see things as empty by realising that everything is empty. When you can see everything as empty, there is no one to be bound and no rule to bind because both are all empty as well. The final purpose of enlightenment is to free yourself from the yokes of illusions through realising that all the illusions binding your life are empty.

However, don’t misunderstand by thinking that you can feel free to violate precepts or commandments. Once enlightened, you don’t feel disturbed by obeying them since you see them as empty and find it so easy and natural to obey them that you feel as if you didn’t obey them. This is to free yourself from the illusions of precepts.

Student: “What is the best way to obey the precepts?”
Master: “You should have no precepts to obey.”

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/C1Whe

How should I pray for my mother who is ill in bed?

Whom are you going to pray to, God or Buddha? What is God? What is Buddha? Why do you pray to him? Do you pray to him because he is an almighty being and love or compassion itself? Then, you don’t have to bother to pray to him since he is always not only supposed to know your mum’s situation because there is nothing that he doesn’t know, but also supposed to help her regardless of your prayer, since he is not so biased or narrow minded that he helps only those who please him and neglects those who don’t.

If you really want to pray, don’t pray for your mother but pray to her. Pray to her by serving and pleasing her in the same way that you try to please God or Buddha. Take what she does and says as the answer to your prayer and try to understand it. That is true prayer and true practice at the same time.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/C1W77

Yuezhou’s Path to Nirvana

Yuezhou Qianfeng was once asked by a monastic, “They say that you have one path to nirvana. I wonder, what is the path?” Yuezhou drew a line with his staff and said, “It’s right here.”

Student: “Why did the master draw a line with his staff when he was asked about the path to nirvana?”
Master: “He showed both the path to nirvana and nirvana itself.”
Student: “What is the path? What is the nirvana?”
Master: “Take the path quickly and you will reach there.”

Commentary:
When what the master said is understood, that’s nirvana, but if it is not, that is the path.”

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/C1W1a

I am angry when I see that my daughter is like me.

Your problem is not that your daughter resembles you but that you hate yourself. Your hatred for your daughter is not for her but for yourself. If you loved yourself, the fact that your daughter resembles you would make you happy since you can be near someone who appeals to you. The solution to your question is to love yourself.

In order to love yourself, you ought to above all know what you are. You also should know that what you have hated so far is not yourself but the illusions of you. You have been deluded by the illusion of you because you don’t know what you are.

Ask yourself what you are when your body is not you and you will realise that the essence of your being is much greater and holier than you can imagine. Keeping this question is Zen meditation, which will help you mitigate your hatred and turn it into love for yourself even before finding the answer.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/C1VOS

Hsin Shin Ming: “21. Do not hold to dualistic views, and don’t follow anything to find the Way, the true-Self.”

Dualistic views means discriminating views or illusions, and ‘do not hold to dualistic views’ implies ‘do not cling to discriminating views or illusions. ‘Don’t follow anything’ means ‘don’t follow illusions’. This scripture means ‘Don’t discriminate and don’t follow illusions while mistaking them for the Way’.

When you stop discriminating, you can see everything as it is. To see everything as it is, is to see everything as empty. When everything is empty, there is no one to follow and nothing to be followed. If you happen to think that there is anything for you to cling to, however tiny, it is the evidence that you are still holding on to dualistic views and far from seeing the Way. So, in order to prevent us from clinging to illusions, ancient masters would say that all the Sutras were devil’s talk and that we should kill even Buddha and all Patriarchs.

Student: “How can I stop following things?”
Master: “There is nothing to follow.”
Student: “I still don’t understand.”
Master: “You are following my words now.”

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/C2Yvb