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Xuefeng’s Rice Field

One day Xuefeng said to the assembly, “What we are talking about is like a rice field. It is dependent upon the people ploughing the fields and planting the seeds. Do not miss receiving this gift.”
Xuansha said, “Then what is the rice field itself?”
Xuefeng said, “Look!”
Xuansha said, “Although what you say is correct, I wouldn’t say it that way.”
Xuefeng said, “Then how would you say it?”
Xuansha said, “One by one, each and every person.”

Student: “What is the gift that Xuefeng mentioned?”
Master: “You already missed it.”
Student: “Why did Xuefeng say, ‘Look’ and Xuansha say, ‘One by one, each and every person’ to the same question?”
Master: “What is two plus three?”
Student: “Five.”
Master: “I wouldn’t say it that way.”
Student: “Then how would you say?”
Master: “One plus four, or six minus one.”

Commentary:
See what is the same beyond what looks different.
Hear what is the same beyond what sounds different.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Rinzai 23

Then the master said, “Whoever comes to me, I do not fail to recognise him. I know where he comes from. If he comes like this, it is as if he lost himself. If he does not come like this, it is as if he bound himself without ropes. Beware of random judgments.”

Commentary:
The scripture ‘Whoever comes to me, I do not fail to recognise him. I know where he comes from’ is similar to the scripture by Buddha in Diamond Sutra ‘I can see all sentient beings’ minds because their minds are not mind’. Buddha meant that he could see all sentient beings’ minds since he knew that they are all empty and could see them as empty. In other words, this means that Rinzai is never deluded by illusions, whoever comes to him, whatever they say and whatever they do because he can see everything as empty.

Realising that everything is empty is said to be attaining the eye of heaven, or the eye of wisdom with which you can see anything anytime, whatever it may be and no matter where it is. This means that when everything is empty, seeing a mug before you is not different form seeing a beautiful flower on a mountain hundreds of miles away, or a huge building in a city on the other side of the earth because they are all empty.

Rinzai said, “If he comes like this, it is as if he lost himself. If he does not come like this, it is as if he bound himself without ropes,” in order to check whether the monk could see everything as empty just as Rinzai himself could. He was asking, “Do you know that this is the true-Self you are anxious to see?” whilst revealing the true-Self. To prevent the monk from clinging to words, he added as a hint, “Beware of random judgement.”

Student: “If both ‘coming like this’ and ‘not coming like this’ are wrong, how should we come?”
Master: “Don’t make a random judgement but look beneath your feet.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Q. With the advancement of science, it seems likely that indefinite longevity will be possible sooner or later. If science advances limitlessly, isn’t God’s existence denied?

A. If as the Bible says, God is the creator of all things in the universe, then there is nothing that is not God’s will. Why don’t you think that not only the limitless advance of science but also the indefinite longevity of humans is the product of God’s will? Why do you think that God doesn’t want us to enjoy a long life? Christianity itself says that we should attain eternal life.

Why don’t you think that all these are evidence that proves God’s existence? All these are no other than evidence that God is not separate from but one with humanity, just as John 14:20 in the Bible says, “I am in you and you are in me.” This worry you are showing regarding the future of humanity is also not out of God’s will. You should rather try to know what God is than be worried that His existence is denied.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Panshan’s “Cut a Fine Piece”

Once Zen master Panshan went to the marketplace and overheard a customer speaking to the butcher. The customer said to the butcher, “Cut a fine piece for me. The butcher threw down his knife, folded his hands, and said, “Sir, is there any piece that is not fine?” Upon hearing these words, Panshan had an awakening.

Student: “How could Panshan have an awakening upon hearing the butcher saying, ‘Sir, is there any piece that is not fine?’?”
Master: “He saw the fine piece.”
Student: “Why couldn’t the butcher and the customer have an awakening even though they saw the same thing?”
Master: “Everybody can see it, but few can recognise it.”
Student: “What is the fine piece?”
Master: “It can’t be cut.”

Commentary:
The fine piece is sometimes hard, sometimes soft, sometimes tough, sometimes tender, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, sometimes long and sometimes short but it can’t be cut or broken.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Rinzai 22

One asked, “When the lay brother was treading the mill stone in the grinding room, where was he when he forgot to move his feet?”
The master replied, “Drowned in a deep spring.”

Commentary:
‘The lay brother’ here means Master Sun-do, one of the ancient Chinese masters. When he taught his students, he once said, “When I as a layman was treading the mill stone in the grinding room, I forgot to move my feet.”

The monk asked master Rinzai what state Master Sun-do had been in when he had forgotten to move his feet. When Rinzai answered this question by saying, “Drowned in a deep spring”, he compared Emptiness to a deep spring where there is no mill stone, no grinding room, no feet, no movement, no layman and no master.

Student: “What is the deep spring like?”
Master: “Bottomless.”
Student: “How does it taste?”
Master: “Bitter.”
Student: “What happens to those who drink it?”
Master: “All die.”
Student: “Who can drink it?”
Master: “Thank you for bringing it.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Q. What does ‘living in the present moment without living in the future or in the past’ mean? Is it the same as what Zen meditation pursues?

A. Don’t be deluded by a likely story. Who on earth can live in the past? If it were possible to live in the past, many old people would return to their past and enjoy their youth. If we could live in the future, many of us would visit the future and fix, or solve the problems that will happen in advance. If these things were possible, why wouldn’t we do them?

In fact, no one can do this. If you happen to try not to live in the future, or in the past, you are losing time making a futile effort. Even though you are suffering from the regret of your past, you are suffering in the present moment. Even if you spend time worrying about the future, it is in the present moment that you have a hard time worrying. No matter how hard you may struggle, you cannot escape the present moment.

What they mean is that you should pay all your attention to what you are doing at the moment without wasting your attention regretting the mistakes, or errors of your past, because they can’t be undone whatever you may do. Similarly, you should not worry about the future that is yet to come. To make a long story short, it means that you should pay all your attention just to what you are doing when you are doing something.

What Zen meditation pursues is to realise that time is just imaginary lines, not real and that there is no past, no present and no future and that you are eternity itself.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenmeditation #enlightened #enlightenment #zenfools #photography

Zhaozhou’s “Carry It with You”

Yanyang Shanxin asked Zhaozhou, “How is it when nothing comes up?”
Zhaozhou said, “Cast it off.”
Yanyang said, “When nothing comes up, how can you cast it off?”
Zhaozhou said, “Then carry it with you.”

Student: “What should we cast off when nothing comes up?”
Master: “Nothing.”
Student: “How can we cast off nothing?”
Master: “Without nothing, how could you ask me about nothing?”

Commentary:
Thinking that nothing comes up is the other side of the illusion that something comes up.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenmeditation #enlightened #enlightenment #zenfools #photography

Rinzai 21

When Rinzai was at the High Seat, a monk asked, “What about the edge of the sword?”
The master cried out, “Dangerous, dangerous!”
The monk hesitated.
The master hit him.

Commentary:
The question ‘What about the edge of the sword?’ asked by the monk is the same as ‘What is the true-Self like?’ since the sword symbolises true-Self, which is also called the sword of wisdom. To answer the monk’s question, the master showed the sword by crying out, “Dangerous, dangerous!” At the same time, by saying, “Dangerous, dangerous!” he implied that the sword can be dangerous when the monk doesn’t recognise it while holding it in his hands, as though a three-year-old child is playing with a sharp knife without realising what it is that he has in his hands. As expected, the monk hesitated and was at a loss for a response since he failed to see the sword Rinzai showed, or missed what the master meant. Then, master Rinzai had the kindness to give him another answer by hitting him. He was so compassionate that he not only showed him the sword but also hit him with it this time. You should know that if you didn’t see the sword, the true-Self, on hearing the master cry out, “Dangerous, dangerous”, you were already cut by the sword.

Student: “What is the sword of wisdom like?”
Master: “Take a close look.”
Student: “I don’t know what you mean. What is it like?”
Master: “Dangerous, dangerous!”
Student: “Why do you say, ‘Dangerous, dangerous’?”
Master: “Because you are wielding the sword now.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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Q. Isn’t just calming down our minds by sitting silently in an upright posture a good practice?

A. I want to ask you why you practise meditation. If the purpose of your practice is just taking a quiet rest for a while, it is okay, I think. The idea of sitting silently in a quiet place is not a bad idea. It can help to ease your stress that comes from troublesome reality and keep your life peaceful for a while.

However, what I want to point out is that you are not calming down your mind in a strict sense, even though you may think that you are trying to do so and may feel a short-lived peace that sitting silently can bring. Calming down your mind is quite different from just sitting silently in a quiet place. The former is a kind of practice, and the latter is a kind of a break, or a rest. The former aims for a permanent or eternal effect, but the latter only has a temporary effect.

I don’t want to discourage you from trying to calm down your mind but want to encourage you to do it in a more efficient way. In order to compose your mind, your top priority should be to realise what your mind is. How could you calm it down without knowing what it is? You should make every effort, above all, to realise what your mind is. Don’t just sit silently. Ask yourself what your mind is while sitting. Then, you can be said to be practising to calm your mind.

What is your mind? Your mind, it is said, controls your body, which means your mind is not your body. Then ask yourself what it is that controls your body whenever you do something: eating, walking, speaking, working and so on. In other words, it is the same question as “What are you when your body is not you?” You don’t need any special place, such as a quiet area, to do this. Just keeping the question is a good practice regardless of wherever you are and whatever you do. As you become accustomed to practising it, you can feel your everyday life become more peaceful.

In fact, you don’t have to try to calm down your mind once you realise what it is because it is quietness itself. All the problems and troubles that we are faced with in our life are due to not knowing what our mind is. If you realise what your mind is, you will find that the whole universe is peace itself.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenmeditation #enlightened #enlightenment #zenfools #photography

Zhaozhou Sees Through Two Hermits

Zhaozhou called on a hermit and said, “Are you there? Are you there?”
The hermit held up his fist.
Zhaozhou said, “The water is too shallow here. It’s not a place to anchor a vessel.”
Then he went away.
Later Zhaozhou called on another hermit and said, “Are you there? Are you there?” The hermit held up his fist.
Zhaozhou said, “You have the power to give and take away, to kill and to give life.” He bowed and went away.

Student: “Why did Zhaozhou give praise and pay homage to the latter hermit while talking down to the former even though both of them made the same response to his question?”
Master: “He just changed his clothes according to the weather.”

Commentary:
It looks long in a long thing and short in a short thing.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

#zen #meditation #zenmeditation #enlightened #enlightenment #zenfools #photography