Category: Zen

Part 6 – 4

“Why? If all these sentient beings’ minds grasped at forms, they would be attached to the image of self, the image of person, the image of sentient being, and the image of soul. Why? It is because even grasping at an image of Dharma would be to be attached to the image of self, the image of person, the image of sentient being, and the image of soul, not to mention that grasping at an image of non-Dharma would be to be attached to the image of self, the image of person, the image of sentient being, and the image of soul. Therefore, you should not grasp at not only the Dharma, but also non-Dharma.

Commentary:

To grasp at images with the mind means failing to see things as they truly are and being deceived by forms and names (words). In the Heart Sutra, this is referred to as “deluded dreams,” and in the Faith in Mind (Xin Xin Ming), it is described as “discriminating” or “picking and choosing.”

As the saying goes, “When a single speck of dust arises, the entire universe arises with it.” Whether it is a good or bad image, when one image arises, all images arise simultaneously. Here, the images of self, person, sentient beings, lifespan, and Dharma are mentioned, but the teaching is that no matter what image arises, countless images arise with it. Thus, we are instructed not to grasp at any image. We should not be deceived even by the image of the Buddha. The Buddha said that those who try to see the Buddha through sound or form—that is, through images—are practising a false path (Dharma) and cannot see the Buddha. In the Avatamsaka Sutra, it is written: “If one sees the Buddha without grasping at any image, that person truly knows the Buddha and can see the true-Self.” Only by not being deceived by the physical form of the Buddha can we see the eternal, true Buddha, which is our own essence. This is why ancient great masters would say, “If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha.”

When we do not grasp at images—that is, when we see and hear all things as they truly are, without being deceived by forms or names—everything becomes the Buddha, and there is nothing that is not the Buddha. When we grasp at images while seeing and hearing, everything becomes Mara and illusion. But when we see things as they truly are, everything is enlightenment and the Buddha. Illusion and enlightenment, Mara and the Buddha, are not separate entities but one and the same. To abandon illusions in pursuit of enlightenment is like discarding flour to make bread. Thus, it is said that “illusion is the mother of enlightenment” and “illusion itself is enlightenment.”

When we see everything as it truly is, there is nothing, including ourselves, that is not the Buddha. Wherever I go, the Buddha follows me. But if I am deceived by images and chase after the Buddha, I am not following the Buddha but chasing after an illusion. The Buddha is non-duality, that is, He is everywhere, and there is no place without the Buddha present. To say that the Buddha in one temple is more efficacious than the Buddha in another is to say that there are multiple Buddhas who differ from one another. To say that one should go to a temple to see the Buddha is to suggest that the Buddha is only in the temple and not at home. This implies that the Buddha is not one but many. It follows after this that there is a distinction between places where the Buddha is and is not. Such thinking is not the Buddha’s teaching but being swayed by images, acting in opposition to the Buddha’s teachings while claiming to be His disciple, and in reality, chasing after delusion.

Just as when one image arises, all images arise simultaneously, if we hear or see even a single thing as empty, all things are seen as empty. When great masters say, “This staff transforms into a dragon and swallows the entire universe,” they mean that if this staff is seen as empty, the entire universe is seen as empty.

This text, too, should be read without grasping at the image of a ‘sutra’. Only then can you see the Buddha in every single word.

Disciple: “How should I receive the master’s words without grasping images?”                     

Master: “The problem is that I am not saying a word, yet you take my saying as words.”

Do not be deceived by the teaching to abandon images,

And do not strive to cast aside images.                                                                                             

To abandon images in pursuit of the true-Self Is like discarding flour to seek bread.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. Don’t try to tame your mind. Instead, try to see what your mind is. The reason why you feel your mind is restless is that you don’t know what your mind is.

You always have a hard time trying in vain to tame your mind because you are struggling to tame what you don’t know. The state of enlightenment you are keen to reach is no other than seeing the mind.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A monk asked Master Joshu, “It is said that the perfect enlightenment is not difficult, and one should simply cease choosing. What does it mean to cease to choose?” Joshu replied, “In the heaven and on earth, I alone am the honoured one.” The monk said, “That, too, is still choosing.” Joshu responded, “You foolish monk! Where is the choosing in that?”

Student: “Why did Joshu say, ‘In the heaven and on earth, I alone am the honoured one’ when he was asked to explain about ceasing to choose?”

Master: “Because you failed to cease to choose.”

Commentary:

You can’t know whether Joshu ceased to choose or not until you can cease to choose.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 6-3
“Why? All these sentient beings have no more image of self, image of person, image of sentient being, or image of soul. They have no image of Dharma, and no image of non-Dharma, either.”

Commentary:
The absence of the image of self, the image of a person, the image of sentient beings, the notion of a lifespan, the image of Dharma, and even the image of non-Dharma is the true nature of the Buddha’s formless reality. From the Buddha’s perspective, all sentient beings are fundamentally not different from the Buddha himself. As stated in the Avatamsaka Sutra, “I now observe all sentient beings and see that they all possess the wisdom and virtuous qualities of the true-Self (the Buddha), but due to deluded thoughts and attachments, they fail to realise it,” although we are all inherently Buddhas, we remain unaware of this truth because of the three poisons: ignorance, greed, and anger.

To briefly explain the three poisons, typically referred to as greed, anger, and ignorance, but reordered here as ignorance, greed, and anger:

• Ignorance refers to the inability to see things as they truly are, i.e., as empty. The Buddha taught that everything, including his own physical body, is a creation of our imagination and should be seen as a dream. However, ignorance leads us to perceive things as real, which is the root of all suffering. The opposite of ignorance is wisdom, which means seeing things as they truly are.
• Greed arises as a consequence of failing to see things as empty and dreamlike. Mistaking phenomena as real leads to desiring to possess, or draw near to what appears beautiful, or valuable and to push away what seems undesirable, or unpleasant. The opposite of greed is discipline (precept), and upholding discipline means skilfully controlling and managing such desires.
• Anger arises when the things we desire to possess, or avoid, do not align with our wishes, resulting in frustration, pain, and unhappiness. The opposite of anger is stillness (samadhi), which leads to a state of calm or nirvana.

Thus, the three poisons—ignorance, greed, and anger—are countered by the three trainings (learning): wisdom, discipline (precept), and stillness (samadhi). Transforming the three poisons into the three trainings (learning) is the purpose of Buddhist practice, leading to enlightenment.

As mentioned, all problems ultimately stem from the inability to see things as they truly are. The images of self, person, sentient beings, lifespan, and Dharma are all illusions that arise from failing to see reality clearly. Though we are inherently Buddhas endowed with immeasurable virtues, we remain sentient beings because we are trapped in these illusions.

Disciple: “How can I uphold discipline well?”

Master: “When there is no image of self, there is no ‘I’ to uphold discipline, and when there is no image of Dharma, there is no discipline to uphold. This is the true way to uphold discipline.”

The images of self, person, sentient beings, lifespan, and dharma— Do not say they are absent. For there can’t be even the word ‘absent’ for what is truly absent.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. Don’t try in vain to enter the state free from thought. You are already there. The state free from thought in Buddhism doesn’t mean the state in which there arises no thought, no matter what you may see and hear, but the state in which you are not deluded by the thoughts coming to you when you see and hear things, through the realisation that everything, including your thoughts, is not real but empty, or illusionary.

The state of enjoying your thoughts without being deluded by them is referred to as the state free from thought.

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

After Hyangum opened his temple, Weishan sent a monk to deliver a letter and a staff. Upon receiving them, Hyangum lamented crying out, “Alas, heavens! Alas, heavens!” The monk asked, “Master, why are you like this?” Hyangum replied, “It is because the weather feels like winter during my spring outing.”

Student: “What did the master mean by ‘the weather feels like winter during his spring outing’?”

Master: “One feels warm, and the other feels cold in the same place at the same time.”

Commentary:

Medicine, when wrongly used, can be poison, and poison, if well used, can be medicine.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 6 -2

“Subhuti, I, the Realised One know and see all. All these sentient beings will attain infinite blessing this way.”

Commentary:

Infinite merit is the true-Self itself; it is neither something given by the Buddha nor something that others can take away. We are already infinite merit itself and are surrounded by it at the same time. The key is whether we can recognise it or not. Therefore, obtaining infinite merit, as the Buddha taught in Part 6-1, means conceiving pure faith for even a single moment upon reading, hearing, or seeing the Buddha’s words, or anything else for even a moment and realising this infinite merit, the true-Self without seeking it externally.

Not seeking it externally means not looking for it beyond what our eyes see, and our ears hear. Everything, including ourselves, is the true-Self that is infinite merit.

As stated in the Avatamsaka Sutra, “The Buddha’s body pervades the entire Dharma realm, revealing himself before sentient beings as needed, teaching with various Dharma teachings, and freely awakening them to all truths,” even though infinite merit, the Buddha’s body, is always manifesting before us, we fail to see it truly because we are swayed by forms and words. This is why we wander in the cycle of birth and death, unable to enjoy infinite merit.

Ancient great monks likened this to “looking for a wild goose in the clouds while forgetting the goose in the cage,” referring to our failure to see the infinite merit, the true-Self right in front of us, being deceived by images, sounds, and words.

As the Avatamsaka Sutra states, “The suffering I experienced in the past, was due to not seeing the Buddha, you should purify the eye of the Dharma, and see what is to be seen,” we, too, must purify the eye of the Dharma and see everything as it truly is, like the Buddha, in order to see and realise what must be seen and thus enjoy infinite merit.

What we must engrave in our hearts is that not only the words we are reading now but also we ourselves, reading this sutra, are none other than the infinite merit (the true-Self) we seek to see.

Disciple: “What is infinite merit?”

Master: “What did you say?”

Disciple: “What is infinite merit?”

Master: “Why do you ask me when you’re already throwing it up like that?”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. Listening to Dharma talks in the same way you listen to secular lectures may give you some momentary impact but is not good enough. Remembering the contents of the Dharma talks that you have listened to is of no use, no matter how much of it you have accumulated. You ought to try to see and hear what reaches your eyes and ears as they truly are.

For example, when you read Buddhist literature, or listen to Dharma talks, you should try to see and hear the true-Self beyond words and language that they are pointing to. Only when you are not deluded by them can you be free from being swayed and troubled by them.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

After Hyangum opened his temple, Weishan sent a monk to deliver a letter and a staff. Upon receiving them, Hyangum lamented crying out, “Alas, heavens! Alas, heavens!” The monk asked, “Master, why are you like this?” Hyangum replied, “It is because the weather feels like winter during my spring outing.”

Student: “Why did the master lament crying out ‘Alas, heavens’?”

Master: “He expressed gratitude to Weishan for his compassion and to the monk for his long trip.”

Commentary:

A host and his servant give presents to a guest at the same time, but the foolish guest, dismissive of the host’s valuable present, only takes a poor gift from the servant.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 6 – 1

Subhuti said to the Buddha, “World Honoured One, will any sentient beings develop genuine faith by hearing these words?”

The Buddha said to Subhuti, “Don’t talk in that way. In the last five hundred years after the death of me, the Realised One, there will be those who keep the precepts and do good deeds, conceive faith in these words and consider it to be true. You should know that because those people have planted roots of goodness, not with one, two, three, four, or five Buddhas, but with infinite thousands of myriads of Buddhas, they will conceive pure faith on hearing these words for even a moment.”

Commentary:

The statement “In the last five hundred years after the death of me, the Realised One, there will be those who keep the precepts and do good deeds, conceive faith in these words and consider it to be true” means that no matter how much time passes after Shakyamuni Buddha’s death, the true-Self that is the essence of not just Shakyamuni Buddha but us—what he sought to show us—remains unchanged, neither coming nor going. It signifies that there will be practitioners who cultivate merits and those who realise the true-Self.

Even after countless ages have passed since Shakyamuni Buddha’s time, those who, without seeing the living Buddha in person and only hearing his teachings, give rise to faith are individuals who, in their past lives, planted virtuous roots with countless millions of Buddhas. Due to the great merit accumulated in past lives, they encounter the Buddha’s teachings. Thus, those of you reading this Sutra at this very moment are the ones who, in past lives, planted virtuous roots with countless millions of Buddhas and have now obtained this rare and precious opportunity.

This hard-earned opportunity must not be wasted in vain.

Here, “they will conceive pure faith on hearing these words for even a moment” means hearing these words as they are for even a moment, without being swayed by forms or words, and realising the true-Self. The purpose of following the Buddha’s teachings and studying this Sutra is to give rise to pure faith in a single moment and realise the true-Self.

The purpose of the Buddha’s teaching was not to enable us to accumulate knowledge through a literal understanding of certain facts but to help us give rise to pure faith and realise the true-Self by seeing and hearing his words as they really are. In other words, the Buddha’s intention in giving sermons was not to convey facts but to reveal the true-Self.

Thus, as stated in the Avatamsaka Sutra, “When the Dharma explained in words is vainly discriminated with limited wisdom, obstacles arise, and one fails to know their own mind,” while reading the sutra, we must not stop at understanding it through words, as is our long-standing habit. Instead, we must transcend words to give rise to pure faith and realise the true-Self.

Disciple: “What is the true-Self?”

Master: “It is not words.”

Disciple: “If it is not words, how can I know it?”

Master: “Ask again.”

Disciple: “What is the true-Self?”

Master: “You deaf fool!”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway