Category: Zen

Part 13-1

Then Subhuti said to the Buddha. “World Honoured One, what is this sutra to be called? How should we uphold it?” The Buddha said to Subhuti, “This sutra is named Diamond Prajnaparamita; you should uphold it by this name. Why? Subhuti, the prajnaparamita explained by the Buddha is not prajnaparamita but just called prajnaparamita.”

Commentary:

‘This sutra’ here is liable to be literally interpreted as the dharma talk preached by the Buddha in Jeta Grove in Sravasti, and prajnaparamita as perfect grand wisdom, but both of them imply the true-Self that revealed itself through the dharma talk.

The core of the Buddha’s teaching we should bear in mind is that everything is non-duality, oneness. No matter what words the Buddha used, the purpose of using them was to reveal the non-dual true-Self. When we hear ‘this sutra’ ‘Prajnaparamita’ and ‘Diamond Prajnaparamita’, it may sound as if each of them had its own form and characteristics, but they are actually no more than words that are imaginary labels created as expedient means by the Buddha, to reveal the true-Self so that sentient beings might recognise it. This is why the Buddha said that the prajnaparamita explained by the Buddha is not prajnaparamita but just called prajnaparamita.

So, an ancient master said, “Everyone has his own sutra, but no one can read it because it is formless and nameless. One who can read it will enter nirvana free from birth and death and neither try to go Bodhisattva’s way nor try to attain Buddhahood.”

Student: “How should we uphold the Diamond Prajnaparamita?”

Master: “Upholding it is losing it.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. In fact, it is impossible to speak ill of the Buddha, firstly because the Buddha is the formless, boundless, nameless and changeless state free from illusions, or a person who has realised that he is the Buddha, and secondly because the Buddha regards everything as empty. The Buddha cannot be an object to find fault with because it is formless and nameless. No matter what abuses someone fires at the Buddha, he cannot defame the Buddha since abuses are not abuses but the functions of the true-Self to him, because he is never deluded by words.

He who speaks ill of the Buddha, deluded by an illusion of the Buddha, is making futile effort to defame the formless Buddha. Those who are swayed when hearing the Buddha spoken ill of are also unaware that the Buddha is formless and impossible to speak ill of. However, seen from the perspective of the enlightened, the accuser is also part of the Buddha.

This is why we should not have our minds swayed in the Buddha’s teaching even if we hear the Buddha spoken ill of, or well of.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Choshin said, “People say that the Buddha transmitted the dharma to Mahakasyapa in secret and shared his seat with him. The people attending the talk should have spat in the Buddha’s face. Because they didn’t do that, their offspring are still in calamity now.”

Student: “What is the error that these ancient people made?”
Master: “They misled their offspring into believing that the Buddha did what he hadn’t done.”
Student: “What was it that the Buddha did?”
Master: “He transmitted the dharma to Mahakasyapa in secret and shared his seat with him.”

Commentary:
People don’t know what the Buddha’s gift is like, because they dropped and broke it into pieces when the Buddha handed it to them.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 12

“Furthermore, Subhuti, wherever this Sutra is expounded, even a four-line verse, the place is worthy of the offerings of all heavenly beings, human and asuras as if it were a stupa and shrine of Buddha.”

“This is to say nothing of he who accepts, keeps, reads aloud and recites it in its entirety. Subhuti! You should understand this. Such a person will achieve the supreme and rarest dharma. The place where this Sutra is, is where the Buddha and his venerable disciples are.”

Commentary:

The core of this part is what this Sutra is and how to accept, keep, read aloud and recite it.

As mentioned previously, there is nothing that is not empty, which implies that there is nothing that is not the Buddha, or the Pure land. Everything, including ourselves, is the Buddha. Then, whatever reaches your eyes and ears is the Buddha and his Dharma talk, and this Sutra is the Buddha. In this state there is no difference between this Sutra and you. You and this Sutra are just the Buddha, and Sutra is another name of the Buddha. Then, wherever you are is no other than where this Sutra is, which is the Pure land.

To conclude, even if we, deluded by words, pile up hundreds of volumes of Sutras in a place, they are not Sutras but no more than bundles of paper, and even if we read aloud and recite them all our lives, it is no better than singing our favourite songs repeatedly unless we see them as part of the true-Self.  Put in other words, to be aware that whatever is seen is the Sutra and whatever is heard is a four-line verse, is to know what this Sutra is and how to accept, keep, read aloud and recite it.

This is why ancient masters would say that all Sutras are Mara’s talks if we are deluded by words in them. On the contrary, mundane texts such as a daily paper and a weekly, or monthly magazine are as good as Sutras when you see them as part of the true-Self, just as the Lotus Sutra says. This is why ancient masters would say that right teaching, when told by a wrong person, becomes wrong teaching, and wrong teaching, when told by a right person, becomes right teaching.

Student: “What is the Sutra?”

Master: “It is open before you all the time.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. ‘A pure practitioner’ implies an enlightened practitioner who is free from being deluded by illusions. He knows better than to be deluded by the word ‘Nirvana’ and to try to enter it. To such a person, everything that reaches his eyes and ears is the Buddha, and where he is, is already Nirvana.

‘A monk who violated the precepts’ means an unenlightened monk who is deluded by illusions. To such a person, where he is, is already the hell.

In fact, not only are Nirvana and hell not separated from each other but one, but also not separate from where we are as well. Where we are now is Nirvana to those who can see things as they are, but hell to those who are deluded by illusions. This is why a pure practitioner cannot enter Nirvana, and a monk who violated precepts doesn’t enter hell’. What matters here is whether you are in Nirvana, or hell.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Master Woonmun said to his students, “It is said that you should attain enlightenment by seeing forms and hearing sounds. What is it to attain enlightenment by seeing forms and hearing sounds?” No student responded. The master, raising his hand, said, “Avalokitesvara brought money and bought a piece of cake.” He, lowering his hand, said, “It was originally a slice of bread.”

Student: “What did Woonmun mean by ‘Avalokitesvara brought money and bought a piece of cake’?”

Master: “He revealed sounds.”

Student: “What did he mean by lowering his hand?”

Master: “He showed forms.”

Commentary:

Realise that sounds are not sounds and that forms are not forms and you will see the true-Self.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 11-2

“Subhuti, I am telling you the truth. If a good man or a good woman filled as many billion-world universes as grains of sand in that many Ganges Rivers with seven kinds of treasures, and used all that to give in charity, would there be many blessings gained?” Subhuti said, “Very much, World Honoured One.” The Buddha said to Subhuti, “If a good man or a good woman accepts and holds even a four-line verse of this sutra and tells it to others, the blessing of this exceeds the aforementioned blessings.”

Commentary:

To make a long story short, this part says that accepting and holding even a four-line verse of this sutra and telling it to others is much more rewarding and beneficial than filling as many billion-world universes as grains of sand in that many Ganges Rivers with seven kinds of treasures and using all that to give in charity.

To get the same fruit mentioned above, we should know how to accept and hold even a four-line verse of this sutra and tell it to others.

The core of the Buddha’s teachings, as mentioned previously a few times, is not dwelling on anything, that is, seeing and hearing things as they are without being deluded by images and words. If we apply these words to seeing this sutra and therefore see it without being deluded by images and words, this sutra is not a sutra and all the words in this sutra are not words, but are part of the true-Self, Emptiness. This is why the Avatamsaka Sutra also says, “Only when one has seeing, what is seen and the observer removed, does one not damage the true-Self. Only such a person can see the Buddha.”

Seen from the same perspective, we the readers of this sutra are not human beings, and all other things are not things, but all are just part of the true-Self as well. Then, there is no difference whatsoever among this sutra, readers of this sutra and the other things, and they become one as the true-Self. Then, everything, including ourselves, is the true-Self, and every sound is a Dharma talk. In this state, we are identified with this sutra because we and this sutra are not separate from each other but one.

So, only when we are this sutra, and every sound we make is a four-line verse can it be said that we know how to accept and hold even a four-line verse of this sutra and tell it to others.

In short, the blessing of accepting and holding even a four-line verse of this sutra and telling it to others exceeds the aforementioned blessing merely when you realise, through reading this sutra without dwelling on words, that you are the true-Self, the Buddha and that all sounds you make are Dharma talks. This is why ancient masters would say that trying to grasp the Buddha’s teaching by dwelling on words is like seeing reflections in a mirror as real and trying to grasp them.

Student: “Do you mean that we don’t need printed scriptures on paper?”

Master: “Printed scriptures should not be printed scriptures.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. ‘He who is in the shrine’ means an enlightened person, or a monastic. ‘He who is in the shrine’ here represents the former who is in the state of Emptiness, the Pure land, that is, one who can see and hear everything as it is without being deluded by images and words, and who is not swayed by affairs of the mundane world since he sees them as empty as if he saw rabbit horns.

Masters sometimes scold their students for being deluded by images and words by saying, “Why do you live in a marketplace whilst eating meals in the shrine?” In this case, he who is in the shrine implies just a monastic.

Image: _SRH7993a_thumb.jpg

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

“Once upon a time, Nam-jeon asked a lecturer monk, “What sutra do you teach?” And the lecturer replied, “I lecture on the Future Buddha Sutra” Then, Nam-jeon asked, “When will the Future Buddha come?” The lecturer replied, “At present he is in Heaven, but he will come soon.” Then Nam-jeon said, “There is no Future Buddha in heaven, and there is no Future Buddha under the earth.”

Student: “When will the Future Buddha come?”

Master: “No Buddha comes, or goes.”

Commentary:

Kill the Buddha and you will see the Future Buddha hidden in him.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 11-1

“Subhuti, suppose there were as many Ganges Rivers as there are grains of sand in the bed of the Ganges River: would the grains of sand in all those Ganges Rivers be many?” Subhuti said, “Very many, World Honoured One. The rivers themselves would be countless, let alone their sands.”

Commentary:

The core of this Sutra is to see and hear things as they are without being deluded by images and words. This is referred to as seeing things as empty, or not dwelling on anything. As put previously in Part 10-5, not dwelling on anything means seeing everything as a rabbit horn that is not real but imaginary. When we see both the grains of sand in all those Ganges Rivers and all those Ganges Rivers as rabbit horns, there is no difference not only between a grain of sand and the Ganges River but also between a single grain of sand and billions of ones. This is why the Avatamsaka Sutra says that there is no number in the functions of the Buddha, and so the enlightened are far from being deluded by numbers. In the same way, upon hearing or reading the number of the grains of sand in the Ganges River, we should be able to hear it as the number of rabbit horns instead of being deluded by the words ‘the number of the grains of sand in the Ganges River’.

To illustrate this case, ancient masters would ask their disciples if they knew the exact number of the hairs of their heads. They asked this question to see if their students could see everything as a rabbit horn without dwelling on images and words. In the same way, we should be able to know the exact number of the grains of sand in all those Ganges Rivers without dwelling on anything as we were taught by the Buddha.

Student: “What is the number of the grains of sand in all those Ganges Rivers?”

Master: “A billion to the power of a billion minus three.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway