Category: Zen

Part 1
Thus did I hear. One time, the Buddha was staying in Jeta Grove in Sravasti, residing with 1,250 great monks.

Commentary:
“The Thus Have I Heard” is the opening phrase of all Buddhist sutras, and the ancient masters considered understanding this single sentence to be equivalent to understanding the entire sutra. It is no exaggeration to say that the rest of the text is merely a detailed commentary on this line. Let us then examine each word in this phrase.

Here, “Thus” does not merely refer to the remaining content of the sutra. Rather, it describes the nature of the true-Self, or the Pure Land—the way things appear when they are seen exactly as they are, without being deluded by words or appearances. It points to a perfect, inexpressible state, so pure that the ancient Zen masters would say even uttering the word “thus” corrupts its meaning.

Disciple: “What does ‘thus’ mean?”
Master: “It is a description of what is right in front of you.”
Disciple: “What is that?”
Master: “It’s also behind you.”
Disciple: “What is it like?”
Master: “It is the Buddha.”
Disciple: “What is the Buddha like?”
Master: “It is like all things. There is nothing that is not like the Buddha.” Disciple: “If the Buddha’s form is the same as all things, and all things exist in that form, why can’t I see the Buddha?”
Master: “Because you do not see thus.”

There is nothing other than this. Whether your hand is open or closed, every finger points to this.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. The true-Self is formless, boundless, changeless and nameless, but it is the source of everything. We should see what never moves through all actions and movements and see what is formless through forms such as our physical bodies. All forms and their actions come into existence based on the true-Self, just as all winds come into existence depending on air. This means that all forms differ from each other, but they are the same in essence.

This is why it is said that all things are different from each other and there is nothing that is the same as anything else. However, everything is the same and there is nothing that is different from anything else. 

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A monastic asked Master Seok-sang, “Does the true-Self appear in the world?” The master replied, “It doesn’t appear in the world.” The monastic said, “What can be done with the true-Self?” The master said, “It is the mouth of a glass bottle.”

Student: “Why doesn’t the true-Self appear in the world?”

Master: “Because it is neither hidden nor covered.”

Commentary:

The true-Self neither reveals nor hides itself.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 32-3

“Why?

All created things are like dreams,

illusions, bubbles, shadows;

like dew, and like lightning.

They should be viewed in this way.”

Commentary:

This scripture means that all things are just illusions created by our imagination and that all of them are untrue. We should never fail to view them in this way.

However, ‘They should be viewed in this way’ is very misleading and tricky and we are likely to misunderstand it. As mentioned repeatedly in the preceding parts, no matter how plausible words may sound, following and clinging to them is no more than being deluded by words, which is to run counter to the Buddha’s teaching. When all things are like dreams, the Buddha’s words should be like dreams. Then, only when all Buddha’s words, including ‘They should be viewed in this way’, are like dreams can it be said that we know how to view things in this way.

Student: “How is it when all created things are like dreams and illusions?”

Master: “All the Sutras are also dreams and illusions.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddhism teaches that true happiness is found within, not without. What is within and without?

Within means all that reaches our sight, hearing, smelling, sensing and tasting. Without means being beyond them.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Master Seok-sang said during a dharma talk, “One must know the single phrase transmitted separately outside the doctrinal teachings.” At that moment a monastic stepped forward and asked, “What is the single phrase?” Seok-sang replied, “It is not a phrase.”

Master Woonmoon said, “Only when it is not a phrase does it become a phrase.”

Student: “What is a phrase that is not a phrase?”

Master: “A beautiful woman.”

Student: “That is a phrase.”

Master: “I said a phrase that is not a phrase, but you heard a phrase.”

Commentary:

When a word is not a word, each word is the function of the true-Self.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 32-2

“How does he expound it for others? Not grasping forms, he is unmoving.”

Commentary:

He who accepts and holds it, reads and recites it, expounds it for others, is never deluded by forms and words, no matter what he may do. So, when he expounds this Sutra, or a four-line verse for others, they are free to use it as expedient means to reveal the true-Self without being swayed by forms and words. He is aware that he is in fact doing nothing while doing his best to lead sentient beings to enlightenment, because he knows that everything is empty.

Student: “How is it when one is unmoving?”

Master: “One knows that movement is a dream.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. The core of Buddhism is to realise that you are the Buddha, and all your actions are Bodhisattvas. If you happen to think that there is the Buddha, or any Bodhisattva except you, it is nothing but an illusion. 

So, bowing to the Buddha, or Bodhisattvas is no more than being deluded by illusions, which runs counter to Buddhism, the Buddha’s teaching. 

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

One day one of Joshu’s students bade farewell to Joshu. Joshu said to him, “Where are you going?” The student answered, “I am going to search for the Buddha.” Joshu said, “Don’t stay where the Buddha is, and go quickly through the place where the Buddha is not. If you happen to meet a person one thousand miles away, don’t respond to him wrongly.”

Hearing this, the student said, “I will not leave then.” Joshu said, “Pick willow flowers. Pick willow flowers.”

Student: “What did Joshu mean by ‘If you happen to meet a person one thousand miles away, don’t respond to him wrongly’?”

Master: “There is no person in the Buddha land.”

Commentary:

There is even no person in the Buddha land. Who would recognise him even if there were a person?

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 32-1

“Subhuti, suppose someone filled infinite incalculable numbers of worlds with precious substances and used these to give in charity. Now suppose a good man or a good woman who has awakened the inspiration for enlightenment holds this Sutra, even so much as the equivalent of a four-line verse, accepts and holds it, reads and recites it, and expounds it for others, the blessing in this will exceed the former.

Commentary:

As mentioned repeatedly in the preceding parts, accepting and holding this Sutra means to realise that everything, including ourselves, is this Sutra, and reading and reciting it signifies to be aware that every sound is the Dharma talk preached by the true-Self. In other words, he who can accept, hold, read and recite this Sutra is one who has realised that he himself is this Sutra itself.

It follows from this that he who knows that he is one with this Sutra sees the true-Self even when he donates a small thing, whilst he who is unaware that he is this Sutra is still deluded by illusions of infinite incalculable numbers of worlds filled with precious substances when he uses these to give in charity.

Student: “Why does the blessing of expounding this Sutra, or a four-line verse to others exceed that of giving infinite incalculable numbers of worlds filled with precious substances in charity?”

Master: “Because one gram of gold is more valuable than an illusion of hundreds of tons of gold.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway