Questions & Koans

Q. Why do I seem to have more challenges in my life after starting Zen meditation?

A. A few people think that they seem to have more challenges in their life after starting Zen meditation. It makes no sense at all. If you feel that way, it’s because you may have anticipated that Zen meditation would bring you some good luck, or curb bad things from happening in your life. Zen meditation neither brings happiness nor prevents suffering, but gives you power to surmount your suffering by leading you to realise that everything is empty and neutral.

If you hit upon something that you think is unhappiness or suffering, you should take it as an opportunity to check your practice. The time when you have emotional ups and downs is a good time to see what you are when your body is not you. It can be a good stepping stone to take a big jump on in your practice. Trace the suffering to its root, or try to realise what sees your situation as suffering, and your suffering will be gone by itself.

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

Q. Is it true that the enlightened don’t dream during sleep?

A. They act and feel as we do. They can dream at night. Their way of accepting what happens to them and what they do, is different from ours though. That is why the enlightened are said to have transcended life and death although they can’t avoid ageing and dying in reality, just as we can’t.

The difference between them and us is that they can see everything as empty, but we can’t. When everything is empty, life and death are empty. And then dreams are also empty. When life and death are empty, they are not life and death any more. In the same way, when dreams are empty, dreams are not dreams any more. So, the enlightened are said not to dream during sleep.

Student: “Do the enlightened have dreams during sleep?”
Master: “How can a man without life and death have sleep and dreams?”

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

Q. Why are they not allowed to smoke during prayer?

A layman asked a minister, “May I pray while smoking?”
The minister said, “Of course, you may.” The layman said again, “May I smoke while praying?”
The minister answered, “No, you must not.”

Student: “Why are they not allowed to smoke during prayer while being allowed to pray during smoking?”
Master: “Because praying is profitable to a smoker but smoking is harmful to one who is praying.”

Commentary:
All bad things are empty, but emptiness is never bad.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/vB56U

Q. What does the true Self feel and sound like?

A. Your question is like ‘What does the air feel and sound like?’. It feels and sounds like every wind. The true Self feels and sounds like what and how you feel and hear. Whatever you see and hear, whatever you do or say, and however you feel, all of these are actions of the true Self because not only you but also all your surroundings are part of the true Self.

Air is non-dual, but there are a lot of different forms of wind. No matter how many different forms of wind there are, they are one as air. The true Self is to forms or illusions as air is to winds. In other words, however many different forms there are, all of them are one as the true Self. Our problem is that we don’t know the truth that everything is one as the true Self just like every wind is one as air.

The reason that things look and sound different is that each of us has a different viewpoint according to his karma. That is, each of us has a different perspective according to the memories he has; what memories he has and how many memories he has. In brief, each of us lives a different life due to different illusions resulting from different karma.

Student: “What is the true Self like?”
Master: “You already showed it.”

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

Q. What is the original purpose of the human mind?

A. In the realm of form there are a lot of different purposes, but there is no purpose in the realm of emptiness.

In the realm of form there is always something insufficient or imperfect, and we have intentions to improve it towards a perfect state. Then, we come to have what we call a purpose. Living only in the realm of form without realising the realm of emptiness, is being deluded by illusions. When deluded by illusions, we regard the illusion of our mind as our mind, and each of us has a different mind and a different purpose along with it, because we can’t see the perfection of everything. The most common purpose of the mind is to lengthen its perceived life span for as long as possible.

However, in the realm of emptiness which is also called the true-Self, there is no purpose at all because it is already perfection itself and eternity itself. It is so perfect that you don’t have to try to maintain its perfection, nor can you destroy it.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/vB43V

A student monk asked Master Kempo, “I understand that all Buddhas of the whole universe enter the one road into Nirvana. Where is this one road?”

Kempo raised his walking stick, drew the figure “one” and said, “Here it is.”
Later, this monk went to Umon to ask the question. Umon, picking up his fan, said, “This fan reaches the thirty-third heaven, hits the nose of Sakra Devendra, the highest deity in these heavens, and gives a blow to the giant carp of the Eastern Sea, which tips over a rain cloud with its tail causing rain to pour down.”

Student: “Where is the one road into Nirvana?”
Master: “There is no way at all.”
Student: “Why not?”
Master: “Because you are already there.”
Student: “Why did Umon say that his fan reached the thirty-third heaven and hit the nose of Sakra Devendra, the highest deity in those heavens?”
Master: “Did you see his fan then?”
Student: “Of course, I did.”
Master: “Did you also see the fan hit the nose of the highest deity in those heavens?”
Student: “No, I didn’t.”
Master: “Don’t say that you saw his fan. You didn’t see even Umon.”

Commentary:
Try to see clearly what is just before your eyes.
How dare you hope to see Nirvana while not being able to see the fan before your eyes?

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

Q. I am more than 70 years old. Am I too old to attain enlightenment?

A. Don’t let your age hold you back. No one knows when you will attain enlightenment. As I’ve always said, everything is neutral. Being 70 years old is not too late any more for Zen meditation than being 30 years old is early enough. Whether your age is disadvantageous to you, or in in your favour depends upon your view. If the idea that your death is not far away can inspire you to get more involved in practice, you can be said to have advantage over young people in their 30’s who are lazy in practising while thinking that they still have a lot of time left for practice. You, in fact, have more free time than the young since they have to spend most of their time working for a living. Your age can rather work to your advantage.

Zen meditation is not an exercise for training your physical body but just to keep curiosity about what the essence of your being is. It doesn’t require any special act or posture that makes your body more tired than your usual activities do. You are often advised to sit upright and still, but it is not essential. Provided that you can keep the curiosity, any posture is fine, sitting, standing, lying or walking. Therefore, what you should be concerned about is not your age but your negative idea that you cannot attain enlightenment due to your age. You are never too old to attain enlightenment.

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

Q. Why did the whale cease to be hungry and thirsty after eating himself?

Once upon a time there was a huge whale who was very hungry and thirsty. So, he decided to drink all the water in the world first. He drank the oceans and the lakes, every drop of water in the world. However, he was still hungry and thirsty, so he ate all the coral and the seabed and all the land and everything on it. He then ate the sun and the moon, the clouds and the sky. In the end, he ate the whole world. Then there was nothing left except himself, so he ate himself, too.
Then, he became the universe.

Student: “Why was the whale still hungry and thirsty even after eating the whole world including the sun and the moon?”
Master: “Because he still had himself.”
Student: “Why did he cease to be hungry and thirsty after eating himself?”
Master: “There was no one left who was hungry and thirsty.”
Student: “How did he eat the whole world?”
Master: “He didn’t eat the whole world until he ate himself even though he thought he had eaten it.”
Student: “What happened when he ate himself?”
Master: “The whole world became him, and he was lacking in nothing.”

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/xce3m

Q. How can I take one step further from the top of the 100-foot-high pole?

Master Sekiso said, “You are at the top of the 100-foot-high pole. How will you take one step further?” Another Zen Master of ancient times said, “One who sits on top of the 100-foot pole has not quite attained true enlightenment. Take another step forward from the top of the pole and your body will reveal itself in the 100,000 universes.”

Student: “Why has one who sits on top of the 100-foot pole not quite attained enlightenment?”
Master: “Because he still has somewhere) to sit.”
Student: “How can I take one step further from the top of the 100-foot-high pole?”
Master: “Know what you are standing on now.”
Student: “What am I like when my own body reveals itself in the 100,000 universes?”
Master: “You will have no one to ask this question.”

Commentary:
The true Self never needs anything to depend on, sit on, stand on, or lie down upon because it never stays anywhere.
It never stays anywhere because it is everywhere.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/xdbQ4

Q. The Bible says, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek, too.” How could we live in this way in the world where injustice is prevalent?

A. This scripture doesn’t imply that we should tolerate and surrender to injustice or unrighteousness unconditionally, by doing exactly as these words say. This means that we should not struggle against illusions by using other illusions, but rather leave them alone and trace them back to their root.

The most common way that we cope with illusions, especially when faced with negative ones, is to strive to get rid of them by means of other illusions. ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’ is a good metaphor that shows how we react to illusions. This is like ‘An illusion for an illusion’. In this way, you can’t win the fight against illusions. You will further strengthen and multiply rather than remove them because an illusion bears yet more illusions. Put in another way, this simply means that you are deluded by illusions.

On the contrary, the scripture ‘If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek, too’ is a metaphor that teaches us not to be fooled by illusions but to leave them alone and trace them back to their root, instead of fighting against them by making other illusions. In this way, we can make use of illusions as a gate to enlightenment or heaven and realise that all illusions are part of heaven, or the true Self in Buddhism.

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/x9vC5