Questions & Koans

Q. How did the boy become enlightened when Gutei raised up his finger?

A. Gutei raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen. A boy attendant began to imitate him in this way. When a visitor asked the boy what his master had preached about, the boy just raised his finger.

Gutei heard about the boy’s mischief, seized him and cut off his finger with a knife. As the boy screamed and ran out of the room, Gutei called to him. When the boy turned his head to Gutei, Gutei raised up his own finger. In that instant, the boy was enlightened.

When Gutei was about to die, he said to the assembled monks, “I received this one-finger Zen from Tenryu. I used it all my life and yet could not exhaust it” and then he passed away.

Student: “How did the boy become enlightened when Gutei raised up his finger?”
Master: “Nothing special at all. The boy saw what I am showing to you now.”
Student: “What is it?”
Master: “You are showing it to me now.”
Student: “What is the one-finger Zen that Gutei received from his master Tenryu?”
Master: “That is nothing special, very common.”
Student: “Can I get it, too?”
Master: “You already have it.”
Student: “How can I know that I also have it?”
Master: “Can’t you raise your finger?”

Commentary:
Why aren’t we as wise as Gutei even though all of us have the same ten fingers as Gutei did?”
The wise are not concerned with such fingers.
Don’t say that Gutei passed away. He hid himself in his finger.

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

Q. Matthew 5:43, You have heard that it was said: love your friends, hate your enemies. 44, But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45, so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil.

What do these scriptures mean?

A. ‘Love your friends and hate your enemies’ means making discriminations. ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ means not making discriminations, and ‘become the children of your Father in heaven’ means to attain enlightenment.

These scriptures are advising us not to make discriminations, friends and enemies, which symbolise good and bad, in order to attain enlightenment.

‘He makes his sun shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil’ means that He, the true Self doesn’t make any discrimination.

To sum up, these scriptures mean that we should make no discrimination so that we may attain enlightenment.

Student: “What is enlightenment?”
Master: “It is to know that all illusions are the true-self.”

©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/vQcG1

Q. A tree falls in the forest when nobody is there to hear it. Does it still make a sound?

A. The point of this question is whether a thing, or an incident which happens beyond our consciousness has any influence upon our emotions, or our decision-making. This shows a good example of Buddha’s teaching that everything is the product of our discrimination.

What matters more than whether something happens, is whether you are conscious of it or not. What is more important than what happens, is in what way you are conscious of it. However big or serious an incident may be that takes place near to you, it is as meaningless to you as if it didn’t happen at all if you are not conscious of it.

For example, if you are asked whether the falling trees made sounds or not, when they fell in a virgin forest of the Mesozoic era, before the advent of human beings, you might say, “Yes, they did.” or “I think so.” This is because you can imagine what happens, including how it sounds when trees fall in the forest, at the very instant when you hear the question. In other words, the moment you hear this question, you can feel as if you were already at the scene seeing and hearing what is happening there. This shows that you are conscious of the situation through indirect experience and discriminate based on what you are conscious of.

However, when you didn’t think of, or were not conscious of this situation before the question, the situation was as meaningless to you as if it had not happened.
So, my answer to your question is ‘How was it before you thought of this question?’

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

Q. Student: “The philosopher Descartes said, ‘I think, therefore I am’. What am I when I don’t think?”

A. Master: “When there is no wind, it doesn’t mean that there is no air.”

Commentary:
Wind is just the motion of air.
When the wind dies down, it doesn’t mean that air disappears, but is just still.

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

Q. Is there anything more to learn after enlightenment?

A. No, there is nothing more to learn about Buddhism, or enlightenment after it. Enlightenment can be compared to mastering the four rules of arithmetic. Once you master them, you can feel free to use them in any situation that requires calculation without learning more about the rules. If you make errors repeatedly in calculation and, not being confident of the results, feel need to learn more about the rules, you can’t be said to have mastered the rules.

Buddha would compare his teachings to a boat for crossing a river and say that we should discard the boat after crossing the river. Those who, attached to the boat after crossing the river, don’t leave the boat can’t be said to have crossed the river. In the same way, those who are still attached to his teachings after enlightenment can’t be said to be enlightened.

The core of Buddha’s teaching is enlightenment, which is to realise that there is nothing to gain or lose because everything is empty. When everything is empty, not only his teachings but Buddha himself is also empty. You should know that all Buddha’s teachings are for enlightenment and not for the sake of teaching itself. So, there is nothing to learn any more after enlightenment.

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