Questions & Koans

“World-Honoured One, when good men and good women have made up their minds to attain supreme enlightenment, how should they live, and how should they surrender their minds?”

Commentary:

This question asked by Subhuti is very common amongst Buddhists: How should I subdue, or control my mind to attain enlightenment? This is a typical example that shows how we sentient beings are deluded by illusions. Considering this question, we can see not only how illogical we are but also how unaware we are of what we say. For example, if someone says, “How can I look after my car?”, we don’t doubt that he knows what his car is like; its colour, age, size, condition and so forth, because this question is possible on condition that he knows his car. However, asking, “How should I subdue, or control my mind to attain enlightenment?” signifies that we are not aware of even the fact that we don’t know what our minds are, because knowing one’s mind is no other than enlightenment. In other words, one who knows one’s mind never seeks enlightenment because he is already enlightened.

When we say that the purpose of Buddhism is to attain enlightenment, it also means to realise what mind is.

There is a well-known dialogue between Bodhidharma and his disciple named Haega which shows this situation.

One day Haega said to Bodhidharma, “My mind is still not at ease. Please, make my mind at ease.” Bodhidharma said, “Bring your mind, and I will make it at ease.” Haega responded, “I can’t find my mind even though I have sought it.” Bodhidharma said, “I’ve made your mind at ease now.” At this moment Haega attained enlightenment, which means that he finally realised what his mind was for the first time.

Q: “How should I subdue my mind to attain enlightenment?”

A: “Find what your mind is prior to trying to subdue it.”

Q: “What is my mind?”

A: “Where is your question from?”

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. This means that when you read the Sutras, you, instead of being entrenched in intellectual understanding, should be able to see each word as the function of the true-Self. If you can’t see each word in that way, you are not really reading the Sutras but rather playing with the illusions of the Sutras. This is against the purpose of the Sutras since the core of the Sutras is that we shouldn’t be deluded by words, even the Buddha’s words.

Ironically, whilst advising people not to be deluded by words, the historical Buddha himself spoke numerous words so that he might teach people not to be deluded by words. In the end, he said on his deathbed, “Not a word have I said” to prevent people from being deluded by his words. This, it can be said, shows how difficult it is not to be deluded by words. This is why the historical Buddha said in the Lotus Sutra that the core of his words is so incomprehensible that it is hard for even the wise like Subhuti to have a proper understanding of it.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

One day a young monk visited a master. He had already met many other famous masters before. The master asked him, “How many masters did you meet before you came here?” The young monk listed the names of the ten masters who he had met previously. The master said,” All of them are impostors.” The monk asked, “How do you know that they were impostors if you did not see them?” The master replied, “Thanks to you.”

Student: “Why did the master refer to the other masters the young monk had met as imposters?”

Master: “Because the young monk only saw the imposters.”

Student: “Who were the ten masters he had met?”

Master: “The master was showing them to the young monk.”

Commentary:

Don’t be beguiled by the imposters disguised as the Buddha.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Part 2

At that time the venerable Subhuti was in the assembly. He rose from his seat, uncovered his right shoulder, knelt on his right knee, joined his palms together in respect, and said to the Buddha, “It is rare and marvellous, Buddha. You always have the Bodhisattvas in mind, protect them well and entrust them well with the propagation of Buddhist Dharma.”

Commentary:

Here we should mull over what Subhuti saw and why he, saying that it was rare and marvellous, admired the Buddha although he had not said any words. He saw the true-Self that is the real form of the historical Buddha which he always tried to show to his disciples.

The reason why Subhuti said that it was rare and marvellous is that the true-Self is very difficult to see in the temporal world and perfect beyond mundane imagination. This is why ancient masters would say that if someone only opens his mouth to describe the true-Self in words, he is already wrong.

Q: “What is rare and marvellous?”

A: “The Buddha showed it.”

Q: “What is it?”

A: “It is the most common and abundant.”

Q: “Why do they say that it is rare although it is the most common and abundant?”

A: “Because few people see it although many people are seeking it.”

In ‘You always have the Bodhisattvas in mind, protect them well’, the Bodhisattvas implies both those who have attained enlightenment and those who are still seeking it. They know that not only they but also everyone and everything is always in the midst of the true-Self and can’t be out of its arms. Nothing can harm them, and they are safety itself as long as they are in the midst of the true-Self.

Q: “How does the Buddha mind and protect Bodhisattvas?

A: “We can’t be out of his arms.”

‘Entrust them well with the propagation of Buddhist Dharma’ implies that the Buddha makes the Bodhisattvas the Buddhist Dharma itself, that is, he makes them into the same Buddha as Himself by leading them to enlightenment in order that all their actions and speeches may be the functions of the Buddhist Dharma.

We should remember that our friends, family members, neighbours and colleagues are always revealing that which is rare and marvellous in the same way the historical Buddha did. Not only they but we ourselves are also Buddhist Dharma itself. The historical Buddha tried to bring people to realise this fact.

Q: “How does he entrust Bodhisattvas well with the propagation of Buddhist Dharma?”

A: “He leads them to realise that they are Buddhist Dharma itself.”

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. Absolutely not. You should keep doubting and asking questions until all your doubts have been cleared up. If a teacher doesn’t allow you to ask questions about your doubts, he is not qualified enough to be your teacher, because sound faith is possible only when all doubts are allowed.

Buddhism is a very reasonable and logical religion and not a superstition that requires blind faith. Enlightenment is a product of such a logical religion and can be explained rationally. Blind faith is the last thing that Zen practitioners should have.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A layman asked Master Namjun, “There is a lump of rock in my house. It sometimes sits and sometimes lies. I am going to sculpt Buddha out of it. Will it be possible?” Master Namjun answered, “Possible.” The layman asked again, “Will it be impossible?” Master answered, “Impossible.”

Student: “What did the master mean by ‘possible’ and ‘impossible’?”

Master: “He showed the model of the Buddha that the layman was going to sculpt.”

Commentary:

The longer it takes to sculpt the Buddha the farther you are from sculpting Him.

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Upon finishing his begging, he returned to his dwelling and ate. He put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet, laid down a mat, and sat on it.

Commentary:

No matter what the Buddha did, the purpose of his actions was to lead people to realise the true-Self. Putting away his robe and bowl, washing his feet, laying down a mat, and sitting on it are not exceptions.

Once there was a monk who was under a famous master for a long time. He thought that the master didn’t give him any teachings and begged him for teachings. The master promised to do so every time he was begged to by the monk. However, to the monk’s disappointment, the master’s attitude towards him was the same as usual. He still didn’t do anything special to meet the monk’s expectation for such a long time that the monk’s patience wore out. He was determined to leave the master for another master and said to him, “I am going to leave you since you have never given me any teachings, even though I have been with you for over ten years.” The master solemnly responded, “How dare you say that I’ve not taught you anything? When you served meals to me, I taught you by eating them. When you brought me tea, I taught you by drinking it. There is nothing else other than what I have shown you.” However, the monk, failing to grasp the master’s intention, didn’t change his decision to leave him and bade farewell to him. When the monk was about to go out of the master’s room, the master called him. When he turned his head, the master said, “There is nothing else but this” and at the moment the monk attained enlightenment.

This story implies that the master taught the monk by revealing the true-Self through the actions of eating food and drinking tea, just as the historical Buddha did through putting away his robe and bowl, washing his feet, laying down a mat, and sitting on it. The monk then recognised what the master had shown him, for the first time in over ten years, in the master’s actions.

Seen in this way, all the actions that the Buddha showed, from putting on his robe to laying down a mat and sitting on it, turn out to be no other than important teachings.

Q: “What did the monk see in the master’s actions?”

A: “It is still seen at the moment.”

Q: “What is it?”

A: “Take a look at the flower.”

Don’t blame it for being hidden.

When you are sharp-sighted,

it reveals itself clearly even at midnight.

When you are blind,

it is invisible even in broad daylight. 

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. The Buddha compared this mundane world to a burning house in the Lotus Sutra as well because everything, including human beings, is doomed to perish with time in the mundane world that refers to the realm of form, just as a burning house is destined to collapse sooner or later.

Fire here represents our illusions. According to the Buddha’s words, we sentient beings are struggling with suffering and doomed to die not because this world where we live is imperfect and problematic in itself, but because we are deluded by illusions, that is, because we can’t see things as they are. The purpose of Buddhism is to teach people to see everything as it is without being deluded by illusions, which is to help them to escape from the burning house, or extinguish the fire.

Student: “How can I escape from the burning house?”

Master: “Moving even a single step is fuelling the fire.”

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Choshin said, “People said 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 was the error that the Buddha made in transmitting the dharma to Mahakasyapa?”

Master: “Not his error but yours.”

Commentary:

Choshin deserves praising for his having served the Buddha with all his heart.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

When mealtime came one day, the Buddha put on his robe, picked up his rice bowl, and went to the city of Sravasti to beg for alms. As he begged, he visited each home within the city in turn.

Commentary:

The story of the Buddha’s going to beg for alms is as common and ordinary as that of sentient beings going shopping and preparing meals. This implies that the Buddha’s teaching is not in somewhere very special but in the common and ordinary actions of our everyday life.

In part 29 of this Sutra the Buddha said to his disciples, “Subhuti, if anyone says the true-Self comes or goes, sits or reclines, this person does not understand the principle I expound. Why? The true-Self neither comes from anywhere nor goes anywhere; that is why it is called the true-Self.” This means that we should be able to discern the true-Self that doesn’t either come, or go, or sit in the common and ordinary behaviours of the Buddha. There is a dialogue between the Buddha and Ananda, one of his disciples that shows how we should interpret these scriptures.

When it was close to the time for begging for alms one day, the Buddha said to Ananda, “When you go begging for alms, you should follow the manner of the Past Seven Buddhas.” Ananda said, “What is the manner of the Past Seven Buddhas?” The Buddha said, “Ananda!” Ananda responded, “Yes, Master.” The Buddha said, “Go begging.”

Through this short conversation, the Buddha not only tried to show the true-Self to Ananda but also told him not to stop trying to recognise the true-Self even during the begging of alms.

In fact, we should be able to recognise the true-Self not merely in the Buddha’s behaviours but also in ours and our neighbours’ since everything and everyone has the same true-Self. That is no other than seeing and hearing thus, that is, to see and hear everything as it is. Trying to see and hear things in this way is practice.

Q: “What did the Buddha mean by ‘go begging’?”

A: “When a rich one tells his child to go begging, his intention is not in begging.”

Q: “What is his intention?”

A: “To teach his child how to manage the wealth he is going to leave him.”

Q: “What is the wealth?”

A: “Bring me a cup of tea.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway