Questions & Koans

A. Let us suppose that you watch a horror movie with a five-year-old child in a movie theatre. The child can be scared enough to try to hide or even burst out crying, whereas you enjoy it. Why does such a thing happen? Does the movie make itself look more horrible to the child than to you?

The difference is that you can see and hear beyond what you see and hear, that is, you know it is not real but merely pictures on a white screen, but the child does not. In the same way, the enlightened can see and hear reality beyond what reaches their eyes and ears. This is why the enlightened are said to see and hear what ordinary people cannot.

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When a monk asked master Doksan, “Who is the Buddha?”, he answered, “An old man from India.” He responded, “No shitting here” when he was asked what wisdom is by another monk. When yet another monk asked him to explain Zen, Doksan shouted at him, “I have nothing to give you!”

Student: “What did master Doksan mean by ‘an old man from India’?”

Master: “He is as old as everyone.”

Student: “Why did he say, ‘No shitting’?”

Master: “Don’t mistake gold ore for just stone.”

Student: “Why did he say that he had nothing to give the monk?”

Master: “Because it was all he could give.”

Commentary:

All waves are just water, and all winds are just air, irrespective of what they look and sound like.

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An old master said: “If you meet a man of the Way on the road, do not talk about the Way.” Therefore, it is said: “If one tries to attain the Way by cultivating the Way, one is not doing the Way right. Tens of thousands of wild fancies arise in a rush, chasing each other in the head. When the sword of wisdom flashes, there is nothing left at all. Even before the light shines, darkness becomes bright.” So, another old master said: “The everyday mind is the Way.”

Commentary:

‘If you meet a man of the Way on the road, do not talk about the Way’ means that if we happen to meet a man of the Way, an enlightened man, then we should not try to attain something about the Way, the true-Self through words because the Way cannot be spoken or explained with words. Furthermore, not only can it not be attained, or lost but also not be manipulated or controlled. That is why tens of thousands of illusions arise in a rush when we try to attain the Way, enlightenment by cultivating the Way.

‘When the sword of wisdom flashes’ represents the moment of getting enlightened, or seeing things as empty. ‘There is nothing left at all’ means that everything turns into emptiness, or the true-Self. ‘Even before the light shines, darkness becomes bright’ means that once we get enlightened, we know that darkness and brightness are not separate but one, just as right and left are one.

‘The everyday mind is the Way’ is one of the popular phrases that sound simple but are intricate to digest. The master said what cannot be done. In other words, he didn’t mean to tell you what to do but just revealed the true-Self that can neither be explained with words nor be attained. This can be grasped only when you hear without being deluded by words.

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A. The core teaching of Buddhism is that everything is non-duality, which is referred to as the true-Self, Emptiness, the Buddha, or Oneness. There is nothing that doesn’t belong to it. The historical Buddha is also part of the true-Self, just as we are. The difference between him and us sentient beings is that he realised the truth that everything is Oneness, whereas we are unaware of it.

According to the Sutras, the historical Buddha attained enlightenment as a result of hundreds of lifetimes of practice. The key point here is whether we keep being deluded by illusions of words or can realise that everything is empty. If we follow the literal interpretation, we still have such a long way to go that the chances of reaching the goal seem to be slim.

However, when we see everything as empty, both the Buddha and we are just one as Emptiness. This means that we have practised as much as the Buddha because his practice is our practice, since we are just one, not separate. In other words, everyone is ready to attain enlightenment at any moment.

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Shuilao asked Mazu, “What is the exact meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from India?”

Mazu pushed him so hard that he knocked him over.

Shuilao had immediate realisation. He got up, clapped his hands, and said in laughter, “Marvellous, marvellous. Hundreds and thousands of samadhis, the boundless and wonderful meanings are all on the tip of a single hair.  I have understood the fundamental source all at once.” Then he made a bow and left.

Student: “What is the fundamental source Shuilao understood?”

Master: “It cannot be knocked over.”

Student: “What is it?”

Master: “Shall I push you?”

Commentary:

There is not even a single hair that is not revealing the true-Self.

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Followers of the Way, they say that there is talk of the Way to be practised and the Dharma to be realised. Tell me, then, what Dharma is to be realised, what Way is to be practised. At this moment, what do you lack for your functioning? And what do you need to complement by your training?

Young students, not understanding anything, put their faith in wild fox sprites and so get entangled in their random talk and fancies such as ‘Buddhahood can be attained only when theory coincides with practice and when we guard against the three karmic actions’. Those who make such discourses are as many as April drizzling rains.

Commentary:

Practitioners should not be attached to the illusions of the Way and the Dharma, just as they should not be attached to the illusion of the Buddha. When we follow each of the words ‘the Way’ and ‘the Dharma’, they look different and separate from each other, but they are just one. The one who is trying to practise the Way and realise the Dharma at this moment is no other than the Way, the Dharma itself. All its movements are the functions of the Way and the Dharma. Rinzai is saying that we should not make futile efforts to look for them outside. Ancient masters would compare this situation to a man who is looking for his ox whilst riding on it.

‘Put their faith in wild fox sprites’ means to be attached to misleading talks by fake masters that look sacred and sound plausible, such as ‘Buddhahood can be attained only when theory coincides with practice and when we guard against the three karmic actions’. The phrase ‘so get entangled in their random talk and fancies’ means to be deluded by talks such as those mentioned. To realise that Buddhahood as well as theory, practice and karmic actions is empty, is truly to attain Buddhahood, enlightenment. This is why the Buddha said that what can be attained is not Buddhahood. ‘Those who make such discourses are as many as April drizzling rains’ implies that there are a lot of fake masters who mislead people with such illusions.

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A. The core idea of Buddhism is non-duality, which means that there is only Emptiness that is referred to as the Buddha, the true-Self, or Oneness and nothing else. This means that there is only one Buddha, and not multiple; past, present and future Buddhas.

If you can recognise the Buddha now, it is your present Buddha. However, if you still don’t recognise the Buddha, he is not the Buddha to you although he is always with you now, until you can recognise him in the future. Then, he is no other than the future Buddha to you now. So, the future Buddha is not another Buddha separate from the Buddha but just another name attached to the Buddha for the people who cannot recognise the Buddha now.

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Jinfeng said to a monastic who stood beside him, “I will give you a koan. First of all, you should not be confused by it.”

The monastic said, “Master, please give it to me.”

Jinfeng held up his whisk.

The monastic was silent for a while.

Jinfeng said, “I know that you are confused.”

The monastic looked toward the east, then the west.

Jinfeng said, “You have added frost on top of snow.”

Student: “Why was the monastic silent for a while when Jinfeng held up his whisk?”

Master: “Because you are deaf,”

Student: “Why did Jinfeng say that the monastic was confused?”

Master: “Because you are confused.”

Student: “Why did the monastic look toward the east, then the west?”

Master: “Because you are blind.”

Student: “Why did Jinfeng say that the monastic had added frost on top of snow?”

Master: “Because you have added frost on top of snow.”

Commentary:

Don’t think that what is precious is rare. It is too common for your eyes and ears to avoid.

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For a dozen years I have been looking for one who is suitable, but have not been able to find as much as a mustard seed. I am afraid those Zen teachers are rather like newly-wed brides, uneasy and worried about being chased out of their homes and starving to death.

Since olden times people have not believed the old masters, and only after they had been driven away did their greatness become known. He who is approved by everyone, what good is he? “The lion’s roar shatters the brain of the jackal.”

Commentary:

‘For a dozen years I have been looking for one who is suitable, but have not been able to find as much as a mustard seed’ is a statement showing that the enlightened were quite rare at that time as well.

‘Those Zen teachers are rather like newly-wed brides, uneasy and worried about being chased out of their homes and starving to death’ says how poorly the enlightened were treated before they were acknowledged as enlightened, since it was not easy for the unenlightened to distinguish whether a man was enlightened or not.

‘Since olden times people have not believed the old masters, and only after they had been driven away did their greatness become known’ implies the example of Bodhidharma: When he met Emperor Yang Wu, he couldn’t recognise his enlightenment although Bodhidharma answered his questions perfectly. After that, Bodhidharma crossed the Yangtze River and went to the kingdom of Wei. Only after Bodhidharma left for the kingdom of Wei did Emperor Yang Wu lament that he had failed to realise his greatness.

‘The lion’s roar shatters the brain of the jackal’ means that if Emperor Yang Wu had grasped Bodhidharma’s answer, the lion’s roar, his discriminating mind, the brain of jackal would have been shattered, that is, he would have attained enlightenment.

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A. Why are you asking this question? If you realise why this question came to you, you can grasp why things happen to us because your asking this question is also a kind of happening. Because of your curiosity? Then, where is it from? Why did it come to you?

To keep asking yourself this question is Zen practice itself. If you find the answer to this, you can realise why the most important things; birth, ageing, illness and death, happen to us.

©Boo Ahm

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