A. My body.
Commentary:
Don’t listen but look.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Tag: answer
Q131. Do we have to keep practising to maintain the final goal after reaching it?
A. Would you try to reach the universe even while knowing that you are part of it? Once you realise the fact that you cannot escape being part of the universe whatever you may do, why should you keep struggling to reach the universe? Likewise, once you reach the final goal, you don’t have to make any effort to maintain or stay in it because you can’t escape from it; you are the goal itself. Instead, you may well pity and help those who strive to reach the final goal to realise that they are already there.
There are people who insist that we should continue to practice even after reaching the final goal. They believe that we will fall back to what we were if we do not continue practicing. In fact, we can no more return after reaching the final goal than a hatched chicken can go back into its egg. Once we reach the final goal, we will even feel that all the effort made was useless because we will realise that we were like a man struggling to reach his home while sitting in his living-room. If someone makes even a little effort to reach or stay in the universe, it shows that he still doesn’t know what the universe is. Likewise, if someone makes an effort to maintain or stay in the final goal, that is evidence that he is still blind to what the final goal is.
Though medicine is essential to a patient,
It is of no use to him any more once he gets well.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q129. Student: “What are we when our bodies are not us?”
Master: “It can’t be explained with words.”
Student: “What is a word beyond words?”
Master: “Love.”
Student: “Beautiful!”
Master: “You made it dirty.”
Commentary:
Beautiful?
What is beautiful?
Don’t mistake a beautiful lady’s dress for her.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q122. What are the antidotes for the three poisons against happiness?
A. The antidote for the poison of ignorance is wisdom, which means the ability to see everything as it is. That enables us to see a piece of broken rope as a piece of broken rope and rotten food as rotten food.
The antidote for the poison of greed is the precepts, which aim to control greed. We should suppress greed artificially before getting enlightened. To obey the precepts in the strictest sense, however, is not to suppress greed artificially but to have no greed to control through realising that everything is an illusion. Only then can we be said to obey the precepts. For example, when we have the wisdom to see everything as it is, we don’t have any desire to run away from the piece of broken rope, or to chase after rotten food because we can see rope as rope and rotten food as rotten food.
The antidote for the poison of anger is stillness, which naturally comes about when we obey the precepts. That is, when we obey the precepts, we have no greed. Then we need not struggle to fulfill our greed. When we don’t have to strive to satisfy our greed, there is no anger or disappointment that comes from the failure to meet our greed. Then our life becomes still.
In fact, the core of the three poisons is ignorance, and that of the three antidotes is the wisdom to see things as they are.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q121. What are the three poisons that prevent us from being happy?
A. The first poison, ignorance, is the lack of ability to see things as they are. For instance, we look upon a piece of broken rope as a snake, or mistake rotten food for healthy food. When we can’t see things as they are like this, we are said to see illusions as real.
The second poison, greed, is the desire to get or avoid such illusions. When we are confused into seeing illusions as being real, we want to run away from illusions like a piece of broken rope that look awful or ugly, or strive to obtain illusions like rotten food that look attractive. Such desire is called greed.
Finally, when we struggle to obtain or avoid illusions that we mistake for being real, things usually don’t go as we desire. Repeated failures to achieve our goals, whether to avoid or obtain such illusions, cause us to lose our temper. Even if we sometimes succeed in achieving such illusions, we are disappointed or upset to see that they are not what we desired and don’t give us as much happiness as we expected. Such emotion, the third poison, is called anger.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q120. Student: “Please explain in detail what I am when my body is not me, Sir.”
A. Master: “It neither speaks nor moves at all.”
Student: “How can I recognise it then, Sir?”
Master: “What did you say right now?”
Commentary:
The more detailed the explanation is, the further you are from realising it.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q117. What am I like when my body is not me?
A. It has neither a head nor a tail.
Commentary:
Do you wonder how it can see and speak when it has no head?
It has nothing to see and speak of when it has no head.
A wind finds its way even though it has no eyes,
Makes sounds even though it has no mouth,
And shakes things even though it has no hands.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q116. How can I remove illusions that cover my true-self?
A. Even though most people think illusions cover the true-self and try to see it by removing them, they in fact don’t know what illusions are and what the true-self is. In brief, they can’t distinguish illusions from the true-self because they’ve never seen the true-self. So they are not aware of the truth that the illusions are no other than the true-self.
Whatever you think of as illusions, don’t try to remove them by force. You can’t eliminate them since they are the true-self. Don’t strive to attain your true-self. You can’t not get it because it is already with you.
Don’t think we are looking for something that is hidden in a secret place we don’t know just like hunting for treasure on a treasure island. We are trying to ascertain in person the fact that we are the truth, i.e. eternity itself. Never try to remove illusions, but try to find the root from which they come.
The moment you find it, all the illusions will turn into the truth, your true-self.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q114. What am I when my body is not me?
A. True-self.
Commentary:
Step back, step back. It is really dangerous.
It must be good medicine,
but its attractive appearance might lure you into an incurable disease.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q111. What are you when your body is not you?
A. Come again tomorrow.
I can’t tell you the answer today because I am not well today.
Commentary:
Come again tomorrow?
Don’t be fooled any more by the master.
His answer would be the same even if you were to come to him hundreds of times again.
If I were given the answer, I would say to him, “I am not asking him who is not well.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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