A. Master: “Don’t speak ill of it. It has never hidden itself.”
Commentary:
It’s like a lost child who has not seen his mother for so long that he can’t recognise her while being in her bosom.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Master: “Do good things and don’t do bad things.”
Student: “Even a five-year-old child could know it.”
Master: “Even though a five-year-old child can say it,
even an eighty-year-old man can’t easily put it into practice.”
Commentary:
Don’t try to distinguish good things from bad things, but try to realise what their root is.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Q. As I mentioned earlier, we are living in the world of memory, or the world of illusions, since we can see only the world of memory; a half of all. The purpose of Zen practice is to see the world beyond memory and enjoy both the world of memory and the world beyond memory at the same time. Only when we can see and enjoy both of these worlds can we be said to be enlightened. Children are not enlightened because they can see only a half of all; the world beyond memory, just as we are not enlightened now because we can see only a half of all; the world of memory.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Zen Fools 