A. Master: “Live in the land without light and shade.”
Student: “Where is the land?”
Master: “There.”
Student: “Where is there?”
Master: “There.”
Commentary:
You don’t have to dig the earth for gold with your hands full of gold.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. It is not that God doesn’t listen to you, but that you are deaf to him because you are involved in listening to only your familiar noises. It is not that he hides himself from you, but that you are blind to him since you are preoccupied in keeping company only with familiar figures. He sometimes whispers and sometimes shouts. He sometimes shakes you, from time to time pushes you and once in a while pulls you. It is not God but you that are to blame for not receiving help from him. If you can cut off all images and names, his voice and figure will sound and look clear to you.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. No, you are not wrong at all. Feel free to choose any path that appeals to you and concentrate on seeking the root from which the path comes. Whichever path you may take, you will come to take the same way after all because they are from the same root, the truth that is not dual.
We should realise the fact that all other things, as well as all paths, are from the same root even though they may look different from each other. The root is the very truth. To realise what the root is should be the final goal of all religions.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Water represents our illusions. ‘Walking on the water’ symbolises ‘living free from the trap of illusions’, that is, Jesus didn’t sink in illusions, which means he was not fooled by them. The scenario that they were fishing in the water is symbolising our life that we are leading in illusions. The fact that Peter started walking on the water to Jesus means that he had a strong faith in Jesus and believed the water to be an illusion, even though he didn’t realise the truth himself. The scene, where noticing the strong wind, Peter was afraid and started to sink down in the water means that he didn’t realise the wind was also an illusion because he was not enlightened.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. I never ask people to change their religions or cease keeping their religions, but encourage them to be better adherents of their religions than before. I tell people to realise what the object of their faith is, whether God or Buddha in order that they may be better followers of their religions.
Saying that you believe in Buddha or God without knowing what or who they are, is affronting them, not paying homage to them. Let’s suppose there is a person who always says that he loves you. He doesn’t know you, and never tries to find out where you are and what you are like. However, he always wants you to help him. Does his love for you make sense? That is blind faith and idol worship. There is an old saying, ‘Seeing is believing’. Only when you can see them can you have true faith in God or Buddha and be a genuine believer in your religion.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. We can see a lot of people not only pray to them but also offer plenty of money to temples or churches as a token of their faith in Buddha or God, while ignoring many suffering people who are in need. People want to make a deal with God or Buddha, just like they may bribe public officials to do something they want to be done. In brief, they take advantage of their prayer to Buddha or God as a means to satisfy and justify their greed and hypocrisy.
It is said that God or Buddha is love itself, compassion itself and justice itself and that he is so almighty that he can fulfill our prayers. Why are so many starving in the world and why do endless wars break out and disasters befall people at this time while so many clergymen, priests and monks are praying all around the world? Why does a charitable God who says, “Love your neighbour as yourself” always seem to side with rich, strong countries or people? Why have so many countries been engaged in wars throughout history in the name of religion?
I don’t think that prayer itself is bad. However, why do these things happen in spite of so much prayer by so many people around the world? It is because they don’t know whom they pray to or worship because they don’t know themselves and therefore they do not know who is praying. They also don’t know how to worship or pray because they don’t know whom they worship or pray to. Therefore, they commit brutal carnage while speaking of Jesus’s love with their mouths, and spend an untold sum of money on producing weapons while saying their prayers.
I never discourage you from praying, but encourage you to pray in the right way. In order to pray in the right way, you should know at least who prays to whom. When you don’t know this, trying to find out who prays to whom it is a true prayer.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
A. Very simple. If you know what your mind is, you can be mindful all the time with no effort. Most people try to mindful only to fail because they strive to do what they don’t know. In other words, to be mindful is difficult since you don’t know what your mind is. Actually, most people don’t know how to start to be mindful when they try to be mindful because they don’t know their mind.
Anyway to be mindful, you must know what your mind is. How could you try to be mindful without knowing what your mind is? Try to find what your mind is and you will become mindful with no effort. What are you when your body is not you? Mind is the name of you when your body is not you, which is also referred to as true-self, true-nature, the nature, the truth, the Buddha in Buddhism and the God in Christianity. Whatever it is called, the name itself doesn’t matter. We should know what it is beyond the name.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. In fact it is beyond description and can’t be reached through words, but it is not separate from words and can’t be explained without words. When reading a text, or hearing a talk about it, you should take it as more than words.
It is called the truth, the mind, the true nature, the true self, or the Buddha in Buddhism. In Christianity, it is referred to as the truth, the spirit in you, the word, the lord, or God – as John 8:32 says, “Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Everything, whether living or non-living, or whether saints or sentient beings, belongs to nothing but the truth. The truth is neither blue nor yellow, and has neither any frame nor any form. It is neither existing nor non-existent, and since it is boundless like the empty air, not only does it have no inside and no outside but also it can’t be measured. It is with us all the time, and we can’t escape it even for a moment.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. Then what shall we do now to be happy? We should try to see everything as it is. To be happy we should be able to see everything as it is. Zen is a kind of Buddhist practice to see everything as it is. However, don’t misunderstand me. Don’t think I want to make you Buddhist. My job is to help you to see everything as it is. I am not here to persuade you to be Buddhist but to help you to see everything as it is. I would never encourage you to change your religion but I encourage you to try to see everything as it is. I would never ask you to live a monastic life, or ascetic life, but ask you to try to see everything as it is. I would never discourage you from doing something, but encourage you not to give up trying to see everything as it is. I will only ask you and help you to see everything as it is, because you can be happy all the time when you can see things as they are.
When you can see things as they are, you can see what you couldn’t see before. You can hear what you couldn’t hear before. Your life changes as you can see things as they are. When we can see things as they are, we can see things more objectively than before. When we can see things more objectively than before, we can make wiser decisions and wiser choices than before. As we can see, our life is a series of decisions and choices. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration that our happiness depends on the decisions and the choices we make every moment. Our wise decisions and wise choices will lead us to happiness. I am sure you can become a better husband, a better wife, better father, better mother, and a better Christian if you are Christian. So we can be happy all the time by seeing everything as it is. You can see happiness when you can see everything as it is. So, Zen is a kind of way to happiness.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
A. Let me ask you a question. Why can’t we see happiness? Why do you think we can’t see happiness? Does it hide itself when we try to see it? No, I don’t think so. Then why can’t we see it?
It is not because happiness hides itself but because we can not see things as they are. Since we can’t see things as they are, we misunderstand things, that is, we have illusions about things. We mistake what we don’t know for what we know. Although we don’t know what happiness is, we believe we know it. And our misunderstanding, or illusion, is the main source or the main root of our unhappiness.
Let me give an example of the misunderstanding that comes from not seeing things as they are. One day I had an opportunity to talk with some Christians. One of them said that he was anxious to feel the answer from God when he prayed God. He was very sorry that he couldn’t receive the answer from God. I said to him, “How long have you been a Christian?” He said, “More than 20 years.” I asked him, “Have you ever seen God?” He looked somewhat embarrassed to hear my question, and replied, “What? How is it possible? God is God and we are human beings. How can we human beings see God? What a nonsense!” My response was, “How is it possible? We say Seeing is believing. How could you believe in God for 20 years without seeing him? It means you have believed what you don’t know, or can’t prove. You have not known what you believe. How can you expect to receive the answer from God, while you don’t know what God is or who God is? Then how can you say that you have believed in God? What a nonsense! As far as I know, the Bible says that God is everywhere and anywhere at any time, and there is no place where he is not. Then why can’t we see him? We should be able to see him anywhere and at any time, unless what the Bible says is false. I believe what the Bible says is true. Then why can’t we see him? It’s not because the Bible is telling a lie, but because we can’t see things as they are. You have no one but yourself to blame. You have had an illusion of God without knowing what he is. You have had a misunderstanding of God.”
This is the way we live our life when we don’t see things as they are.
Then, do you think you are different from the person I have just mentioned above? I am afraid I don’t think so. You are the same in the sense that you are seeking something you don’t know.
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.
Zen Fools 