enlighten – Page 10

Enlightenment, illusion, Meditation, Mind, mindful, mindfulness, self, true self, Truth, Zen

Q118. Where is the true-self when my mind is full of illusions?

September 29, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Your mind is no other than the true-self and all the illusions are the actions of your mind. What matters here is that, while saying that your mind is full of illusions, you, in fact, don’t know what your mind is. If you knew it clearly, you could be said to be enlightened.

In order to know your mind clearly, try to trace illusions back to their root and know it clearly instead of trying to avoid or remove them in vain. Their root is your mind, which is the true-self. So you, it is said, can realise your true-self through illusions.
©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Enlightenment, final goal, Meditation, Truth, Zen

Q97. It is said everything looks different after enlightenment. Do things change after enlightenment?

August 11, 2015 Zen Fools

A. No, nothing changes. Everything looks different after enlightenment not because things themselves change but because your perspective changes. In other words, you can see what you couldn’t see before. In fact there is nothing that deceives you. You deceive yourself because you can’t see things as they are.

When you are scared of a piece of broken rope since you mistake it for a snake, which is to blame for it, you or the broken rope? If you, regarding a piece of broken glass as a piece of diamond, struggle to obtain it and get disappointed when failing to get it, which is to blame for it, you or the piece of broken glass? What does a hundred dollar bill mean? It means only a piece of paper, or sweets at most to a five year old child, but it means much more to an adult. Does the bill have ageism against children?

What changes is not the object you see, but the way you see it.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, Meditation, Truth, Zen

Q92. What is the truth, the final goal we are seeking like?

July 31, 2015August 3, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Not seeing it is more difficult than seeing it. In fact it is impossible not to see it. If you try to chase it even for a while, you are going the wrong way. Everything you see and hear is the shape and the sound of the truth itself and is showing and telling itself to you. If you can see or hear only a single thing that comes to your eyes or ears just as it is, you’ll have reached the final goal without moving a step. ©Boo Ahm All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, Koan, Meditation, mindful, mindfulness, true self, Truth, Zen

Q87. Student: “What are you when your body is not you, sir?”

July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Master: “Take a look carefully.”
Student: “What shall I look at?”
Master: “Listen carefully.”

Commentary:
Don’t seek to approach it.
If you put your face near it in order to see it closely, you will have your face burnt.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, Truth, Zen

Q79. How can we remove illusions?

July 1, 2015 Zen Fools

A. When we say that we practice Zen meditation to escape from the trap of illusions or remove illusions, it never means separating them from ourselves, but realising the fact that illusions are the truth which is the root of everything; the final goal we long to achieve. However, many people, believing that an illusion is different from the truth, make the mistake of trying to stop thinking, when thoughts, good or bad, come to them, regarding them as illusions. That is one of the most common mistakes we make when practising Zen meditation.

Therefore, try your best to see yourself as you are or try to trace back to the root of the thinking that you look upon as an illusion. When you can see either yourself as you are, or the root of your thinking, all illusions will disappear by themselves.

Don’t avoid illusions
since they are a form of the truth.
Don’t follow the truth
since it is also an illusion.

©Boo Ahm

Enlightenment, Meditation, Practice, Truth, Zen

Q73. Is there a shortcut to the final goal? What is it if any?

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Let me ask you a question. What is the quickest shortcut to the earth? The final goal is difficult to reach not because it is too far away from us, but because it is too near us. In a word, nearness is rather a barrier. The harder you look for a shortcut, the farther you will get away from the final goal. The root of the desire to take a shortcut is the very final goal you are eager to reach. You should look for it within, not without. When a thought that you need to take a shortcut occurs to you, trace back the thought to its root, which is the quickest shortcut.

Do you want to take a shortcut?
Don’t move even a single step.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway.

Bible, Enlightenment, illusion, Meditation, sutras, Truth, Zen

Q71. Why should we not read books?

June 16, 2015June 16, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Ancient masters always advised us not to read books if we hoped to reach the final goal. However good a book on enlightenment you may read, you can’t reach the final goal through reading books without practice. Masters discouraged us from reading books because reading leads us to feel as if we were approaching the final goal as we get more knowledge on the final goal. In fact, getting more knowledge is collecting more illusions and strengthening the solidity of your illusions while reaching the final goal means breaking illusions. Actually we are going farther away in the opposite direction from the final goal against our intention.

Why do few people reach the final goal though so many people are reading so many books including the Sutras and the Bible around the world? Are the Sutras and the Bible telling a lie? It is not because they are telling a lie but because we can’t digest what they mean. The final goal, the truth, is compared to a cure-all that gives an eternal life to ill people who take it. But the cure-all is so invisible that it is almost impossible to discern it. And what all books, including the Bible and the Sutras, are saying about it is not the cure-all itself but wrapping papers that can help people to recognise the contents, the cure-all. Most people mistake swallowing the wrapping paper for taking the contents, or cure-all. If we had taken a true cure-all, we would have become well instantly.

I don’t want to discourage you from reading books, but I’d like to invite you to change the way of reading books in order to take the cure-all, instead of swallowing the wrapping paper. You should bear it in mind that every single word of the book you read is the gate to the truth, the final goal. If you digest only a single word through your body from any book you read, you can reach the final goal. If you have not reached the final goal after reading so many books, it means that you have not understood even a single word of so many words you have read. You took only wrapping papers. Trace back to the root the word or a sentence you believe you understand, or you like. That is to try to see beyond the word, an illusion. This can be compared to tearing the wrapping paper. If you can see the root, you can be said to have digested the book perfectly, to have reached the final goal. Try to see the root of each word or each sentence as perfectly as possible, instead of trying to read as many books as possible. That is a kind of Zen practice as well.

Enlightenment, Happiness, Meditation, mindfulness, Practice, Truth, Zen

Q70. Can we feel something good only when reaching the final goal?

June 16, 2015June 16, 2015 Zen Fools

A. This is not an all or nothing game. In the course of trying to get there you can experience something new and positive. Everything looks more beautiful than before and your life feels simpler and easier. You find it easier and simpler to tackle your demanding life than before, feeling sometimes your problems solve themselves. Becoming more understanding and considerate, you are less apt to lose your head in a bad situation where you used to. You have less ups and downs and your life becomes more stable. You can feel your life becoming much happier than before with practice.

Buddhism, Enlightenment, Meditation, Mind, Truth, Zen

Q46. I seem to have a lot of lust within me. How can I eliminate it from me?

June 9, 2015 Zen Fools

A. If you do want to eliminate your lust and have compassion, don’t struggle to do away with the former, but try to know what it is. How could you remove it without knowing what it is? To know it, trace your lust back to its root whenever you feel it. On reaching the root, you will realise not only that lust comes from the same root that compassion is from, but that the root is the very final goal you long to reach, when you will be compassion itself. Remember that everything is from the same root.

Don’t try to remove your lust,
since it is another face of your compassion.
Don’t be attached to compassion,
since it is another face of lust.

Buddhism, Enlightenment, Happiness, Zen

Q22. How can I calm down my mind?

June 5, 2015June 6, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Let me ask you a question. How can you wash your car? What is most important in washing your car? This question may sound ridiculous but shows how foolish we are. In order to wash your car, you should know where your car is parked above all. How could you wash your car if you didn’t know where it is, however good your car shampoo and a tool for washing it is? Likewise, to calm down your mind, you should know what your mind is first of all. How could you calm down your mind when you don’t know what it is? To calm down their mind seems difficult to most people because they strive to calm down their mind without knowing what it is.

To conclude, try to realise what your mind is so as to calm down your mind. When feeling angry, sad or frustrated, trace back to the root where all such emotions come from. The root is your mind. In the process of tracing back to the root, you will become calm before you know it. If you happen to reach your mind, you will get eternal happiness. That is called ‘enlightenment’.