Tag: final goal

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, master, Meditation, Mind, root, self, student, suffering, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q226. How can I motivate myself to practise Zen when I feel that there is nothing to attain?

Zen Fools

A. When we say that there is nothing to attain, this means that everything is so perfect that there is nothing to be desired. That is, there is nothing to attain because all is already yours. Our problem is that we are not aware of the truth and struggle to make our life perfect in our own way. In other words, we are like a rich beggar who is struggling for a living, not knowing that he has great wealth in his bank account.

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Student: “Sir, why is there nothing to attain?”

Master: “Because everything is already yours.”

Student: “Why do I have to practise Zen when there is nothing to attain?”

Master: “Because there is still something for you to attain.”

Student: “You said that there is nothing to attain because everything is already mine. Why do you say there is still something for me to attain now?”

Master: “Because you don’t know the fact that everything is already yours. The purpose of Zen is to enable you to confirm the fact that all is already yours. It is like no matter how much money you may have in your bank account, you can’t be said to be rich if you, not conscious of the fact that you have the money,  still struggle to make a living.”

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

 

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, master, Meditation, Mind, Practice, root, self, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q225. Student: “What is the true-self?”

Zen Fools

A. Master: “Discriminating mind.”

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Commentary:

Even an enemy becomes your friend once you get to know him.

 

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, master, Meditation, Mind, root, self, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q224. Does a plant have the true-self?

Zen Fools

A. When you are not enlightened, you are not even sure whether or not you have the true-self, because you have not realised it through experience. When you are enlightened, there is nothing that doesn’t have the true-self since you realise that everything is from the true-self and non-dual. Everything, whether living or non-living, is to the true-self as all winds, whether a breeze or a storm, are to air.

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Student: “What is the true-self like?”

Master: “All you see and hear is nothing but the true-self. It is the way it is.”

Student: “Why can’t I see the true-self instead of things?”

Master: “It’s because your eyes and ears are covered with the names of things.”

 

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, Enlightenment, final goal, master, Meditation, Mind, Religion, root, self, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q223. Can you show the true-self to me?

Zen Fools

A. I can’t show it to you because you are already seeing it.

I can’t hide it from you because you are always seeing it.

 

When you can’t see it, it is not because it is hidden but because you can’t recognise it while seeing it.

When you can see it, it is not because I show it to you but because you can recognise it.

 

When you can’t see it, I can’t show it to you because it is none other than you.

When you can see it, I can’t hide it because it is none other than you.

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Student: “What is the true-self, Sir?”

Master: “Why do you ask me the taste of the food that you are chewing?”

 

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, master, Meditation, Mind, Practice, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q222. Master: “Where are you coming from?”

Zen Fools

A. Student: “From home, Sir.”

Master: “What did you see on the way here?”

Student: “I saw sheep.”

Master: “How many sheep did you see?”

Student: “Five sheep.”

Master: “No, you saw ten sheep.”

Student: “Sir, I saw five sheep. Why do you say I saw ten sheep?”

Master: “You still didn’t see the sheep.”

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Commentary:

Things go wrong when you look upon an official affair as a personal affair.

 

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, Happiness, illusion, Meditation, Mind, Practice, root, self, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q221. I have heard that we are already enlightened but we don’t realise the fact. Why do we need to strive to attain enlightenment?

Zen Fools

A. The expression ‘We are already enlightened but we don’t realise the fact’ is a very incorrect expression. The right expression is ‘We are already perfect but we don’t realise the fact’. To realise the fact that we are already perfect is enlightenment. Then, you might ask, “Why should we try to attain enlightenment when we are already perfect?” The key problem is that we are not aware of the truth. However perfect we are, we can’t be said to be perfect if we struggle in vain to become perfect while not conscious of the truth that we are already perfect.

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We are like a billionaire who is living as a beggar because he is not aware of the fact that he has a great deal of money in his bank account and a lot of real estate to his name. Even though he is told that he is very rich, he can’t accept the fact easily since he has never seen the huge wealth and never lived a rich life lavishing the money freely. Can we say that he is rich? Whatever we say, he is no more than a poor beggar until he realises the fact that he is wealthy. Likewise, we cannot be said to be perfect until we realise and enjoy the truth that we are perfect. Enlightenment is to confirm the truth that we are perfect just like a rich beggar confirms that he is a billionaire.

 

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, Meditation, Mind, Practice, root, self, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q220. What does commitment to Zen practice really mean if Zen practice is also an illusion?

Zen Fools

A. It is true that Zen practice is also an illusion. However, the point is that, while saying that everything including Zen practice is an illusion, we actually don’t know the truth clearly because we have never acquired it through experience. It follows that we still mistake illusions for reality while saying that everything is an illusion with our mouths. If you can see everything as an illusion, you don’t need Zen practice any more. Ancient masters would say, after enlightenment, that all the efforts they had made in order to attain enlightenment were of no use at all. However, you should remember that only after enlightenment did they mention such words as a token of their realisation that everything is empty and an illusion.

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As long as you are not enlightened, Zen practice is important and necessary as a means to enlightenment until you realise the truth that everything is an illusion. Zen practice can be compared to medicine for a patient. However effective and essential a medicine may be to a patient, it is of no use at all or even harmful to a healthy person. Once the patient becomes well, the medicine is not medicine any more to him. However, it is very useful and important as a medicine to a patient until he gets well.

 

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, Happiness, illusion, master, Meditation, Mind, Photography, Practice, root, self, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q219. Student: “What is the true-self?”

Zen Fools

A. Master: “It feels full after eating hearty food.

Student: “I feel that, too.”

Master: “That’s it.”

Student: “I still don’t know.”

Master: “Not knowing is not wrong.”

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Commentary:

Don’t go to beg your neighbours for embers for cooking with a lamp in your hand.

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, Meditation, Mind, Religion, root, self, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q217. What happens to our true-self when our bodies die? How can we, as living creatures, ever know this while we are still alive?

Zen Fools

A. The reason why we can’t know what happens to our true-self when our bodies die, is that we can’t see the situation now, I think.

Let me ask you a question, ‘2 + 3 = (  )’. What is the suitable number for the blank? I am sure you know that the correct answer is ‘5’ because it is such a simple question. How can you work out the right answer when there is nothing visible, not even a number in the blank?

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You know the right answer since you can clearly understand the visible thing, ‘2 + 3’. If you don’t understand even one of the three visible things, ‘2’, ‘+’, and ‘3’, you can’t know the appropriate number for the blank. Likewise, if you can see everything as really it is, clearly knowing all things that you see and hear, then you can perfectly perceive invisible things as clearly as if you saw them now, in the same way that you would know the right number for the blank, as clearly as if you saw the number ‘(5)’ written there.

 

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, emptiness, empty, illusion, Meditation, Mind, root, self, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q216. Student: “What is the true-self?”

Zen Fools

A. Master: “Behold the puppets prancing on the stage, and see the man behind who pulls the strings.”

Student: “Who is the man?”

Master: “He is pulling the strings now.”

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Commentary:

Seeing leaves fluttering, we can be aware of the existence of wind.

Seeing a feather flying in the air, we can be conscious of the existence of a bird.

 

©Boo Ahm

 

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway