food – Zen Fools

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

Q364. What if enlightenment brings us unhappiness?

May 30, 2017 Zen Fools

A. Such a thing never happens. Enlightenment means to attain eternal happiness. If someone says that he is still unhappy after enlightenment, he is confessing not only that he is not enlightened but also that he doesn’t know what enlightenment is. Your question is like ‘What if eating too much makes me hungry?’ or ‘What if earning huge wealth makes me poor?’. Enlightenment means to realise that you are eternity itself and happiness itself.

Student: “What if enlightenment brings us unhappiness?”

Master: “Be willing to accept it. That is the happiness that you are looking for.”

Student: “Why should I accept unhappiness while looking for happiness?”

Master: “Your unhappiness results from mistaking happiness for unhappiness. Enlightenment is to realise that unhappiness is not different from happiness.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, Photography, root, self, suffering, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q329. Why does Zen compare us sentient beings to a patient?

March 9, 2017March 9, 2017 Zen Fools

A. As soon as we are born, we are all doomed to an incurable illness, ageing, which leads to death, that no one can avoid. While we have many kinds of painkillers for the illness, there is no medicine to cure it. Whenever we feel the pain of hunger, we take a painkiller, food.

However, over the course of time, the illness worsens to the extent that no painkiller can help us, and leads us to death in the end. Therefore, we sentient beings are compared to a patient. The purpose of Zen is to help people to be cured of the fatal illness, ageing. So, ancient masters would refer to enlightenment as the solution to the matter of birth and death.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, master, meditaion, Mind, Photography, Practice, root, self, student, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q269. Should I stop reading books on Zen meditation as told by masters?

October 20, 2016October 20, 2016 Zen Fools

A. You don’t have to stop reading books, but should not entirely depend on books for grasping the core meaning of the books. Think of reading books on Zen as listening to masters’ dharma talks. When you come across what seems to make no sense in reading books, try to find out the meaning through practice, not by reading other books.

To consult other books to understand problems from a book is like eating more food to digest some undigested food. When some undigested food remains in your stomach, you should try to digest it by taking digestive medicine, rather than eat other food. The digestive medicine means to practice.

Undigested knowledge is to your enlightenment as undigested food is to your body. Just as what we need is not more food but digestive medicine when we suffer from indigestion, so it is not more books but practice that we need for our undigested knowledge.

©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?

July 5, 2016 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.

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, Happiness, illusion, master, Meditation, Mind, Photography, Practice, root, self, student, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

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

June 26, 2016 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.”

Commentary:

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

©Boo Ahm

Buddha, Buddhism, empty, illusion, Meditation, Mind, Practice, suffering, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q 175. Is it okay to try to heal ourselves through mind-control instead of taking medicine when we are sick because everything is from mind?

March 16, 2016 Zen Fools

A. There are people think they can cure themselves of any illness through mind-control by a kind of meditation practice instead of taking medication because everything is created by mind. They are misunderstanding the words, ‘Everything is created by mind’. They are unaware of the fact that medication is also created by mind, while saying that everything is created by mind. When you are well, there is no medicine. But everything that you take can be medicine when you are ill. If you think of daily food as important medicine and take it as sincerely as if you take medicine, then your everyday food can play more than the role of daily food that only meets your hunger, in your recovering from illness. Besides, if you regard your medicine as being rather good food that can make up for your nutritional deficiency instead of being just a medicinal substance, you can escape from or at least alleviate the stress, or the obsession that you have to take medicine.

©Boo Ahm

Buddha, Buddhism, desire, Enlightenment, Meditation, Mind, mindfulness, root, suffering, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q161. Is desire the motivation of life or the root of suffering?

February 11, 2016February 11, 2016 Zen Fools

A. This question is like asking whether we should view food as a cause of illness, such as obesity and diabetes, or a necessary thing for survival. Desire itself is neutral. It depends on you whether it is the motivation of life or the root of suffering. Try to see the root of your desire clearly when it occurs. When you realise it clearly, it is not only the motivation of life but also the root of happiness. It is when you don’t know what it is that it becomes the root of suffering.

However beautiful a thing may be, it is no more than an illusion as long as you don’t know the root from which it is from.
However ugly a thing may be, it is the truth itself when you know its root.
©Boo Ahm

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, Meditation, Practice, true self, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q140. What should I do when I encounter a question during practice or when reading something about Zen?

November 19, 2015 Zen Fools

A. First of all, never try to satisfy your curiosity about Zen or enlightenment by reading books. When you hit upon a question during practice or when reading books concerning Zen, don’t depend on books for the answer to your question. The books will present you with new questions, which will lead you to read more books and they will pose yet more questions. This will be endless. That is like trying to meet your hunger with pictures of food. You can not reach the final goal through reading books any more than you can satisfy your hunger by looking at pictures of food.

When you encounter a question beyond your understanding, ask yourself the question rather than consult another book. It might take some time, but you will never fail to get the right answer from yourself. So, ancient Masters would say that reading for a day is not as valuable as practising for an hour.
Remember that Buddha attained enlightenment not by reading books but by practice. When he was asked by his disciples on his deathbed how they should practice after he passed away, he replied, “You should practice depending on the lantern of yourself and the Dharma”.