form – Page 2 – Zen Fools

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

Q195. I think I am not seeing the Emptiness of questions and answers. Maybe I have just been seeing the form till now. Am I right?

May 2, 2016 Zen Fools

A. As I said before, you have been seeing the Emptiness since your birth. You have never stopped seeing it even for a moment, and you can’t stop it. All the Sutras say that Emptiness is form and form is Emptiness. Accordingly, seeing form is seeing Emptiness.

The problem is that you can’t recognise it because your eyes and ears are covered by your discrimination.

Student: “What is the Emptiness?”

Master: “What you see and hear is the Emptiness.”

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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

Q191. What is freedom from thoughts?

April 22, 2016April 22, 2016 Zen Fools

A. Freedom from thoughts is not to be free from thoughts but to be free from bad thoughts. It doesn’t mean to be free from good thoughts. Bad thoughts are the thoughts whose root we don’t know, which are called illusions. Good thoughts are the thoughts whose root we do know, which are called form. For instance, when we see pictures on a screen as pictures, while watching a movie, they are called form. However, if we see them as real, not pictures, they are referred to as illusions, which are the source of our suffering.

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To see things as they are, is to see things as form, which is like seeing pictures on a screen as pictures, knowing they are not real while enjoying them. When we can see things as they are, whatever thoughts you produce are good thoughts. Then, you are said to be free from thoughts.