illusion – Page 13

Buddhism, desire, Enlightenment, Happiness, illusion, Meditation, Mind, poisons, Practice, true self, Truth, Zen

Q122. What are the antidotes for the three poisons against happiness?

October 8, 2015October 8, 2015 Zen Fools

A. The antidote for the poison of ignorance is wisdom, which means the ability to see everything as it is. That enables us to see a piece of broken rope as a piece of broken rope and rotten food as rotten food.

The antidote for the poison of greed is the precepts, which aim to control greed. We should suppress greed artificially before getting enlightened. To obey the precepts in the strictest sense, however, is not to suppress greed artificially but to have no greed to control through realising that everything is an illusion. Only then can we be said to obey the precepts. For example, when we have the wisdom to see everything as it is, we don’t have any desire to run away from the piece of broken rope, or to chase after rotten food because we can see rope as rope and rotten food as rotten food.

The antidote for the poison of anger is stillness, which naturally comes about when we obey the precepts. That is, when we obey the precepts, we have no greed. Then we need not struggle to fulfill our greed. When we don’t have to strive to satisfy our greed, there is no anger or disappointment that comes from the failure to meet our greed. Then our life becomes still.

In fact, the core of the three poisons is ignorance, and that of the three antidotes is the wisdom to see things as they are.
©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, desire, Happiness, illusion, Meditation, poisons, Truth, Zen

Q121. What are the three poisons that prevent us from being happy?

October 6, 2015October 6, 2015 Zen Fools

A. The first poison, ignorance, is the lack of ability to see things as they are. For instance, we look upon a piece of broken rope as a snake, or mistake rotten food for healthy food. When we can’t see things as they are like this, we are said to see illusions as real.

The second poison, greed, is the desire to get or avoid such illusions. When we are confused into seeing illusions as being real, we want to run away from illusions like a piece of broken rope that look awful or ugly, or strive to obtain illusions like rotten food that look attractive. Such desire is called greed.

Finally, when we struggle to obtain or avoid illusions that we mistake for being real, things usually don’t go as we desire. Repeated failures to achieve our goals, whether to avoid or obtain such illusions, cause us to lose our temper. Even if we sometimes succeed in achieving such illusions, we are disappointed or upset to see that they are not what we desired and don’t give us as much happiness as we expected. Such emotion, the third poison, is called anger.
©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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

final goal, illusion, Meditation, true self, Truth, Zen

Q116. How can I remove illusions that cover my true-self?

September 24, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Even though most people think illusions cover the true-self and try to see it by removing them, they in fact don’t know what illusions are and what the true-self is. In brief, they can’t distinguish illusions from the true-self because they’ve never seen the true-self. So they are not aware of the truth that the illusions are no other than the true-self.

Whatever you think of as illusions, don’t try to remove them by force. You can’t eliminate them since they are the true-self. Don’t strive to attain your true-self. You can’t not get it because it is already with you.
Don’t think we are looking for something that is hidden in a secret place we don’t know just like hunting for treasure on a treasure island. We are trying to ascertain in person the fact that we are the truth, i.e. eternity itself. Never try to remove illusions, but try to find the root from which they come.
The moment you find it, all the illusions will turn into the truth, your true-self.
©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

final goal, Meditation, Practice, Truth, Zen

Q113. What is the middle path?

September 17, 2015 Zen Fools

A. This is one of the most common misconceptions in Zen meditation or Buddhism. Most people interpret it as standing in the middle of both sides. They think, for instance, they should stand just in the middle of the right and the left without inclining toward either of them in order to keep the middle path. However, they are not in the middle path but are deceived by the illusions, the left and the right.

The truth is that the middle path means standing where there is neither side. In brief, you can be said to be in the middle path when all illusions have disappeared because the right side and the left side, as well as the centre and the edge are all illusions. Therefore, once all illusions have disappeared, you don’t have to try to keep the middle path because you can’t leave the middle path even for a moment.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

final goal, meditaion, root, self, true self, Zen

Q110. What shall I do when I have hatred for my friend for no particular reason?

September 11, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Loving someone and hating someone, or loving someone today and hating him tomorrow, and the other way around is the way we live our lives. You don’t have to be worried about the fact that you hate your friend. The key point here is that you don’t know the root of the hatred you have for your friend. Saying you hate your friend, you actually don’t know who it is that hates your friend and who your friend is because you don’t know what you are. In brief, you don’t know who hates whom.

Either trace back your hatred of your friend to its root, or ask yourself what makes your body hate him, instead of repressing emotion. When reaching the root, that is finding the answer to the question, you will realise all emotions you feel are only illusions and then you can accept everything you experience like seeing a movie.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, meditaion, Meditation, self, true self, Truth, Zen

Q109. If everything is the true-self, can I say that I am looking at my true-self while looking at this cup?

September 8, 2015 Zen Fools

A. No, you can’t, because you are looking at a cup. As long as you see a cup as a cup, you can’t say that you see your true-self. Seeing a cup as a cup means seeing a car as a car and a person as a person, which means that all the labels or lines dividing one into many still remain. Your eyes, it is said, are covered with illusions or you are an open-eyed blind man.

The Buddha said, “If you realise that form is not form, you will see your true-self.”
Being able to see the cup as non-cup means that a car is not a car, a person is not a person any more to you and you are not you because all illusions have disappeared. The disappearance of all illusions means the disappearance of the lines that divide one into many. When all the lines disappear, many become one. There is no seer and no seen and no speaker and no listener in the situation where a cup is not a cup. It can be said that the seer is one with the seen, and speaker is one with the listener. There is nothing to mention, and speech is not speech any more here. Then everything, it is said, is the true-self. To experience this through your body in person is to realise the true-self.
©Boo Ahm

Enlightenment, Koan, meditaion, Meditation, Practice, Zen

Q108. Student: “What am I when my body is not me, Sir?”

September 6, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Master: “All the things in the universe come from it.”
Student: “Then, are you from it, too?”
Master: “Of course.”
Student: “You are from your mother, Sir.”
Master: “My mother is also from it.”

Commentary:
One arrow and many targets.
Every time the student opens his mouth, targets multiply.
Which one should he shoot?
Take a close look at the point of your arrow.

©Boo Ahm

Enlightenment, final goal, illusion, meditaion, Meditation, Mind, Practice, true self, Truth, Zen

Q107. Can we realise the true-self through logic? If not, why not?

September 4, 2015September 4, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Your logic, however perfect it may be, might enable you to explain that everything is empty, but it prevents you from reaching the final goal.
To see your true-self means to remove all illusions, but trying to build a perfect logic means strengthening your established illusions and adding to your illusions by creating new ones, or adopting the ones created by others. That is to go against your original intention of eliminating illusions, which is like fuelling a fire by pouring oil onto it, thereby making it more ferocious while intending to extinguish it. That is going in the opposite direction of your goal, against your intention.

©Boo Ahm

Buddha, Buddhism, illusion, Koan, Meditation, Practice, Truth, Zen

Q104. Sometimes angels appear during my practice. Am I practising in the wrong way? What shall I do?

August 27, 2015 Zen Fools

A. There are times like that. I am sure that you are not wide awake to your question during the experience. Some people say that they see beautiful angels or even the Buddha and Jesus Christ, some say they see their late parents or grandparents, some say that they see their previous lives, and others say they see ghosts or monsters as if having a nightmare. Do remember that everything you experience during your practice is nothing but an illusion whether fantastic or terrible. When you experience something beautiful you have never experienced in your life before, you are apt to feel attracted by it. They are only the actions of your emotions hidden in your sub-consciousness. If you feel attached to great figures like the Buddha or Jesus and scared of the terrible figures, you are fooled by illusions. Leave them alone and focus on your question, and they will disappear by themselves.