master – Page 13 – Zen Fools

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, Happiness, illusion, Meditation, Mind, mindful, mindfulness, Practice, Religion, root, self, Uncategorized, Zen

Q158. How can we, sentient beings, know Buddha?

January 25, 2016 Zen Fools

A. I never ask you to try to know Buddha that seems to be far above us. Now I am encouraging you to realise what a sentient being is because you know that you are a sentient being.
The key problem, however, is that you don’t know what a sentient being is, because you don’t know what you are even though you say that you are a sentient being. What matters is that Buddha is he who knows what a sentient being is, since Buddha is he who can see himself as he is because Buddha and sentient beings are from the same root. In brief, Buddha is none other than a sentient being who can see himself as he is.

A Buddha who can’t see his True-self is a sentient being.
A Sentient being who can see his True-self is a Buddha.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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

Q156. Student: “What are you when your body is not you?”

January 17, 2016 Zen Fools

A. Master: “A rat.”

Student: “Why do you say that you are a rat?”

Master: “Because of karma.”

Commentary:

Look and listen carefully.

It is not a rat but your eyes and ears that matter.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Happiness, illusion, master, meditaion, Mind, mindful, mindfulness, now, Practice, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q155. Why did masters say, “Don’t try to do good things”?

January 14, 2016January 14, 2016 Zen Fools

A. When you have a stick, can you remove either end of it? Even if you cut off one end of it, there will still remain two ends even though the stick becomes a little shorter. No matter how many times you may cut off either end of it, you will still have both ends and find that the middle part becomes the end. The fact is that you can’t avoid having one end as long as you have the other end. This shows that there is no fixed end and that any part can be an end according to circumstances.

When we have an intention to do something good, we can’t avoid having an idea of something bad because there can’t be a good thing without a bad thing. As long as we have an intention to do good things, we can’t avoid discriminating things. Discriminating things is against the purpose of Zen meditation.
So masters said “Don’t try to do good things” in order to advise their students not to have discriminating minds.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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

Q153. Student: “What am I when my body is not me?”

January 10, 2016January 10, 2016 Zen Fools

A. Master: “Where are you from?”
Student: “I am from New York.”
Master: “How did you come?”
Student: “By plane.”
Master: “How is the weather there these days?”
Student: “Very fine.”
Master: “That’s all. Nothing else.”

Commentary:
Is that all? What is that?
When lost, turn back the way you’ve just come.
©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, final goal, Koan, master, Meditation, student, Truth, Uncategorized, Zen

Q141. Student: “Where are you when your body is not you?”

November 22, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Master: (Pointing to the tea cup before him) “It’s in the cup.”
Student: (After looking very closely into the cup.) “There is nothing in it, Sir!”
Master: (Looking into the cup) “It’s here.”

Commentary:
Master is showing it clearly.
Why is the student jumping into the cup?
Where is ‘here’?
©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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”.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Enlightenment, final goal, master, Meditation, Practice, student, Zen

Q135. Student: “What am I when my body is not me?

November 8, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Master: “It can’t be explained with words.”
Student: “How can I experience what can’t be explained with words?”
Master: “You are doing it now.”
Student: “Why can’t I recognise it?”
Master: “Tell me what can’t recognise it.”

Commentary:
Oh! Poor student!
He is talking in his sleep. Why doesn’t he know what is using his mouth while speaking?
©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Buddha, Buddhism, Enlightenment, master, Meditation, Practice, student, Zen

Q129. Student: “What are we when our bodies are not us?”

October 25, 2015October 24, 2015 Zen Fools

Master: “It can’t be explained with words.”
Student: “What is a word beyond words?”
Master: “Love.”
Student: “Beautiful!”
Master: “You made it dirty.”

Enlightenment, final goal, Koan, Meditation, Zen

Q126. What is enlightenment?

October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Enlightenment.

Commentary:
Master gave food that was too rich.
It is impossible to swallow or spit it out.
Don’t say that your master said ‘enlightenment’.
You will be laughed at by others.

©Boo Ahm

Enlightenment, Meditation, self, true self, Truth, Zen

Q120. Student: “Please explain in detail what I am when my body is not me, Sir.”

October 4, 2015October 4, 2015 Zen Fools

A. Master: “It neither speaks nor moves at all.”

Student: “How can I recognise it then, Sir?”

Master: “What did you say right now?”

Commentary:

The more detailed the explanation is, the further you are from realising it.